buckwalleye
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2018
- Messages
- 247
I just got my mystery ranch Metcalf in optifade subalpine in the mail yesterday. This is my first real pack - so I am a complete novice and have nothing to compare it to. I researched every high end pack on this forum and many many YouTube videos. The main selling point for this pack for me was price point. ($420 to my door with promo)
I'm 6 foot 210 pounds athletic build. I wear a 32x34 pant. I feel like I have a short torso. I ordered the pack in medium.
First impression was very well packaged, durable bag material, and LOTS of buckles! It was sinched down as tight as possible in the box and appeared very streamlined. Zippers seem heavy duty and kind of rubberized to keep it water resistant. The buckles are solid, and I like the little locker they all have. It really seems to, well, lock the buckle down so it doesn't have an opportunity to slide. The waist belt feels pretty rigid, but comfortable. I like how you tighten the waist belt by pulling inwards - keeps everything tight and tidy. Shoulder straps feel nice and padded, comfortable. Thick(ish) pad on the lumbar.
When detaching the bag from the frame I kinda wish you could just unclip it. There is a total of 4 buckles where you have to unthread them. Not a huge deal I guess, but I'm thinking in cold weather this is a job to do without gloves. I like the built in meat shelf. It adjusts easily to extend the pack away from the frame. (I hope I get to test this out with an elk quarter!) Also it doesn't appear that theres a way to completely detach bag from frame to utilize as a meat hauler only. I noticed some threads where guys were modifying/putting other load shelves in to solve this. I tried to stuff my 3 year old in between the pack and frame and go for a walk. He wasn't a big fan of this idea, so we scrapped that plan about as soon as it started. Tag inside says "designed in USA, made in the Philippines".
The lid. There was an additional 2 buckles inside one pocket of the lid. Can someone explain what these are for? Are they just extra? Do you hook them up somehow to use the lid as a "day pack"? MR markets the lid as a grab-and-go pack if you want to leave the main pack behind for a quick stalk, etc. I'm not totally sure how to use/carry the lid in this way. I will say I didn't mess with it much. Also, it seems to me to be a little sloppy just kinda hanging there on the pack. I would assume that this will tighten up as the pack fills with gear.
After messing around with all that, I grabbed a 40 pound bag of water softener salt and put it in the main compartment to give it a super brief test drive with weight. It sinched up nice and tight. I threw the pack on and clipped up. I pulled the load lifters and felt the load settle into a comfortable spot. Again this is all a first for me, but I thought it was pretty cool to feel that load shift upwards when pulling on the load lifters. I went for a mile walk down my (flat) road. The load did not seem to shift and felt great. Super balanced and comfortable. Again, I thought this to be pretty awesome. (I had been going on hikes with the 40lb salt bag in my old north face pack from high school....so that's my baseline for comfort!)
So....overall first impression as a pack newbie are great. I can't wait to get out there and put it to use.
I'm 6 foot 210 pounds athletic build. I wear a 32x34 pant. I feel like I have a short torso. I ordered the pack in medium.
First impression was very well packaged, durable bag material, and LOTS of buckles! It was sinched down as tight as possible in the box and appeared very streamlined. Zippers seem heavy duty and kind of rubberized to keep it water resistant. The buckles are solid, and I like the little locker they all have. It really seems to, well, lock the buckle down so it doesn't have an opportunity to slide. The waist belt feels pretty rigid, but comfortable. I like how you tighten the waist belt by pulling inwards - keeps everything tight and tidy. Shoulder straps feel nice and padded, comfortable. Thick(ish) pad on the lumbar.
When detaching the bag from the frame I kinda wish you could just unclip it. There is a total of 4 buckles where you have to unthread them. Not a huge deal I guess, but I'm thinking in cold weather this is a job to do without gloves. I like the built in meat shelf. It adjusts easily to extend the pack away from the frame. (I hope I get to test this out with an elk quarter!) Also it doesn't appear that theres a way to completely detach bag from frame to utilize as a meat hauler only. I noticed some threads where guys were modifying/putting other load shelves in to solve this. I tried to stuff my 3 year old in between the pack and frame and go for a walk. He wasn't a big fan of this idea, so we scrapped that plan about as soon as it started. Tag inside says "designed in USA, made in the Philippines".
The lid. There was an additional 2 buckles inside one pocket of the lid. Can someone explain what these are for? Are they just extra? Do you hook them up somehow to use the lid as a "day pack"? MR markets the lid as a grab-and-go pack if you want to leave the main pack behind for a quick stalk, etc. I'm not totally sure how to use/carry the lid in this way. I will say I didn't mess with it much. Also, it seems to me to be a little sloppy just kinda hanging there on the pack. I would assume that this will tighten up as the pack fills with gear.
After messing around with all that, I grabbed a 40 pound bag of water softener salt and put it in the main compartment to give it a super brief test drive with weight. It sinched up nice and tight. I threw the pack on and clipped up. I pulled the load lifters and felt the load settle into a comfortable spot. Again this is all a first for me, but I thought it was pretty cool to feel that load shift upwards when pulling on the load lifters. I went for a mile walk down my (flat) road. The load did not seem to shift and felt great. Super balanced and comfortable. Again, I thought this to be pretty awesome. (I had been going on hikes with the 40lb salt bag in my old north face pack from high school....so that's my baseline for comfort!)
So....overall first impression as a pack newbie are great. I can't wait to get out there and put it to use.
