Mystery Ranch pintler

[Mnmike]

I’ve been looking closely at the pintler pack. Looks like a good day pack with the ability to haul meat. Wandering how well you can tighten the straps that are sandwiching the quarter between the frame and bag. From the pics I see on there web site , it seem like the frame would bend easily?? Causing a quarter to move around a bit. Not sure if this is the case or not, I’ve never used a pack with a meat shelf. Or if no experience with pintler how about a pop-up pack frame. I really like the looks , idea of that pack too. I’ll listen to all pro/cons. Thanks

 

[WesWainscott]

I’ve had my Pintler for about a year and a half now. Only packed meat in it once. But it performed perfect. Hauled gear, tree stand and 50lb bag of corn and never had an issue.

 

[Sammymusi]

I just ordered the pop up 28 , hoping itll do what I need it to do.. I love the idea of the compact frame but not sure its gonna be a beast in the elk country

 

[Desk Jockey]

Do a bit of a search. There have been some threads to compare these.

Pintler is a full size frame. More bulk, weight and money but a better hauler. It will handle a load +70# and packs down to a decent day pack.

Pop up is more compact, light and cheaper. It is a better daypack that can haul but not as well. My 28 was a bit on the small side. Went 38 now.

 

[Mnmike]

That pop up 38 looks like it going to be a great pack, I’m looking forward to reading reviews about that one.

 

[JohnnyB]

My Pintler hauled two bears last year. It is my most versatile pack by far. Unless I am going in for more than three days, the Pintler gets the call. I use my Metcalf bag for anything longer than 3 days though it is possible to load the meat shelf of the Pintler to extend its capabilities.

 

[Mnmike]

Does the pintler frame allow for a good tight strap down of the load with out the frame flexing to much?? Hard to tell from pics how rigid the frame is.
thanks

 

[Jeremyc_1999]

I don't feel like the frame flexs when tightened down. Its a similar system to the pop up, so I don't know that you would see a difference either way. You could also look for pictures of the metcalf. It's the same frame, but a different bag. I have both and don't think that the meat hauling capability on the load shelf is any different on either one. I always have paracord in my pack and could use that to secure the game bags better in the meat shelf, but I have never felt the need to have to.

 

[JohnnyB]

I haven had any issues with load shifting or frame flexing. To be clear, if you are looking for a pack that makes hauling out 80+ pounds comfortable, I am not sure it exists. It is a suck fest. But the Pack did its job and I never had to stop to make adjustment. Not sure what the limit the frame could handle but there are probably guys on this site that have pushed it.

 

[Mnmike]

Thanks for the info, I’m definitely going with one of these two packs, with the good experiences you guys have had.

 

[danaholley16]

Im in a toss up between these two as well. Great deals to be had on the older pintler right now... One thing that's turning me off from the pop up 38 is the compression straps that run over the water bottle holders... Most of my hunts would be day hunts and some overnighters for blacktail in California. Decisions, decisions....

Sent from my moto e5 play using Tapatalk

 

[Mnmike]

I did notice the strap going over the water bottle pocket. I do not like that either. Hard to believe they let that go like that.

 

[roosiebull]

Does the pintler frame allow for a good tight strap down of the load with out the frame flexing to much?? Hard to tell from pics how rigid the frame is.
thanks

the frame is solid, they pack weight really well. the weight limit of their frame has to do with you. the frame will handle more than you.... if we were discussing a kuiu….

 

[Sammymusi]

Got the pop up 28 yesterday it looks to be quite solid ! I flipped the bars up they seem to be pretty sturdy. I'll start messing with weight this week !

 

[Mnmike]

Got the pop up 28 yesterday it looks to be quite solid ! I flipped the bars up they seem to be pretty sturdy. I'll start messing with weight this week !

Let us know your thoughts with weight in it. I’m also thinking about a pop up also.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I've been carrying a Pintler since it first arrived on the Guide Light frame. I've hunted the guts out of this pack over several years and I simply cannot find appreciable fault with it. I happen to like the Guide Light frame and certainly haven't found anything about it which would push me toward a newer generation. As for the Pintler bag...well...anyone knows a bag of that size isn't for extended trips carrying all your gear. It's a 3-5 day bag at most, and it's extremely well suited to use as a serious day pack. I've never been one to like a busy pack with loads of exterior stuff (pockets, zippers, straps and so on) so the Pintler is about perfect for me.

I've added some accessories to my pack. Those include a set of molle hip pad covers, a custom load sling (yank the bag and use it for meat chores) and a blood-proof tapered meat carrying bag. All in all...the Pintler has continued to be one of the best investments I've ever made in my gear kit.

 

[Mnmike]

the frame is solid, they pack weight really well. the weight limit of their frame has to do with you. the frame will handle more than you.... if we were discussing a kuiu….

No discussing mystery ranch frames. I did look at the Kuiu pack and did like those. Might go back and research those a little more.

 

[roosiebull]

No discussing mystery ranch frames. I did look at the Kuiu pack and did like those. Might go back and research those a little more.

my best advice is no need to research kuiu… nothing against kuiu, I own a lot of their stuff, and their rain gear is the best in the biz, but packs aren't their thing. without sounding like i'm bashing them, i'll just leave it as I have been down that road, and would pick a pop up for hauling weight over a kuiu frame every time.

their full size frame is of course more capable than the pop up. Mystery ranch makes great packs. i'm in the market for another full size pack (4000ish CI) and i'm torn between a kifaru and a mystery ranch.... tough decision so far.

in the past 5 years I have owned horn hunter, kuiu, EXO, and Mystery ranch.... mystery ranch has been my favorite. I hauled one bull out with a kifaru, and it was nice... not a stand alone, but not worse than the EXO or MR.... it was not my pack, so probably not ideally set up for me (but obviously close) i'm kinda leaning that way, but I have little real world experience with them, and they have an almost overwhelming lineup.

packs are expensive, and I look at them like optics, not a good category to go outside of the tried and true, and well liked. the packs I would consider are kifaru, EXO, mystery ranch, and stone glacier (may consider seek outside some day, but would need to at least handle and try one on first) besides them, I just am not considering.... it's a high dollar item, and a very important item.... either buy a nice pack, or waste a bunch of money in the upgrading process... if you wear packs a lot, and rely on them, you will eventually end up with a high end pack, cheaper to buy one out of the gate and save a bunch of money.

of course i like to learn hard lessons, but i have got to the point of knowing the importance of a good pack now, and there is no going backwards.

i did the same with optics, wasted a ton of money over the years upgrading my glass, to ultimately end up with 2 pairs of swaros.

stick to your initial train of thought, Mystery Ranch will serve you well... if not mystery ranch, than kifaru, EXO, or stone glacier.... or you will eventually be upgrading, and the pack you are upgrading won't be worth selling. good packs hold their value, the rest don't.

 

[Jeremyc_1999]

No discussing mystery ranch frames. I did look at the Kuiu pack and did like those. Might go back and research those a little more.

I went from Kuiu to Mystery Ranch. There is no way that you could get me to go back to Kuiu. I like backpacks and will probably own an exo, kifaru, and stone glacier some day

 

[Sobrbiker]

I went with a Cabinet on the Guide Light frame recently.
I haven’t hunted with it yet, but am commenting because you said “day pack with ability to haul meat”. That is exactly what I was looking for and why I chose the Cabinet. I like the “wing” pockets for optics etc, and they provide better “sides” for meat shelf than just strapping in my opinion. With the two wing pockets and the main bag there’s plenty of room for day hunt type stuff, whereas I figured the larger main bag of the Pintler would tempt me to carry more crap (weight) than I need. I’ll be getting their 40L roll top hauler bag to gain another 2500ci if I need multi day hunt capability (not often).
It’s done trial runs of bulky shifty items really well-I loaded up 60# of ammo/reloading components in ammo cans on meat shelf and tried it out for a couple miles and it carried great. I’ll be stealing a 40-50# bag of horse feed from my wife to use for training so I don’t have sharp corners, but it didn’t show any wear from a couple miles of can corners.

Only pluses to me for the new Guide Light MT is they went back to Molle on the waist belt, but I’ve got the Molle sleeves member pods8 makes on the way. And the 2020+ bags will fit the MT frame without any buckle changes (but the flip side is used packs out there on the market will need mods to fit new frame, so pick your poison).

MR’s photo showing the Cabinet doing exactly what I want a daypack to be capable of: