My review of Mystery Ranch Dragon Slayer as a hiking pack.

PiterM

PiterM

Joined
Mar 27, 2000
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Hi! I'm usually posting in Chris Reeve and Spyderco forums but I've just finished an extensive review of my Dragon Slayer so I thought I'd share with you.

Disclaimer: I purchased it with my own hard earned money a year ago and I'm keeping it for adventures to come :)

It's on Pack Config blog but since it's not knife related blog and not commercial one I hope it's ok tompost it here:

http://www.packconfig.com/post/117001712422/reviewmrdragonslayer

Enjoy! Oh, I'd gladly discuss it here if you have any questions. BTW, I'm 186cm and the pack has M sized yoke.

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Thanks for that Piter! The camelback Trizip is the first pack in a smaller size that I have ever found that fit my long torso well. The use of the MR Futura Yoke on that pack made it adjustable in a truly brilliant way. I added a couple of extra pouches to it and it's now been to India twice and several locales around the states. It has worked perfectly. I have a trip coming up to Paraguay at the end of the summer and with this being just a bit bigger then the Trizip I think I'm going to try and sell off my backup Trizip and pick this up.

Excellent review and pics and thanks again for posting.
 
Nice review. I have the camelback trip and love it. The MR was just to expensive at the time. Appears they have come down in price which is good to hear.
 
Great review and beautiful pics Piter!
Thanks for sharing.
 
Still enjoying my Dana Design packs but that Trizip sure looks like another great design. $300 isn't too bad either, considering the high-quality and lifetime durability. Hmmm.

Great review, thanks for sharing here. That looks like great country for hiking with children. I appreciate the variety of photos from different angles. I also like your mention of straps; most people think Dana G. uses too many that are too long but they don't realize the versatility they add.

Is it easy to open the top part of the pack? Do you just grab the flap between the junction of the two side zippers and pull back? Can it be done with heavy gloves on? Thanks again.
 
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Cool review, thanks for sharing! :thumbup:

How do you like the tri-zip system compared to a standard panel loader?

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I'm not Piter but I can answer a few questions based on my Camelback Trizip.

Trestle- Yes it's easy to grab and just pull up. The first few times I wondered if it would effect the zippers but I've been using my black Trizip for 3 years and it shows no signs of damage, excessive wear or malfunction. As to it's ease with gloves on I think that would depend on the gloves. Very heavy gloves may be a struggle but anything thinner shouldn't be to hard.

Sideways- It gives you a lot more options and it's easier to close a tightly packed bag in my opinion. Instead of wrestling to get it to zip correctly around the corners having stuff squeeze out the side you just pull the two sides together and zip straight up. It may be less of an issue if you have clothes folded in the bag but if you have subloads in separate smaller bags then it is definitely easier.
 
TLR, indeed! It's easy to open the top 'flap' with one hand. And overall usability and packability is MUCH superior to panel packing system. At least for me.
 
I quite enjoyed that review. Very well written. I find myself more into backpacks lately, and I enjoy reading and learning about good ones. My old pack broke on a trip last year, and I went a little crazy trying to figure out what I needed. I'm happy with the pack I got for what I need most now, but I do want to get a honest to god hiking pack at some point.

I'm also envious of the Harsey knife (is that a Tactical Trout?) :)
 
Oh, are you the guy he made that for? I saw a picture of that (or one at least) on his facebook, it was actually the first time I had seen a Nessmuk. It's a lovely knife.
 
I have the exact pack and love it! Great review. Thanks for posting.
 
It really looks like a fantastic knife. And it is good to see that it is getting used.
 
How do I contact the knife maker to see about having him build me a knife? That is a beauty! Great write up, I'm also using the same pack for my adventures.
 
I love everything Mystery Ranch. I've had a 3 day assault for a few years on just about every continent and many mountains. I bought a tri-zip overload over a year ago and it has carried many 100+ lb. loads over 100's of miles and has a nice elk blood patina on it. I finally gave it a good cleaning a month ago and have put just over 100 miles on it since. Mystery Ranch products have held up for me better than any others.
 
That tactical nessmuk is about the best design for my preference I have seen. Is Mr Harsey still making knives?
 
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