Mystery Ranch new packs

I took the new frame for a spin yesterday. Sure seems like more than a pound shaved off with nothing lost in comfort at all. I was surprised. Looking forward to using on something heavy, maybe 4 fresh skinned wolf hides and skulls..

Does anyone know if the older packs that were compatible with the NICE frame will be compatible with the new frame?

I heard they are compatible. It looks like its a skeletonized nice frame with the load lifter built in. The big question is will we be able to buy frames and bags separately like we used to be able to. If not, I think that will be a dumb move on their part.

I got to check out the new frame in person yesterday - just picking it up compared with the NICE frame makes you smile. One thing that I haven't read or noticed in pictures is the use of hypalon to.give more flex to the aeembly (torsionally, not vertically). That part is very impressive, there's flex, but no barrelling. I asked about the "becoming stronger as you load it up" statement, which they explained is the more you weight the frame, the more it reinforces itself vertically. The black at the top of the frame is all that hypalon material, and it's used where the horizontal stays connect to the vertical ones on the outside of the frame. The stay layout is the same as a NICE frame, they are just smaller in size.

The waistbelt is smaller than the NICE frame with less foam. The belt connection to the frame is different. The biggest thing is the belt webbing is higher up (not centered), which I assume is to help cup the belt over your hips. The belt isn't thick (vertically) like a kifaru or stone glacier, but the foam and lumbar pad felt substantial, and is finished quite nicely.

One thing they still do, which I think really helps comfort wise, is a thin layer of rigid material over the waistbelt and yoke where the webbing is pressing. They say that helps distribute load across the foam better, and after running a pack without that, I believe it. Overall, I was really impressed with the changes, lots of buckless changed out for tri-slides, which is a welcome change.

They didn't have any new bags in the showroom so I can't comment on those.....from looking at them, the Marshall and Metcalf have some extra seams put in vertically where the lid attachment straps are. This makes it so the side and back compression straps span a shorter area. I'm really curious why they decided to do that....I suspect it's to make the bag compress down cleaner along those new seams, not sure.