Mystery Ranch Owners: Question for you

[good4nothing]

you sketched out at all about the plastic waist belt buckle? BCA & Mammut & Snow Pulse & ABS seem to think metal is superior in keeping these things on your back, and i'm kind of inclined to agree.

I guess I could swap it, but this might be a deal-breaker for me. Thoughts?

[XavierD]

I've seen a few MR packs jump out of helicopters and airplanes, survive a couple deployments to Afghanistan (which tears up equipment) and all the buckles that were not driven over by trucks still seem to work pretty darn decently. Haven't heard of any falling out of the air faster than they were supposed to either. Don't think there is any differences between the recreational pack buckles and the mil ones either.
My guess is that the boys in Bozeman know what they are doing.

[JoeStrummer]

As overbuilt and overdesigned as those packs are, I am guessing the plastic is probably the same fururistic polycarbonate that Stephen Hawking uses in his Fight Club wheelchair.

[good4nothing]

I've seen a few MR packs jump out of helicopters and airplanes, survive a couple deployments to Afghanistan (which tears up equipment) and all the buckles that were not driven over by trucks still seem to work pretty darn decently. Haven't heard of any falling out of the air faster than they were supposed to either. Don't think there is any differences between the recreational pack buckles and the mil ones either.
My guess is that the boys in Bozeman know what they are doing.

Interesting - I'm more concerned about it keeping a pack on in a slide, and wonder about the plastic bits failing . I was thinking more along the lines of parachute harnesses, which I haven't seen much plastic on. You seen buckles like this in shock-loading type applications?

[garuda]

No, it doesn't concern me. If it concerns you I am sure that MR will be happy to talk to you about the design, strength, testing & whathaveyou. The buckle is way sturdier than a typical plastic buckle and beyond that I think MR is your best source for info rather than speculation.

[saxon]

It doesn't concern me at all, the buckle seems incredibly tough.

[XavierD]

I'm sure you could test it out by buckling it and hanging from it. If it snaps, no go, and get some metal buckles.

That said, I can see plastic icing up less than metal.

[good4nothing]

I'm sure you could test it out by buckling it and hanging from it. If it snaps, no go, and get some metal buckles.

That said, I can see plastic icing up less than metal.

That's what I'm thinking. Their pack is just so much better than anything else out there from a pure backpack design/craftsmanship perspective that I can't really bring myself to spend a comparable sum of cash on a lesser bag. If I'm still sketched out I'll just throw a chute harness buckle on there.

I sent MR an email as well and will post up their reply - thanks for the input team.

[VC]

Interesting - I'm more concerned about it keeping a pack on in a slide, and wonder about the plastic bits failing . I was thinking more along the lines of parachute harnesses, which I haven't seen much plastic on. You seen buckles like this in shock-loading type applications?

Plastic fastex are used to keep gear bags on parachute harnesses.

[Sirshredalot]

I've actually busted a couple of these on their non-airbag packs. But it seemed like the failure came from years of fatigue rather than shock-loading.

So I don't have any advice other than to say that you're not nuts to wonder about this.

[Temagami]

Mystery Ranch did not weigh in on the matter, but see http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...y-airbag/page2 for another discussion on the buckles.

[summit]

They source their buckles from the USA built to much higher strength and quality standards than your average pack buckle. They have tested their buckles on their airbag pack.

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

Based on my handling of it, it does seem bomber and well designed. Intersting comparison to the Miltary packs. As a Blackjack owner, would be curious to hear anything from MR directly on this.

Summit - agree 100% with you there.

[summit]

I emailed one of their reps the link to this thread. I think he is on the road right now so it might be a few days.

[butterscotch]

What XavierD said, components and designs from the military gear trickle down to us civilians.

No issues with my buckle to date, lots of days and ridge hikes on it.

[bnobel]

Hi guys, sorry for the delay here. Been travelling at tradeshows and finally back catching up. This is a fine question. Many of you have chimed in with great answers: Fastex is bomber, we do extensive testing, including drop testing and physical breakage testing, and we do most of our work to American and international militaries who put our packs to the utmost test. However, i do understand the feeling of concern. We dropped our packs on a 180 lb dummy dozens of times and had no breakage. The buckle is rated to 280 lbs of drop weight directly to the buckle itself. When attached to a dummy, we did not witness nearly that much stress in merely 1 buckle alone, as the majority of the stress was spread out, mainly along the connection point at the top of the body panel. We are 100% confident in the buckle, but completely understand other's concerns. The easy issue if you don't dig it, Austal Alpin makes rad metal buckles. (But i will say, they do ice up) Stay with the camming style...
Ben Nobel

[bnobel]

Also, if any of you have specifics, please feel free to email me directly. ben@mysteryranch.com

[johnnygolucky]

I am guessing the plastic is probably the same fururistic polycarbonate that Stephen Hawking uses in his Fight Club wheelchair.

That's some funny shit right there.

[Climber Joe]

Hey, thought I would give some input.

I have a 8 or 9 year old Dana Design Tokaloo pack, and the Mystery Ranch Saddle Peak.

The Tokaloo has been my book back for school for 4 years. I also use it to commute to Big Sky 200 days a year. It has also been cragging, skiing, hiking, and traveling. It has probably seen well over 3000 hours of on the back use. In rain, desert, rivers, and in temps from -50 to 101 degrees.

The ONLY think wrong with it, is the extra fabric tabs on the zipper pulls have worn out/fallen off, which are not needed anyway. Not a torn or worn out stitch or corner. The buckles all work perfectly, and the padding, suspension, webbing and elastics are all in perfect working order.

And as a side benefit, if I ever do break something, I can drive down the road to the Mystery Ranch factory and get it fixed.

P.S. I also love the Arva Protector series, built in back protector and skiability.

[bozman]

I have had my MR for almost six years and have had no issues with any of the buckles.

[RudyGarmisch]

Just wanted to chime in here, these guys were two booths down from us at SIA and the quality of what was at the show blew me away. Bravo, I'm on MR from now on.

[linds-o-rama]

If you're that worried, you could buy one of our dog collars and sew the metal buckle on your pack... they are at least 4x stronger than what I read about above.

http://www.ruffwear.com/Top-Rope-Col...=2&category=16