In our quest to tell you about all the new packs from Mystery Ranch in the Assault Pack Line, we previously told you about the Gunfighter 14. That was the smallest of the bags in the line. This article’s spotlight will be shined on the Mystery Ranch Raid LT 32. You will get a full review of the raid pack later in the fall, but so far, it has been a great daily driver.
Read on.
The Raid LT 32 is the second largest of the bags in the new line. The 32 Litre bag is the same size as the 3-Day Assault pack but comes in at almost a pound and a half lighter or a 30% drop in weight.
BLUF: Get your Mystery Raid 32 LT right here online.
Let’s dive into the bag and what makes it different from its predecessors.
Raid Pack
The Raid LT 32’s Departures
The most significant departure from the venerable Mystery Ranch 3-Day Assault Pack is the lack of the Tri Zip opening. Instead, the Raid LT 32 has a traditional splayed style open you are used to from your childhood backpack. This means the bag only unzips just under half of its height instead of all of the way to the bottom. This means you must pull things out of the top or rummage around the sides to grab items at the bottom. In the field, the bottom of the bag for me would have things like a ranger blanket or a rain jacket that are easy to pull out but not something I need to grab quickly.
I like small dry-style bags in my pack, organizing things by a specific type like food in one bag, etc. Also, the 3-Day Assault packs compression straps run across the front of the bag while the Raid LT’s zig-zag across each side.
3-Day vs. The Raid LT
The 3-Day is better for storing bulkier objects on the back, while the Raid LT is better at strapping things using the bottle pocket like trekking poles. The other most considerable departure for the compression straps is the width of the webbing. The LT uses 3/4″ webbing instead of the 1″ on the 3-Day, living up to the LT designation. Speaking of which, the LT stands for light, and this isn’t the only weight-saving change for the bag since they went with 330D cougar nylon instead of 500D Cordura.
The final weight-saving changes come with the material used in the PALS webbing and the bottle pockets on each side. The LT uses a laser-cut PALS surface that blends better with the bag than the woven webbing on the 3-Day. In addition, the bottle pocket combines a stretch material along with the 330D cougar nylon. Now that we have talked about some weight-saving changes, it’s time to talk about the rest of the bag’s features.
The Bottom of the Bag
At the bottom of the back of the bag is a laser-cut PAL’s webbing-covered pouch with a good amount of storage for its size. Inside the pouch are two mesh elastic topped pouches that handily hold a 30-round AR15 magazine, each with room in the front of the pouch to store other items you want close at hand. Just under this pouch at the bottom of the bag is a single line of webbing attached to the bag, unlike the two on the bottom of the 3-Day.
Above this pouch is the other laser-cut PALS patch for attaching any other MOLLE goods like a multitool pouch or an admin pouch. If you keep heading upward, you will find the large velcro patch area and a zippered pocket that I tend to use for my sunglasses, and a USB battery pack. Every zipper on the bag has a tie-down point at the end that also acts as a bit of a zipper garage.
Talking Straps
When it comes to straps, you get your grab handle consisting of the double-over webbing providing a sturdy point to haul your pack. The actual shoulder straps for the bag feel pretty damn familiar if you have had one of their bags. You get the curved and contoured straps to fit your body better, but most importantly, you get the Futura Yoke which provides a ton of adjustability using the plastic spade hidden within.
The strap system on this bag is the light version, so it is a bit thinner than you have seen before. This has been one of my favorite features of Mystery Ranch bags because you can customize your fit perfectly and get your hip straps exactly where you want them. Along with the Futura Yoke, you get the sternum strap and a hide-away hip belt which stores in a slot behind the bottle pockets. The 3D spacer mesh of the back looks and feels exactly like the 3-Day if you have handled one of them, so no surprises there.
Inside the Bag
Inside the bag, you are greeted with another fairly familiar sight. The back panel of the pack has your 3×4 PALS grid for mounting pouches to that you can also stuff/route things behind it. Under that is a dump pocket with elastic at the top to hold its contents firmly. The bag doesn’t come with a toggle to hang hydration bladders from, though, and I think that is a bit of an omission.
Instead, you get a single zippered mesh pocket on the front of the bag, and you can see it in the exterior pocket at the top of the pack. Finally, a single drainage grommet is at the bottom of the bag to help get dirt and water out.
One big thing we wanted to touch on with this series of articles is that all of the Assault Pack line from Mystery Ranch is designed, cut, sewn, and handled with care and attention in the United States of America. Americans are given jobs to make these badass bags that go to the battlefield and beyond. The quality of work that goes into these bags is nothing but impressive and not only that, they have a tag with the initials of the worker who made the bag and the person who inspected it.
To order this bag or see what else Mystery Ranch has released in the new Assault Pack line, head on over here virtually, to Bozeman Montana, or hit up your local dealer and see what they have. We hope to see more LT variations of other popular Mystery Ranch backpacks.
Read the original article in its entirety at breachbangclear.com.
