Mystery Ranch has been teasing the first of three drops called BZN Special Blend. I present the first, the BZN Special Blend 001 Summit 26 – Black & Orange which is based on a classic Kletterwerks design with a touch of the Ranch thrown in for good measure.
The name itself is pretty cool. About 15 years ago Mystery Ranch created a pack for Navy SEALs called “Dana’s Special Blend.” These fully featured expedition packs are still sought after by military personnel and hikers alike, demanding top dollar. The BZN in the name obviously refers to Bozeman, the town Dana Gleason chose to set down roots as he wandered across country, working his way west from Massachusetts in various outdoor stores. It’s also where these packs are made; right at home in the mothership.
The pack lives up to the name in its basic coolness. It goes way beyond the fact that there are only going to be 250 of these on the street.
The 26 Liter Summit 26 is perfect for running around town. It features a large zippered panel loading pocket with an internal padded laptop sleeve. For those of you who are a bit more adventurous, there’s an internal toggle to hang your hydration reservoir. There’s also a Velcro pile field on the inside of the panel flap to attach your favorite accessories.
There are a couple of rows of low profile PALS webbing at each side of the bag along with bar tacked webbing down the front of the panel flap, to strap extras on. There’s also a vertically zippered pocket on the panel flap for those items you need to access quickly and it’s furnished with dual webbing haul handles at the top. It’s very well set up for travel and commuting.
A final note…the zippers. These aren’t just any old zippers. These are YKK IR-compliant zippers. I’d expect nothing less from Mystery Ranch, the entire pack is well made and from the highest quality materials.
Launching 1 March, 2022.
Keep checking www.mysteryranch.com/BZNBuilt which should go live soon with additional info.