CARRY COLLAB VI

Mystery Ranch X Carryology: The Birth of a Unicorn

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'Someday day' is finally here

This tale begins in the early days of Carryology (around 2010/2011), when we were a microscopically small group of misfits, who had an idea of creating something BIG around what we were calling ‘carry.’

In those days, we’d dream of doing collab projects with these incredible brands that we covered on the site. “How cool would it be if we could do a collab with someone like Mystery Ranch? Ha, yeah right, maybe someday”. 

Years of building went by. Years of slowly growing this thing called Carryology.com and watching it blossom and flourish as corners of the world began to embrace their inner ‘carry geek’.

And then, sometime in late 2017, now friends with the fine folks at Mystery Ranch, we got down on one knee and asked them the big question… And they said YES. Our dream had been realized – we’d work together with one of the greatest brands on the planet!

Finding the unicorn

Before we could really begin, we had to know what we’d be working on. We combed through the archives. Rolling eyes over a few different versions of Tri-Zip backpacks, even a 3DAP. Each one of these options was completely viable, but they never really had that feeling we were looking for.

So we opened up the history books of Mystery Ranch’s legendary Japanese brand collaborations. The oh-so-sweet Japanese blends of streetwear with Ranch military and outdoor heavyweights.

Then we landed on it. The single collab that had transfixed us all. The unattainable. What if we make the Beams Day Assault… in our own vision? Take it down to its core, rethink everything, and rebuild it. Make it better, stronger, faster, lighter, blacker and more.

In fact, we’d design it to score the highest review rating ever recorded (currently held by the MR 3DAP with a 9.2).

There was radio silence from all parties. Then, there it was… that unanimous “YES!”. That uproar made it official. We would build the unicorn.

From combat to covert

The pack we’d be starting from uses MultiCam camouflage and coyote colored nylon. While it looks cool, it’s designed for the battlefield and can limit versatility. These colors and camo can be off-putting in workplaces, cities, and for some folks. Now, you should know by now… we dig black and minimalist clean lines. This would be a pack that should be able to go anywhere, from work to travel to adventure, domestic or abroad. We all agreed, the exterior would lose the mil-spec colorway and stay ultra-clean, all black, no PALS in sight.

Elite comfort

Adding to the bag’s “anywhere-ability”, we needed comfortable ”anywear-ability”. See what I did there? If you’ve tried on Mystery Ranch’s Futura yoke and harness, you know how lovely it can carry loads while hiking with serious weight. Usually exclusive to MR's military, hunting and hiking lines, we’d incorporate it into this urban / travel / daily beast. Thanks to Dana’s (aka “D3”) genius mind, we were able to streamline the system and deliver minimalism, full adjustability, and a low-profile fold-away waistbelt… that is actually comfortable and legitimately works.

Keep the bomber build. GO lighter. 

It was agreed by every single one of us, one of our favorite attributes of a MR pack is the bomber build. It’s crucial to their DNA. So materials were keenly selected. Dana leads me over to their library of sample materials. His eyes light up and he tells me he remembers this one particular bolt of fabric that would be absolutely insanely awesome to use. We fondle it. He snips a 1” cut in the middle of the 2’x3’ panel and asks me to try to tear it… with all my strength, I can’t even get this already cut fabric to tear another 1 millimeter. This stuff is wild. It would also make the pack cost over $1,000. We explore Dyneema, but again, that would make this unattainable for most of our readers (yes, for this one, we sincerely thought about pricing). Finally, we choose the perfect combination (and perfectly black) fabrics that give a nod to Mystery Ranch’s military heritage and to the future: Dimension Polyant VX21 X-Pac and 500D Cordura with Hypalon functional hints. They accent each other beautifully, as well as help visually reinforce that sexy iconic patterning of the BDA.

Weather the storm

This is a simple one: we chose #10 coated AquaGuard YKK zippers for every exterior pocket. Paired with the X-Pac exterior and X-Pac-lined side pockets, it would be more than enough protection from the elements.

Organize and conquer

We spent the bulk of our time on the details with this one. Refinement and ultimate perfection. One particular area we focused on: organization. We love the cavernous main compartment that the Tri-Zip feature provides, but wanted many more ways to keep smaller items from getting lost. We added pockets, then removed them, and rethought them. Thought about modern tech (i.e. tablets and laptops) and how to protect them. And sprinkled in the option for mods and customization with interior PALS.

Morale booster

And finally, a nod to Mystery Ranch’s military heritage, we’d design a morale patch as seriously awesome and inspiring as the pack. It would be illustrated by Carryology’s co-founder Hadrien Monloup, and would be fun and magical and new levels of rad: a knight riding a unicorn, clutching the holy grail, his shield engraved with the fictional symbol for unobtanium (Un). Yes!