hey guys Scott Reeekers here with EASTMANS' HUNTING JOURNAL today I am
here to talk about the Mystery Ranch Sawtooth pack as well as the Beartooth
pack a little and why you pick each of them in a specific situation we are
enjoying a wonderful spring bear hunt so we're gonna start with why I'm picking
the Sawtooth for this hunt over the Beartooth theBeartooth is a much
larger pack than the Sawtooth and so that means it's a multi-day excursion
this is a quick trip I had it loaded up because we were thinking we might do
like multiple days on this we decided based on our information with where the
bears are and where they're kind of hanging out that Sawtooth was a much
better option for this hunt because it's two thousand seven hundred and forty six
cubic inches what does that mean that means that I could fit two to three days
in this pack very easily or I can make it a day pack with the potential of
staying overnight like what we're planning on this hunt this would be the
same type style and size of pack that I would use on a run and gun mule deer
hunt which is my favorite type of hunt to go on in the backcountry spend three
days in an area move out if you don't find the buck that you were looking for
that you scouted during the summer to really go through the features and look
at what I want to do with this Sawtooth pack I want to actually pack it with
what I'm taking along on this trip and then you can really see some of the
features including this 270 degree YKK zipper this thing is tough as nails you
can also see like in our situation here there's there's water building up on it
no water is leaking in so the first thing that I'm gonna do is I'm gonna pop
off these SJ auto-lock clips you can see start expanding this and also see that
we've got the gate keepers here velcro open this up so you can get a little
more strap as this expands allows the pack to puff out just the way that you
want it to but also makes it nice for easy storage good I don't know anyone
who can say they have enough storage in their house for all their gear I kind
of like to collect my gear there's a lot of it so if I can compress my backpacks
down make them smaller make them hang nicer inside the closet
that's perfect way to do it Mystery Ranch Sawtooth does just that so you're
gonna start expanding it pop this off pop this off open it up again about 270
degrees and you can see a lot of organized organization inside of this so
I'm gonna start off right here on the side I like to start off especially in a
place like this where I know where I'm going with an empty water bladder
because I don't like carrying extra weight before I have to so I'll take
this water bladder put it in the side that's where I like to store that in
that compartment then opening this up you can also see I've got multiple
zipper compartments for the small stuff there's also on top here another zipper
see the mesh cut down on weight this is a very lightweight pack and so I'll
start with easy to find stuff like my knife will go up there I always have a
couple of lighters with me and I always put them in separate places too so I'll
put one up here in case that gets lost or you accidentally leave it open dump
it out put that up here take the other lighter put it inside my main go to
headlamp will stay in this top pocket now will always be there for easy access
the next thing that I'm gonna do is my bulky stuff bulky stuff always goes in
the bottom and the beauty of this pack again the fact that it expands you can
get it right so I'm gonna take my pillow okay so I have to stay out overnight
sure you noticing a theme here with always be prepared so I've got my sleep
system tarp all inside this put that all down here at the bottom so bottom half
of my bag is filled and so that's what's really nice about this being able to
expand with these locks then the zipper it's tough as nails mystery ranch isn't
known for it and I really appreciate that the zipper moves up and down very
nicely it's just plain tough and going to make it through the toughest
conditions next piece is my extras well I'm hiking in I'm not going to need
my extra base layer so that's gonna go right in here
which is extra warmth a little added added r-value then you can see I've
gotten my rain gear pants those are kind of next in line and I'll intentionally
zip up as I go because with a style like this that opens up I can either open it
up on the ground flat pull something out or use it traditionally like the
entrance from the top I also love this mesh on the inside so I can see what I'm
going after my rain jacket now will get pulled out pretty often because I use my
rain jacket as a softshell you can see that some of the other videos that we've
done where we talk about our layering system no need to double up no need to
have a softshell and a rain jacket when they get function as the same thing
especially with all the breathable materials that are out there now so then
the next piece is my stove so that's gonna go right up here my first aid
slash possibles pouch repurposed lightweight bag from my sleeping pad for
this because I'm no longer using the sleeping pad bag so that goes right up
in here because I get into that thing all the time I want access to this
pretty quickly there's a kill kit so that's that guys gonna go right in here
and you can see it's a little tight but that's ok because with this Mystery
Ranch system you have the overload shelf Mystery Ranch they were the pioneers and
load carriage with the system where you talk about
frame shelf or a shelf in the actual frame that where you could expand your
pack out Dana Gleason actually owns the patent on
that system which is a really cool innovative idea that he came up with
years ago and so you can see that you can put a quarter back there on this
particular case being a bear hunt we'd put the entire bear in there put all of
its hide put the meat that we that we would take
with us in that section and so great feature for that is that overload shelf
for those of you who are like me and like to have quick access to their
snacks that's going on top basically a day's worth of food just stars ippon
there you go almost all the way done kahtoola micro spikes a pack system like
this so it also go in here where it can be compressed because you hear it
jingling compression is going to be very important because you do not want it
making noise when you're on a stalk however having these along when the
ground gets muddy and gross they can be late it can literally be a lifesaver
going to see that I'm going to strap my gaiters to the outside these things are
gross they're wet but you want to have them along because they're very nice to
have for making sure you don't get debris up especially once it starts
getting muddy and getting all that mud on your pants I don't like to have that
because I sleep in my sleeping bag in my pants so the system like this it's very
easy to attach this
to the opposite side where I'm planning to put my rifle it's the last thing that
goes in because you always need quick access to your ammunition I bring an
entire box for variety reasons number one being that I am human I can miss I
always want to be prepared make sure that I have that it's a comfort thing
the other piece of the equation is I rarely hunt alone
I do some solo trips but if you haven't had a buddies rifle get knocked off
where your own rifle get off it's always nice to have extra ammunition along
because that means that you can still continue hunting but make sure you cinch
it down tight to prevent rattles as well pack rattling is something you want to
avoid the nice part about this sawtooth is you can absolutely cinch everything
down very quick easy little tip for these velcro velcro straps making sure
you keep everything under control sometimes you don't want to have to
rewrap the whole thing so what you do wrap it around that strap see that guys
kinda just hang in there this is that now under control not flip-flopping
everywhere last thing I want to do is want to put my rifle on the Sawtooth now
we're going to get it strapped in but first and foremost always safety see
I've got the magazine unloaded you can also see that got the bolt has nothing
in it so check that so you're gonna want to make sure you get your stock down
nice and low and next piece is I like to make sure that my rifle is nice and
cinched down and so I'll put that over the top of the action right underneath
the scope that ensures that that's gonna stay there stay in place then next piece
of the equation so I will always make sure that my sling nice and tight right
there then get that guy cinch down nice and
tight now time to load her up on my back head out and hopefully we can find a
bear the spring now one other piece to remember is I used Mystery Ranch's
patented system this pack has already been adjusted to fit me you can see that
I've got a 36 inch waist so this is a medium that fits a 31 to 36 so this
should fit me just perfect tested it out already size that up when this pack is
riding on your back you want a gap here that's functional shoulder lift Mystery
Ranch has that I'm a tall guy you want to make sure you have that you adjust
your shoulder height right here and pull this out and adjust this whatever height
you need push it down or up accordingly push it down a little further yep break
all the velcro you can see how nice and easy that goes up and down
mr. ranch also did something really nice here they've got a whole system that
allows you to figure out exactly where this is so it's now got markers so
you're not guessing it's real easy to see where you're supposed to be bring
that back to my mark pull this from the velcro breaker back out put that in and
ready to go Mystery Ranch is the only one that has that particular system
functions very well and is an excellent piece of the entirety of this pack
alright so thanks for coming along on this video if you have not subscribed to
our enews there's a link in the description make sure you click on that
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that's going to serve you well in the field so make sure you subscribe to our
YouTube channel finally make sure you visit mysteryranch.com and you can see
all of these features here you can see the Beartooth
well which has a lot of comparable features same style just a much bigger
version and you can see what it would be useful for on the multi-day trips
Brandon Mason and I are going to go and see if we can find a spring bear who
wants to take a ride home with us in the Mystery Ranch pack
water smacking my face is awesome