A while back, there was a post on Reddit which flew under the radar about a new Mystery Ranch Front 2.0 bag which showed up on Suburban — a website which sells bags to the Asian market, but also ships to the USA out of Hong Kong. The Front 2.0 looked like everything the market always wanted from the bag, but it was expensive, and not available in the USA directly.
Which of course means I snagged one in Foliage, a color which is quickly fading in US based Mystery Ranch inventory, as Yeti continues the take over of the storied brand.
The Front 2.0 might just be the last great bag Mystery Ranch makes — I’m a big fan of it.
Specs and Such
This is a 500D Cordura bag, with 19L in capacity. It’ll feel just a touch larger than 19L but it is a trim bag overall. Aquagaurd YKK tri-zip setup, with these features:
- Futura Yoke adjustable harness
- Dedicated laptop compartment with hydration compatibility
- Rear zipper for quick laptop access from side.
- Side water bottle pockets with elasticated closures
I cannot find official measurements on this, so here’s mine to the best of what I think is a fair read: 21” tall, 12” wide, and 5” deep at base, with more depth (maybe 7”) at center where the tri-zips meet. This bag comes in two harness sizes, shown here with L/XL size harness (17”-24” torso length). One more change from the original is a loop area on the top of the bag for patches.
It’s nicely made, Mystery Ranch quality on par with the 2 Day Assault line of packs, and also Made in Vietnam.
In Use
In the past I wrote up the differences between the original Front and ASAP, as well as my original Front review. I ended that review wishing the Front had a laptop sleeve — well it seems I was not alone in that wish, as that’s what you get with the 2.0 model.
A quick refresher if you don’t read those other posts:
- The Front was originally a part of the ‘Hunt’ lineup of bags, and designed as an ideally sized daypack for hunters.
- It’s effectively a less overbuilt, and sleeker, version of the ASAP. While the ASAP is for the military and laden in MOLLE, the Front takes a more practical approach.
- I sold my original Front and ASAP when Mystery Ranch released the ASAP SB, which had a laptop compartment. I’ve since sold the ASAP SB, bought back my Front, and then sold that Front again to buy this Front 2.0. I know.
What the Front 2.0 offers is an ideally sized backpack, with one of the best harness systems in the backpack world, setup so that you can hike with it to the top of a mountain, or to the top of your office desk — whatever your day looks like.
This is by far the best EDC/Daypack from Mystery Ranch I’ve used. It nails just about everything, and there’s only a couple items I would change.
I’ve tested this now on two day hikes, one dad bag-swim-meet adventure, and several jaunts out with my full office kit in the bag. It’s excelled at them all, in such a way I am honestly shocked that these small changes make this bag so much better.
This is what I wanted the Front to be all along, and while I bought it mostly because I feared it would be the last great bag Yeti would allow Mystery Ranch to produce — I’ve found that this might just be a bag which gets heavy rotation. However, before we dive into what makes it great, let me first talk about what I would change, as the list is short:
- There needs to be a third, ‘fun’, color option. Something bright. Mystery Ranch is always so serious.
- I would ditch the MOLLE webbing panel on the sides at the top. I don’t see any true utility there, as pouches tend to impede the water bottle pockets.
- I would add compression straps across the front, two rows, top and bottom — swipe them from the 2 Day Assault. These would be a great way to lash things to the bag, in addition to the daisy chain webbing on the front of the bag.
- The cord used for zipper pulls (shown in the images, since replaced) is too thin, and feels crappy. This should be thicker cordage.
That’s all the changes I wish this bag would make — but even without those, this bag is excellent.
Let’s first talk about the Futura yoke harness. This harness system from Mystery Ranch is a favorite of mine. The height of the harness is adjustable, so that the lumbar pad on the back of the bag will always sit in the small of your back. This perfectly positions not only the back panel, but the straps themselves. The straps are nicely contoured, and designed to carry weight comfortably over long periods of time. There’s a frame sheet as part of all of this as well. Generally, the bags under the military line have a slightly denser foam in the straps, so that they can carry more weight comfortably (with a tradeoff that they are less comfortable with lighter loads in the pack) while the rest of the line up has a slightly softer feeling foam. The Front 2.0 has the softer foam, and it’s what you want, even for day hikes and this entire setup is exceptionally good.
The downside of the Futura system is that it’s rather, I guess, formal to wear. You need to wear the bag properly, with it fitted well, with both straps, in order for it to feel good. So if you are a one-strapper, or you like your backpack hanging below your ass, then this will be awful feeling for you — stick with your Jansport.
From there, the bag is really well laid out for gear storage. The top pocket is a real gem on these bags, offering loads of space, with a secondary secured pocket inside. You can put a lot more in this than you think. Inside the bag you get two options: use the pockets, or don’t. If you don’t use anything, you’ll lose almost no capacity, which means you can load this bag with towels and clothing and not be penalized by an empty laptop cavern.
If you do use the pockets in the main section, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the utility. You have a laptop sleeve, with top access, and external side/rear access (note that a reader let me know you can put a 16” MacBook Pro in through the external access, but it’s a little snug to do so, he’d like 1/2” more on the opening). The sleeve also has a front section for a tablet or e-reader. There’s two zipped mesh pockets at the top on the front-side inside of the bag, and at the front on the inside are two large open top pockets, which can section off more gear.
In the past those too large open top pockets (in the ASAP line) were nightmares. They constantly got in the way when loading the bag. Weirdly this has not been an issue for me, or for two others I know with this bag. I suspect the pockets are slightly smaller, but I have no way to know off hand, and that’s why they don’t seem to be annoying as they have been in each ASAP bag.
At 19L the bag is trim, but it packs out closer to 20L, and while that’s a small difference, the external water bottle pockets will give you a little flex space. They hold water bottles well, and secure enough, while looking nice. They also hold bear spray securely enough that I don’t worry about it in there.
I’ve never actually carried this bag when it felt empty, because it’s at the size and the overall shape where it mostly feels like it’s full. Yet there always seems to be extra space at the top for a lot more gear. I thought it was 80% full, and somehow I shoved my Fjallraven Greenland jacket into the bag, and had room to spare for two water bottles on top of it. That’s both because of the non-square shape of the bag, and the fact it can be used as a top-loader which allows for a lot more stuffing when you need it.
Preparing to use this on a day hike, I figured I would want to go back to the Echo when I was done — thinking the Front would be good, not great. But it is great for day hikes. Then I thought a run to the coffee shop would have me swing back to the Whitley, as the Whitley is great and certainly the Front wouldn’t be. Yet I found the Front 2.0 to be really good — not quite great — for office EDC setup but certainly good enough that I wouldn’t yearn for something better.
That slots this bag in a really cool spot. This is a bag you could pack for a long trip where you need to carry your tech on the plane and around a city, do some exploration with it, and still toss it on for a hike — and at worst the bag would only be rated “really good” for any of that (rate by me). Off the top of my head, I can’t think of another bag that achieves that as well as this one.
Overall
I love this bag. There’s now three backpacks in my closet which, as I write this, I would be unable to tell you which two I would be willing to get rid of if push came to shove and I could only keep one — and the Front 2.0 is in that group. Elite company.
The price on this is a tough pill to swallow, but what you get for that price is one of the best all around backpacks I’ve ever used. And, given that, it’s a bargain. I also have no idea how long this bag might be around.