Prior to knowing we would be using the Scape Artist for a collab jumping-off point, Alex had designed and handmade his very own version of an updated Scape Artist (he was a fan already!), with a laser-cut MOLLE Stick-It style tail and other unique tweaks. Here, D3 (Dana Gleason’s son, also named Dana) and Alex Rich (one of the super-talented pack designers at The Ranch) are both waiting for me at a worktable stacked with a pile of prototypes and Scape Artists. Past racks upon racks of stacked multi-colored Cordura nylon fabric rolls and past a sea of whirring sewing machines piloted by some of the best sewers on US soil, I enter the belly of the beast… the design room.
But damn, I can’t say I’m not looking forward to the next time I actually get to hug that gent. Always great to shoot the breeze with him, a design hero of mine as well as a fantastic human. Dana and I exchange friendly small talk through our fabric masks. Walking into the front door of “The Ranch” (the nickname for MYSTERY RANCH’s HQ and factory), I see “The Big Guy” (the nickname for Dana Gleason, founder). Feeling that crisp mountain air as I step out of the airport, makes me want to go after it. Unlike most folks from hot-weather states, visiting the cold is a rare treat and one that I enjoy. For me, that’s just what I was hoping for. I watch a warm sunny Austin, Texas disappear down into the clouds from my window seat (window seats always and forever) and land into a blistering-cold snow-covered Bozeman, Montana. One that if you are able to find one, it regularly sells for between $800-$1,000 USD on eBay, secondhand, and made of Cordura nylon. One of the most desired MYSTERY RANCH backpacks of all time. The unattainable, ultra-rare reimagined hunting pack turned urban legend. It had to be the Japanese powerhouse A&F’s 40th-anniversary celebration pack. During our first phone call, the words were already inside my mouth, trying to force their way out… “SCAPE ARTIST!” Hopefully, I didn’t scream it. Like The Unicorn, a mythical beast searched for but never attained, MYSTERY RANCH x Carryology round two needed the same DNA – we had to make the unattainable attainable.
CARRYOLOGY AER FIT PACK 2 HOW TO
How to create a Dragon…Ī lost (but not forgotten) mythical beast Heck, it had to breathe flames and toast The Unicorn to a crisp.
Our next collaboration had to eclipse The Unicorn. And then the question arose: “What next?”. Just four minutes after the website said “SOLD OUT” on the first drop, I reached for my phone and immediately texted D3 to congratulate him. And it sold out in just minutes… on two separate drops.Īfter experiencing what can only be described as shock, we rubbed the dust from our eyes. It was a project of labor, love, and inspired by one of the rarest packs of all time, the Beams Day Assault pack. If you’re reading this, you’re aware of the last collaboration: the MYSTERY RANCH x Carryology Assault pack, AKA ‘The Unicorn’.
One of the greatest pack makers the world has ever seen. Our second collaboration with none other than MYSTERY RANCH. Ladies and gentlemen, our team is incredibly proud to introduce the… By Senior Editor at Carryology, Taylor Welden MYSTERY RANCH x Carryology: The Dragon Awakens