The Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 is an improved design pack with increased durability, fully recycled and if you’re a summit hiker or overnight backpacker, may the only bag you need.
Table of Contents
ToggleGood to know: The pack we’ve reviewed is the women’s fit, and this daypack is also offered in a men’s variant. It’s also offered in a L/XL fit, so is suitable as an increased size for all genders.
Pros / Reasons to Buy
- Well thought out storage design
- Waist belt and shoulder straps are very comfortable
- Can be repaired
Cons / Reasons to Avoid
- Pricey
- Not so keen on front opening zip
The Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 Women’s pack is a great, versatile option for hikers who want a pack that can fit a number of purposes. It’s just big enough for lighter weight overnight trips, and perfect for carrying heavier loads on a day trip.
Combine this with its multiple attachment points, full back suspension system and wealth of padded straps, it’s a comfortable pack that will see you through the most demanding trails. It also makes use of some well thought out storage solutions which will make organising your gear easy.
Editor’s note: This article is part of our overall guide to the best daypacks, see more in this guide:
- Best Daypacks for Hiking
- How to Choose The Right Daypack For Your Hike
- How We Tested Hiking Daypacks
- Compare Hiking Daypacks
You may also be interested in: Best Waterproof Hiking Backpacks
Compare to Similar Products:
Product | Osprey Talon 22 | Gregory Maya 25 | Deuter Speed Lite 23 | Osprey Stratos 24 | Gregory Citro 24 | Rab Tensor 20 | Osprey Daylite/Plus | Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 | Black Diamond Distance 15 | The North Face Basin 24L | Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil 20 | Cotopaxi 24L Batac Pack | Granite Gear Dagger Ultralight | Rab Adrift 24L | Adidas Terrex Climacool Daypack | Cotopaxi Luzon Del Dia 24L |
Buying Options | ||||||||||||||||
Our Award | Best Overall Daypack | Best Overall Daypack - runner up | Best Daypacks For Women | Best Daypacks For Men | Best Waterproof Hiking Daypack | Best Daypack For Hot Weather | Best Daypack For Travel | Best Hiking Daypack With Hydration | Best Lightweight Daypack | |||||||
Type and Style | Lightweight all purpose backpack for hiking, climbing and bikepacking | Active hikes, longer trails, climbing | Hybrid trail running/hiking/climbing | Full suspension backpack | Full suspension hiking pack | Lightweight summer pack | Lightweight lifestyle travel/hiking pack | Full suspension backpack/summit pack | Hybrid trail running/hiking/climbing | Hiking and biking | Ultralight daypack | Basic hiking | All round hiking | Fully waterproof hiking | Basic hiking, travel and general day to day use | Basic hiking, general everyday use, travel |
Material | bluesign®-approved recycled 100D x 210D wave check high-tenacity nylon with a PFC-free DWR coating. | 100D 30% recycled high density nylon, 200D 45% recycled high density nylon | 140D and 100D recycled polyamide | 210D recycled nylon body, 420D recycled nylon accents and bottom with a PFC/PFAS-free DWR | 210D Honeycomb Cryptorip Nylon and 420D High Density Nylon body. EVA foam straps, alloy steel frame. 135D High Density and 50% recycled polyester lining | 100% recycled 420D polyester ripstop | bluesign® approved 300D recycled polyester | 210D recycled nylon, DWR | UHMWPE ripstop body fabric and mesh | 210D recycled ripstop nylon and 600D recycled polyester also all with non PFC DWR | 15D high strength nano nylon fabric with silicon coating for water resistance | Offcut material used from other brands production runs, making a sustainable pack | Nylon (100D and 210D) | PFAS Free ripstop nylon | 100% recycled polyester | Offcut material used from other brands production runs, making a sustainable pack |
Capacity | 22 liters | 25 | 23L | 24L | 24 liters | 20 liters | 20 liters | 30L | 15L | 24L | 20L | 24L | 22L | 24L | 32L | 24L |
Breathability | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Not as good as some other models | OK | OK | Not as good as some other models | Poor | OK | Good | OK | OK | OK |
Pockets | 6 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 6/7 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
Dimensions | 48 x 28 x 23 cm | 50.8 x 28.4 x 23.3 cm | 52 x 27 x 18 cm | 59 x 34 x 24cm | 52 x 28 x 20 cm | 50 x 30 x 23cm | 43 x 26 x 20 cm | 57 x 27 x 24 cm | 47 x 32 x 13 cm | 50 x 27.9 x 17 cm | 48 x 28 x 20 cm | 51 x 28 x 18 cm | 53.34 x 33.02 x 20.32 cm | 52 x 30 x 25 cm | 50 x 26.5 x 17 cm | 60 x 30 x 17 cm |
Rain Cover | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No - but the daypack is already waterproof | No | No |
Durability | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Excellent | OK | Good | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Good |
See the Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 in more detail:
Analysis and Test Results
I was very impressed with the Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 in my tests and round up of best day pack contenders. I loved using it as an overnight pack and found there was plenty of space for the gear I needed – especially when divided up with my backpacking partner.
It’s really comfortable to wear too. I’ve had this pack exceptionally well padded out with gear and the suspension system offered alongside the well-padded shoulder and waist straps make carrying loads a breeze.
I loved the divided front pockets on this pack that allow you to organise well on the trail and the opportunity to add Mystery Ranch’s Quick Zoid Bags makes for additional storage solutions and organisation on the go. It’s repair service also means that it could very easily last you a long time.
Performance Comparison
Type and Style
This 30L pack from Mystery Ranch fits into the more technical, full suspension category. With its size offering, it is suitable for shorter, overnight backpacking trips just as much as it is for day hikes and carrying heavier loads in a supported way.
For lightweight backpackers, this may be suitable for longer trails too, depending on the rest of your gear. At 1.2kg/2.7lb, it is not the lightest pack in our reviews, but also not the heaviest by a long shot!
It also comes with a range of attachment points for specialist gear, making it exceptional for alpine ascents, and also fits into the category of summit pack. It’s a solidly made, versatile pack, and this is one of the reasons we’ve awarded it best hiking daypack with hydration in our overall reviews.
Material
The Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 is made entirely of recycled materials (210D nylon to be exact). The zips are YKK and a DWR coating keeps the pack water resistant in light to moderate rain. I’ve had this pack filled to the brim and the materials used allow it to feel really durable, which is great news if you’re planning to use this for backpacking as well as day hikes. It’s clearly built to last, and the mesh sections feel exceptionally well made too.
Breathability
One area where I think Mystery Ranch could improve this pack a little is when it comes to breathability. The back suspension system doesn’t contain the kind of extensive mesh on some other packs (like the Gregory Citro 24 for example, which is highly breathable).
On hotter hikes, I found my back was feeling a little sweaty on longer trails with a heavier pack. However, this is to be expected anyway. For most hikers, I don’t think this will be a make or break. You can’t expect no sweat in certain scenarios, but it is something to be aware of.
Waterproofing
The pack is offered with a DWR coating only, which makes the Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 water resistant rather than fully waterproof. Of course, you can add an extra waterproof cover, bought separately if you want to prolong the use of this pack and fully protect it from the elements.
In my tests, I found that this pack stands up well to light to medium rain. I do think a cover is needed for anything heavier than this. I’d also advise, if you can, adding a waterproof liner, such as a plastic bag inside the pack just to give you that bit more protection from rain.
Dimensions
The pack is decently sized at 57x27x24cm/ 22.5″x10.5″x9.5 in. This means it won’t be suitable as your small hand luggage item on a flight, but for hikers that want a pack for overnight missions or heavier loads, then this pack could be a solid option.
The pack is pretty rectangular in shape, which I found makes it easy to load everything you need, in the right places and it will allow the weight to be distributed well. It does feel a little long on shorter backs, but for average height to slightly taller hikers, this does feel like the perfect fit.
Fit
Mystery Ranch offer this pack in a number of sizes – the XS – S, M/L in the women’s fit. With the men’s fit, this also extends out to L/XL too. Don’t let the gender of the pack bother you too much – go with what seems right to you based on measurements. The other thing that’s good about the pack is that at L/XL, the waist belt offers a pretty good length adjustment too.
This pack suits those with a regular height frame just as well as it does taller hikers. For shorter and more petite hikers, you may find this pack to be overkill or feel a little large on the body.
There are also various areas that can be adjusted well to get the perfect fit. It has a lightweight trail yoke that claims to adjust to torso length, and in truth, whilst I wasn’t aware of this, it does feel like this pack sits and moulds to your shape well, making it very comfortable to wear.
Storage
At 30L, this pack does feel bigger than some of the others in our reviews. However, it’s great if you know you’ll need to take extra or heavier loads with you. It also comes with 7 pockets (including the sleeve inside for a hydration pouch).
Admittedly, my personal preference is always to go with a slightly smaller pack – I just prefer how they feel on my back. However, I was pretty impressed with how streamlined the Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 felt on my back. Even when full.
For shorter overnight trips, this pack has become one of my go to options – I can easily fit everything I need (when sharing the load with my backpacking partner) including tent and sleeping pad. The one area I wasn’t quite so keen on with this pack is the front opening system.
Of course, the main zips at the top do allow you to just throw your gear into the pack. However, the full, front opening zips do offer an interesting solution that I really wanted to like. I found, though, that these in reality are fairly impractical. You can only really open them when the pack is on the floor and you’ll find your gear does want to fall out when you do this, so a repack is generally necessary.
That aside, this pack has some good attachment points and I do like the two winged front section pockets that are part mesh and part nylon. I found that these stash pockets are handy for dividing what you might want to put in the front. I like to add my hiking poles to one side and a waterproof to the other. There’s also the option to add Mystery Ranch’s Zoid Bags to the inside of the pack using the attachment points, which gives extra storage solutions. Though this does of course come at extra cost.
I did find also that I needed to be mindful of what I put into the top pouch. If you put too much in and the backpack isn’t full, it will feel like it sags down. So just keep that in mind too! Overall, though, I was impressed with the storage options this pack offers.
Comfort
The Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 makes use of comfortable, padded shoulder straps which are quite wide. They give good dispersion on the shoulders, especially when carrying a heavier load. The waist belt pockets are also well padded, and wide. I found when carrying a fully loaded pack for longer hikes that these felt really comfortable and I wasn’t really aware of any trail fatigue caused by it.
I was also a fan of the extra padding that is provided at the bottom of the back on the back where the waist belt straps meet the pack. This actually feels really comfortable to wear, especially when you have heavier and bulkier items down the bottom of the pack.
The back suspension system feels really comfortable too and keeps the pack sitting well on your back. It’s not as ventilated as some of the other packs I’ve tested, but it feels pretty comfortable even on hotter days. Though I have experienced some sweating on warmer hikes. However, that’s to be expected when carrying a heavier pack!
Features
Outwardly, the Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 is a pretty simple pack, but when you dive in a little further, it actually has plenty of well thought out features. As mentioned above, one of the things I like the most is the divided, almost winged front mesh/nylon pockets. I love being able to divide up the items I want to put in the front and keeps things well organised.
Another feature I quite liked is the sturdy attachment points placed at different areas of the pack. These allow this pack to go from big daypack/overnight to a more technical pack easily and to cover all bases. The fact that the pack is made of recycled materials is just a good bonus too.
One area I wasn’t massively impressed with in my tests was the front zipper section. Sure, it’s great to know you can open up and get to your gear easily. However, I found this to be cumbersome. You really need to lay the pack down to use this system. Once open, I found my gear started to fall out and repacking can be harder with cold hands. So, I didn’t really find I used this feature much and just stuck with loading the pack from the top down.
I also wasn’t a huge fan of the top pocket, which if filled with heavier items does weigh the pack down a bit too much, especially if it isn’t full. I would also love to see a change to where to two zips in the ‘T’ on the front meet. At present, this just opens up easily and I think this could be improved in future designs.
Durability
The pack uses a 100% recycled nylon which is ‘210D Robic Dobby’. This stands up next to any of the more durable and well-built packs in our best hiking daypacks round up. It is also treated with a DWR, which if looked after (and retreated) keeps it water resistant to three seasons.
Through all my tests, I was really impressed with the durability that this daypack offers. It really is built to last, and you can tell when you look at the premium finish on the zips, stitching, pockets and also the back and waist straps.
I’ve had this pack filled with some pretty heavy gear, often items that stick out and I have never seen any changes to the structure of the fabric. I’ve also tested this pack in areas with loose branches and other trail debris and the pack has come out every time unscathed.
I’m confident to say that if you decide to buy this pack and look after it, there is no reason to think you wouldn’t still be using it in 10 years from now. It’s a really good pack that would suit you well for overnights, more technical hikes and general alpine hiking too.
Sustainability
An area where this pack really excels is its sustainability. The Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 is actually updated from a previous variant and now uses fully recycled materials in its construction.
What’s more, Mystery Ranch offer a repair service, which allows you to send your pack in should you encounter any problems, lost buckles or similar. This is a great way of prolonging the life of the pack. It means you’re going to need to buy less, which is one of the best ways to improve sustainability.
Conclusion
Overall, I’ve been really impressed with the Mystery Ranch Coulee 30 in all my tests. It’s robust and is built to last. It works just as well for day hikes and alpine trails as it does overnight backpacking trips, which makes it really versatile. For some hikers, it may be the only pack you need.
I don’t think the Y/T shaped zip system on the front is a huge feature to get excited about, in reality it is a little annoying to use. However, if you put that aside, the top loading system works just as well as any other pack.
I also love the attachment points this pack offers – making it suitable for specialist gear and everything you could possibly find yourself needing. The padding on the shoulders and waist as well as the suspension system make this pack very comfortable to wear, and I feel you’ll find yourself reaching for this pack time and time again.
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