[VIDEO] The Bozeman: Yeti Innovation Upon Mystery Ranch Lineage

When it was announced that Yeti, a company best known for its ice-cold coolers and drinkware, had acquired Mystery Ranch in early 2024, it raised a ton of questions among the brand’s fans. Almost a year later, Yeti, working alongside designers from Mystery Ranch, has released its first “collaborative” backpack: The Bozeman. While many questions remain about Yeti’s plans for Mystery Ranch, I’d like to think that we might have some answers with this first release.

Who is Mystery Ranch?

Before we dive into this pack, and what makes it special, we need to take a brief look at Dana Gleason and Mystery Ranch. While working in an outdoor store in the 70’s, Dana Gleason began offering backpack repairs, which led him to begin creating his own designs. Over the next twenty-five-ish years, Dana would make a name for himself through founding Kletterworks (1975), Dana Designs (1985), and developing pack features that have become a staple across the industry. A year after leaving Dana Designs in 1999, Dana co-founded Mystery Ranch with one purpose in mind, “to minimize the burden on your back.” Mystery Ranch would develop and patent industry changing features like the Futura Harness system, the 3-Zip, and modular frame systems, just to name a few. To put it simply, Mystery Ranch has created some of the toughest, purpose-built packs for the Military, Outdoor, Travel, and Fire industries ever released.

While it would take 20 something years for me to discover the brand, it was immediately clear that Mystery Ranch was the “go-to brand” if you wanted a “go anywhere, do anything” pack. Since I tried on my first one, I’ve been hooked on the brand and have been recommending them to anyone who’s asked me for a pack since.

Design Inspiration and Pack Features

When Yeti began teasing the Bozeman release, I was excited to finally see just how Yeti would incorporate features from Mystery Ranch, without simply rebranding an existing offering. Upon first seeing the Bozeman, I immediately thought that it looked like a modified version of the 2DAP, the pack that began my love affair with Mystery Ranch. Since the 2DAP is a slimmed down version of the military 3 Day Assault Pack, it features a plethora of molle webbing, large bottle pockets, and the wonderful Futura harness system. While the Bozeman does have many similar features (compression straps, internal pockets, a “futura style” harness), it’s worth noting that it shed the Molle webbing while also adding Yeti’s “Ground Control” base, and changing the compression straps to be removable and making the bottle pockets lay flat. By making these changes, Yeti was able to produce an “Urban” version of the 2DAP, something that blends into an urban environment without screaming military inspired.  Additionally, the lay-flat bottle pockets simultaneously increase bottle retention while visually slimming the pack when not in use, but I’ve found that they are harder to access when wearing the pack. 

While Mystery Ranch bags are commonly built with Cordura Nylon, Yeti has listed that the Bozeman is made with their proprietary Tuffskin nylon, but doesn’t elaborate on what that material is. Based on some online research and various product listings, I’ve found that this material is a “700 denier nylon that’s both water and abrasion resistant” and it feels comparable to another 2DAP we had in the office. While running errands in the midst of New York’s last wintery storm mix (without an umbrella), the pack was thoroughly soaked outside, but all of my gear inside stayed dry.  With prolonged exposure to rain and snow, you may find some water intrusion, but this should weather most storms without issue.

I will note that the Bozeman has solved two of my gripes with the original 2DAP, non-removable compression straps and its inability to reliably stand on its own. As someone who frequently works out of their pack and loves quick access, the compression straps on the 2DAP were always in my way when I tried to open the “main” vertical zip. Almost immediately after getting the pack in, I removed the compression straps, but stored them in one of the brain pockets so I’d have them if needed, but also had easy access. Additionally, the Ground control base allowed me to set this pack anywhere, while it stayed standing there. While I’ve seen some people complain about the pack falling over (empty and loaded), I wasn’t able to recreate this experience.

Personal Opinions

Despite having some of my favorite features, there was a part of me that thought this pack wouldn’t be one for me. I think I wanted this bag to be bad, so that I could continue to be upset that Mystery Ranch had been sold. When I first looked at this bag online, I wanted to do nothing more than compare it to a 2DAP: between the photos and specs, it was clear to me that this bag was ALMOST identical, yet cost $275, $45 more. However, getting both in hand and putting them next to each other, it almost felt unfair to compare them. While the Bozeman retains most of the important features (tri-zip, harness system, interior layout), the addition of removable compression straps and lay-flat bottle pockets put this pack into a new product family. I think there’s an argument to be made that Mystery Ranch might have made these improvements eventually since the 2DAP has been out for years without any major changes (there have been a few limited editions, color/material, over the years, but patterned the same). 

Overall, I like this pack way more than I thought I would, but it makes sense given that it’s essentially an updated and urbanized version of my favorite pack to date. Ultimately, I think this pack offers us a glimpse into a potential future for Yeti and Mystery Ranch: one where the best aspects of each brand are combined to improve on, and even create new products. As they say, you only get one chance to make a first impression, and I think Yeti made a good one here. 

Even after testing this pack out and admitting that my initial thoughts were wrong, there is one issue with the Bozeman, it’s that you can’t buy it. Yeti initially released these via their “Gear Garage”, a week of limited releases (and re-releases) that happen around Black Friday, but they’ve since sold out on their US site. As of writing this article, I haven’t seen anything to suggest that Yeti will re-release this pack, but both the Black and “Alpine Brown” (AKA Coyote) colorways are still available on the Canada site. Based on the rumors I’ve seen and Yeti’s past actions, I think that Yeti will ultimately move a bulk of Mystery Ranch products under their own label, which is kind of sad but understandable. While I do love everything about Mystery Ranch (its history, the designs, logo, etc), how important is the brand on your gear, as long as it meets all your needs?  Regardless of what happens with the Mystery Ranch brand, their legacy, forged by 20+ years of excellence and 50 years of Dana’s knowledge, will be carried on by their fans.

The Future of Futura?

While I don’t have any insight for future releases, I can’t help but wonder what Yeti might have in the works. Looking at how Yeti has incorporated 20+ years of Mystery Ranch designs but added an urban twist, I wonder if we might see a new version of Yeti’s soft sided coolers; something that retains the Yeti style and colorways, but incorporates the Futura harness to “reduce” the load and make it easier to carry on your adventures. While I imagine this would be great for family outings and days at the beach, I’d personally love to have one for grocery runs in the city, especially during the summer.  As the grocery options near my NYC apartment are rather slim, traveling up to an hour (one way) to “stock up” isn’t out of the question, and I’m always worried about something leaking inside my backpack or getting stuck in a subway car without AC.