Like the title says, I really like this bag. It has a lot of features I look for in a pack for longer range/ higher capacity for gear trips. After rucking with it for about 25km, I am confident it will stand up to the abuse I will put it through, and if it does get damaged, its design seems simple enough to repair. My review will largely discuss why I think this one is worth the price premium over the standard pattern 64 pack because I was going back and forth between both.
Here's why: For one, MOLLE. I think MOLLE attachment capability really is the standard anymore for most gear manufactures when it comes to pouches that extend the capability of a bag. It also has a large molle section on either side of the bag in addition to the front pouches making for lots of room. Ammunition, first-aide, or just extra pouches in general to organise kit is going to make this feature worth the extra spend. The snow collar (which is removable because it's mounted with velcro) is a nice touch as well for helping keep kit dry and secure. Since there is a map pocket on the underside of the lid (great for holding papers or other broad flat items). I feel like accessing that pocket would be frustrating without the collar, because items would likely fall out of the main compartment, or just be exposed to the elements. There is a drawstring at the top of the main compartment to limit this if you took the collar out, but because pulling the drawstring on the bag will interfere with the shape of the bag including the molle panel on the side, I would not rely solely on it. Seeing as you bought a pack that is for military, tactical or hunting use I would strongly question the thought of removing the snow collar for weight savings. Zippers on the bag will probably come down to more of a point of personal preference. Realistically I bought this version of the bag because I like zippers more than I like side release buckles, so that was another point for this bag over the original. Finally, and I consider this to be more of a surprising feature, is the floating lid on this version. It is a well thought out feature for cramming that extra piece of awkward gear on this bag. Foam sleeping pads or longer items that you didn't want to secure solely with a7as would work well here.
Upon receiving that bag, I found there to be little-to-no loose threads, and the workmanship was great overall. I have no concerns about the construction of the bag going forward. The buying experience was also fantastic, and the turnaround time was very reasonable considering this is fairly niche, made to order gear from a smaller business. I would be happy to purchase this bag again if it was somehow lost or damaged beyond repair. I sincerely hope the one I got gets approved for use on my weekend ex's and my upcoming IODP1.1 course, it would be a huge help. Otherwise, I will still enjoy putting miles on this pack rucking and camping. Buy Canadian, in this case, the price they are offering is fantastic value for what you get. The only other point to note is that I am running this on a copy of a pattern 64 frame I built myself, so I can't really speak to it's fit on an actual jump ruck frame. However, I can say that dimensionally the frame I have is almost identical to a pattern 64, and I have no issues.
