Mountain Laurel Designs Burn 2300ci Backpack

Mountain Laurel Designs (www.mountainlaureldesigns.com) is a great cottage industry, and well know among the ultra-light backpacking community. Their products cover a wide array, from backpacks, to shelters (like the famous TrailStar), to quilts. They also carry a variety of accessories for hikers.

When I started backpacking with DCUL, I immediately took notice of the tiny frameless packs many of the members used. I was intrigued, and when I saw the Burn go on sale, I snapped one up. It was my go to pack for all of last years hiking, except for the winters trips when I had to carry more hardware and I reverted back to my Osprey Exos 46 for it's larger capacity of weight handling ability. But I'll circle back to that - for now, lets check out the Burn's specs!

From MLD, the Burn 2300ci details:

• Weight:11oz (included external bungee and sternum strap not include in base weight)

• Total Maximum Volume: 1950ci main pack / 2200ci using extension collar

• Minimum Volume: 1200ci with compression bungees engaged.

• Main Pack: 1500ci

• Main Outside Pocket: 200ci

• Side Pockets: 150ci + 150ci

• Extension Collar: 300ci

• Pack Fabric: Dyneema X (TM)

• Extension Collar: 70D Silicone Coated Ripstop Nylon

If you are a gram counter, that first detail probably jumped out at you. This pack only weights 11 ounces!!! Even with the added hip pouches and bottle holder, the total weight of my Burn is 13 ounces. That's 1/3 the weight of my Exos. When I switched to this pack around a year ago, this finally got me under 'official' ultra-light base weight of 10lbs. MLD achieves this by cutting out all the un-necessaries, and of course the frame. The stark contrast between this and my previous packs was obvious the moment it was delivered in a small envelope.




I have to say, I loved this pack from the start. While I eventually ran up against it's limitations, it remains a favorite pack for short hikes when I don't need to carry more than 20lbs. This weight limit is stressed by MLD. If you put more than 22 pounds in this pack, you will hate life. Of course, I carried way more weight in it than that on many occasions, but after 15 miles my shoulders always had enough. This is made worse by my long frame. The short torso length of this pack causes the packs weight to ride heavily on my shoulders. It's difficult to get it to rest on my hips when it's fully loaded.  It also feels like a stuffed sock a bit if you jam it full, which means no airflow on your back.

My normal weight for a trip with this pack is 12-18 pounds.  When I have it in that range, it's a complete dream - you barely notice it at all.  Even if the weight rides on your shoulders, it hardly matters!

It comes with a length of shock cord which you can rig up on the back with the included hooks.  You can use this to either strap on gear, or tighten the pack down when it isn't full.  Accessing the side bottle compartments requires a little bit of a stretch, but is easily doable while you are hiking.  The zippers on the hip pockets are taped to help them shed water, and they are a decent size.  Opening them one handed is tricky, and I usually have to resort to two.  The stretch mesh compartment on the back is perfect.  Whatever you stuff in there stays put, and ready at hand.

The nylon material initially made me a little nervous.  I wasn't sure how it would hold up to abrasive abuse.  But after coming through a week in Zion, including scraping through narrow canyons unscathed - my fears were all put to rest.  All the stitching has held up perfectly, despite the fact that I have over-loaded it many times.

Waist deep in just-above-freezing water in Zion's Subway.

So what I ran up against, and what eventually made me look for a new 'main pack' was the weight limit.  I really missed having a frame for heavier loads.  For long trips, there is just no way around it - as Michael Martin once said, "the calories weigh!".  I would have my base weight under 8 pounds, and then need 20 pounds of food and water for a long trip.  Somewhere between 15-30 miles, my shoulders and back surrender.  Again, some of this suffering is due to the fact that I need a pack with torso length of 24 - and most packs top out at 21 (eventually I had a Zpacks Arc Blast made custom for my size).

The Burn pressed into service as a day pack for a XC-ski adventure in Maine!

So bottom line:  I still love this pack, and it will certainly hit the trails with me for some adventures - while the heavy lifting will be done by other packs.  Which, really, is the way these are designed.  It's important to know the strengths and limitations of your gear.  If you are going for a 3 season weekend adventure, this pack will certainly do the job!  Also, if you are smaller framed, this pack will be ideal.