Monday, August 19, 2013

Drago Tracker Backpack Mini Review

I just purchased the Drago Tracker Backpack after retiring a North Face Yavapai that served me well for more than 12 years.  I was initially going to stick with the new version of the Yavapai, but the Drago Tracker seemed to be more versatile, especially as an extended Day Pack.  With the Molle webbing, I like having the ability to expand the pack beyond the 4 main compartments.  In the photo you can see that I have added two H2O pouches and a 6.6 pouch  (with blue carabiners) which I was able to get on sale from 5.11 Tactical.  This pack is hydration pack compatible, so is able to carry plenty of water now.  The OD Green Drago pack and the OD Green 5.11 pouches are a perfect match and the material are very similar.


The pack is made of 600 Denier polyester and appears to be well made.  I believe it will take a beating very well; and, that's important since I'd like this pack to last as long as the North Face.  On this particular outing, the pack was loaded with only 15lbs. of gear and was very comfortable to carry.  In fact, I was surprised how noticeably more comfortable it was compared to the North Face.  Due to the way this pack is made, there are ways to distribute the weight of gear and equipment evenly.  I believe that this bag has enough capacity with the way I have it currently configured, for it to easily be an overnight or 2 night pack.  Definitely with the number of attachment points, and even internal pouches, this is a versatile pack.  What I really like about the Drago Tracker Pack is that I can now stow all of my items systematically, so that each item can be stored in its own location.  I couldn't necessarily do that with the North Face.


Since it hasn't been thoroughly field tested at this point, I haven't decided for sure  if it's a favorite pack; but, it certainly has a lot of potential.  ~Keep it Sharp.