Feb 6, 2025
[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...