I am 100% in agreement with James Reeves that there are times when Fanny Pack Carry is the superior option. For some, it may have more to do with warm weather/light clothing considerations, such as at the beach or the gym, but for me, it has more to do with when I’m wearing voluminous layers of clothing to guard against nasty weather. It’s hard to draw a handgun from my duck hunting coat, or from under longer rain gear. To that point, when I was headed up to southeast Alaska to do a lot of fishing and hiking in bear territory, I decided to get a new fanny pack in which to carry my Glock 20. One of the best options for a handgun that big was the Mystery Ranch Forager.
Mystery Ranch Forager Hip Pack: Plenty of room for your handgun plus spare ammo for your long gun
The Mystery Ranch Forager Hip Pack is a mid-size fanny pack, larger than most but smaller than their Hip Monkey or High Water Hip packs, as well as Hill People Gear’s “Medium” Belt Pack. If you’re familiar with other fanny packs, it’s very similar in overall size and volume to the Helikon-Tex Bandicoot.
Mystery Ranch Forager Hip Pack
Colors and Comfort
The Forager is available in 10 different color schemes. I opted to get my Forager in “Lizard”, which is overall a Loden Green/Tan with a neon green lanyard. The part of the pack that contacts your body is made of a cushy ventilated material that also makes up part of the button-closure hidden snap pocket on the back of the pack. It’s quite comfortable as a next-to-body layer, even on long hikes.
Mystery Ranch Forager Hip Pack swivel buckles
The swivel buckles allow you to carry the pack around your waist or over the shoulder, and the buckles are smoothly contoured with no sharp corners to dig into your body. Overall, it’s a very comfortable pack no matter how you carry it.
Mystery Ranch Forager Hip Pack. Note padded mesh backing and contoured buckle
Pocket Layout and Capacity
The Mystery Ranch Forager has three compartments: the main zippered compartment, a smaller zippered compartment separated by mesh within the main compartment, and a button-closure hidden snap pocket on the exterior of the pack. Having two compartments separated by a zipper was very useful to me, especially on bird hunts when I was carrying two different gauges of shotgun shells in the pack, one for me and one for a younger hunter I was mentoring. Both the smaller and larger compartments can easily accommodate standard-capacity rifle magazines as well.
Mystery Ranch Forager Hip Pack
Lots of room in all three compartments
The main compartment is very generous, large enough to carry a full-size Glock 20/21, a bulky pair of winter gloves, a bigger jacket, or a delicious submarine sandwich. I mainly used this pack on hunts and on a very rainy fishing and hiking trip to SE Alaska. It was nice to have my pistol easily at hand on the outside of my rain gear, and no mud or plant debris got onto my pistol either. As an added bonus, to my knowledge, nobody that has seen me wearing this pack has assumed I was carrying a firearm.
Protect that Trigger!
One of the “cons”, if you will, for the Forager is that there is no velcro or holster attachment system integrated into this pack. Carrying a Glock with an exposed trigger isn’t the best idea, but luckily my favorite concealed holster for the Glock 20, Raven Concealment System’s Vanguard 2, has a lanyard loop kit. The loop, when passed through the Forager’s sturdy nylon mesh compartment separation, provided the perfect amount of resistance for my draw stroke out of the attached RCS VG2 holster. I would have preferred a dedicated interior loop in the corners of the pack to accommodate this solution, but the mesh works well enough.
Mystery Ranch Forager Hip Pack
Material Considerations
The pack not only accommodated my Glock, but the 330D Robin ATY Nylon also kept my items dry from rain and sea spray, despite not being the waterproof “High Water” version. I also tried out the pack’s abrasion resistance on a few pronghorn bow hunts, crawling with it through the dirt, rocks, cacti, and sagebrush. There is not one rip or tear on the pack so far. The YKK zippers also haven’t ever caught on any of the material.
With Glock 20 inside, no obvious printing
Overall Impressions
The Mystery Ranch Forager represents a good fanny pack carry option for larger handguns, provided you have a way to protect the trigger. Overall, it’s a great pack for a minimalist hike with some essential gear with flexible carry options and a good array of colors. Not only that, it’s made of high-quality materials by a serious outdoor company, all for a reasonable price. For more information, please visit Mystery Ranch.
Pros:
- Durable; Made with quality materials
- Comfortable
- Reasonably Priced
- Large Capacity
- Streamlined form
Cons:
- Holster attachment is difficult
- Perhaps too big for everyday urban use
Mystery Ranch Forager Hip Pack
Leave a Comment