Mountain Hardwear SuperScrambler

I bought this pack with high hopes.

Before i had even left my house..

i was already noticing that the suspension would be a problem. It was too weak. In the sense that when the bag was loaded i could feel certain points sticking out further than others. Making the back panel not so flush on your back. I ended up taking out the plastic sheet from my bora30 (love that bag) and adding it to the pack (no stays just the plastic sheet). suspension problem solved.

So i'm packing up my bag, and i look on the side of the pack...a freaking tear. I didn't come with that, it tore when i put in my fuel bottle. I had the pump piece on it. I am used to dealing with ultralight gear so i am very well aware to treat it very gently....but my fuel bottle while i was packing up the bag...seriously. now scared of ripping more fabric and or increasing the rip i don't cram everything down, so now all the oddly shaped gear at the top of pack is not secure and make the pack feel a bit loose when swaying side to side.

Keep in mind i'm still at my place at this point....

I attach my ice axe. Petrified that my axe is going to rip the bag i had to tie a bandanna around the pick portion just to make sure. I also had to tighten the lower loop because the axe was flopping around.

I have to strap on the side 2xpickets and the tent poles (in their little bag). There are no base side stretch pockets. I already know what is going to happen.....

In addition i had to carry the shovel.....very awkward and didn't really fit anywhere and wasn't comfortable putting it into the main compartment because it would probably rip the fabric.

alright so now i am on the trail....

30 minutes in of course the pickets and poles fall off. Time to stop and figure out another way. I Put them horizontally under the lid on top of the main pocket.....which was already awkwardly loaded due to having to put the shovel there so now my load is all wide.

I got to camp, and had to batten down due to a blizzard whiteout (yes on may long weekend on the west coast) The weather wasn't getting any better so we packed up and made our decent (was a good idea in the end because the weather the following day was just as crap...no good for climbing)

So never got a chance to use this for a summit, but based on all the fun i had before i even left my living room, i'm kinda glad i didn't get the chance.

The one cool function i found for this bag was that inside it had a sleeve along back panel that was designed for you to put your thermarest to help beef up the suspension and padding without having to add anything else to your pack. I have a full length neoair...not really designed for that. HOWEVER i was able to fit a summit pack there without really affecting the space inside the pack.

Overall for my needs, this pack didn't perform the way i needed it to. It's marketed as an alpine climbing pack, but alpine climbing requires all the fun,sharp, and miss shaped gear. There is virtually no storage on the outside of the pack, so you can't rely on that as an option for packing.

This pack was labeled for the pro packer. I consider myself to be up there in my packing abilities. My solution was putting the pickets and tent poles inside the bag along the back, and that acted to strengthen the support...but beware of the edges on the pickets. The lack of storage on the outside can be overlooked, but constantly having to worry about your pack ripping and tearing when you wear it due to gear inside, environmental, or just cinching and tightening up are a deal breaker for me.

Perhaps you may have better luck with this pack, but for me it didn't work the way i like my packs to work.

Very light and versatile pack. I bought this new to use as an extended day pack and weekend pack and it is really just what I was hoping for.

The MH Super Scrambler is a very straightforward and lightweight weekend size pack. There really aren't any catchy bells and whistles on this pack, but that is probably one thing contributing to keeping the weight down. The weight according to MH is 2 lbs 3 oz, which is pretty good for a pack of this capacity.  

There are no outside pockets, which makes carrying a water bottle a little problematic, but what there is instead is compression straps that wrap around the pack. I really appreciate being able to adjust the pack's shape to different size loads. If I'm hiking in the desert in the spring my load will of course be much different than the load carried for autumn in the Rockies.  But I can cinch down the compression straps and easily adapt the pack to keep the contents from shifting and sliding all over the place, as well as keep the dimensions compact and efficient.  

Given the minimalist nature of this pack, it is quite comfortable to carry. Shoulder straps are comfortable on me, the sternum strap is effective, and the hip belt while a bit thin (little padding) is effective in transfering weight to hips. The back panel is a flat and thin framesheet, which is effective in giving the pack some structure, but does not do any tricks as far as providing air flow. In hot desert environs, I plan on having a sweaty back when I take the pack off. Again this is tradeoff for the weight savings of not having a complex frame structure.