Mystery Ranch x Carryology | The Dragon 2.0 Rises

Introducing our last collaboration backpack release of the year – the Dragon 2.0. That’s right, the fire-breathing beast returns. One of our most revered releases with the legends at Mystery Ranch has evolved. More streamlined, refined, and compact. All while retaining the features you’ve come to love from the original.

Dragon 2.0 comes in four timeless colorways, features a more EDC-friendly size while maintaining light travel capability, includes a redesigned modular Stick-It, and boasts morale patch artwork hand-drawn by the renowned Dan Matsuda.

Dragon Reanimation

When both our teams came together to discuss “what next?,” we unanimously agreed to evolve the Dragon, one of our favorite collaborations of all time. User feedback showed an opportunity to make this beast soar even higher.

This journey began with the Scape Goat pack, evolving into the Japan-only A & F edition Scape Artist, which led to the Dragon 1.0. Respecting this lineage, we went beyond new colorways. We returned to the design studio, wiped the slate clean, redesigned, refined, and improved the pack for a better user experience.

Our first step? It starts with a window-seat view of Montana’s blue-tinted Bridger Mountains as our plane descends into Bozeman through a flurry of wind and snow.

Hours later, our team: myself, Mike Knispel, and Laurence Fry, entered Mystery Ranch’s design war room, where we were greeted by the all-star team, Alex Rich, Tim Sakai, and Dana Gleason Jr. Moments later, we pulled up stools to the cutting table.

Dragon Scales

The Dragon’s DNA draws from Mystery Ranch’s military and hunting lines, with a heavy dash of EDC and travel sprinkled in. For this version, using mission-tested fabric was crucial. The Dragon 1.0 was made with Dimension Polyant VX50 Multicam Black and Dyneema, a colorway bold and wild with serious expression.

The Dragon 2.0 would be more versatile, having the ability to cross into more environments and scenarios, merging the best of Cordura and X-Pac with Dimension Polyant’s X50 Tactical fabric—500D mil-spec Cordura nylon laminated with 400D aramid X-Ply for strength and a waterproof polyester film backing.

Three colorways use this fabric – Black, Coyote and Olive. These colorways hold meaning, and are a colorful nod to the original Scape Artist released in the same three colors (in 500D Cordura).

And, to add some freshness, we added a White colorway in UVX40—a highly abrasion-resistant, lightweight, waterproof material. Made from 60% Ultra-PE and 40% polyethylene, UVX40 features post-consumer recycled black X-Ply and a polyester film backing.

Together, they represent four different adventure biomes: Urban (Black), Desert (Coyote), Alpine (White), and Forest (Olive), and we took this pack all over the world to test each one.

Like the Scape Goat, Scape Artist, and Dragon 1.0, Dragon 2.0 features a wide-mouth Universal Zip for quick access. It can act as a top loader or fully unzip like a panel loader. And it’s one of our very favorite backpack access systems.

Dragon 1.0 was one of the best adventure packs we’ve designed, but for EDC, it was just too much bag. Dragon 2.0 is repatterned to a sweet spot of 26 liters, ideal for EDC and light travel. I personally used a prototype for one-bag travel on a 12-day international trip.

Models pictured below: 6ft, 1 (left), 5ft 3 (right),/p>

In our opinion, Mystery Ranch’s Futura Harness is one of the best suspension systems for comfort, stability, and load-bearing across activities. This system allows adjustability between all types of heights and all types of body types. Having this legendary system as a card to pull to improve the value of this pack is dream level.

As with our previous collaborations, we insisted on including it in Dragon 2.0, adding tremendous value to the pack.

On-and-Off Expansion

We’ve always loved the Stick-It. The Dragon 1.0 was the first collaboration to feature a stowable version. For Dragon 2.0, we took notes from the original Stick-It design, adding loops and G-Hook Gatekeepers for full removal. Plus, we added three rows of MOLLE/PALS webbing and a Velcro loop panel for extra morale patches. Now, you can carry additional gear – from shell jackets to large oddly-shaped objects – on the fly.

Slightly repatterned but with all the utility as the last version, the top lid offers ample storage for EDC items, lined with soft stretch mesh to protect delicate gear like glasses. It also includes a key leash and a large Velcro loop panel on the exterior for morale patches.

For this collaboration, we tapped Dan Matsuda again, who created the artwork for the iconic Unicorn 2.0.

Both art pieces in this second wave of collaborations were created by Dan. Now, if you’re not familiar with this legend, we did a deep dive on why he’s amazing and he’s worked on many projects with us (Example 1, Example 2, Example 3, and many more).

Patch Symbolism

Dragons and unicorns. Icons of myth, rooted in the storytelling traditions of East and West. These mythical creatures embody more than fantasy; they’re carriers of symbolism. In the first Unicorn patch design, four distinct symbols emerged, standing in contrast to the Dragon patch. Yin and yang. Here’s the full breakdown of the symbolism.

The Unicorn 1.0 and Dragon 1.0 patches were conceived as companions, designed to be showcased side by side as a diptych, facing one another.

The newest iterations, U2.0 and D2.0, follow suit, featuring warriors astride their mythical mounts, poised in a moment of tension or harmony—an eternal interplay of opposition and balance.

Instead of more MOLLE/PALS webbing, the interior rear wall of the Dragon 2.0 features laser-cut channels for a cleaner, more modern look, and lighter weight. Eight full rows of precise MOLLE/PALS spaces allow for modular customization.

Dragon 1.0 featured large, basket-like pockets. Deep and awesome in use, but they did blow out the clean outer lines of the pack.

We wanted 2.0 to be clean and nimble, so those pockets had to go. Now, they’re fully redesigned and made from the same durable pack fabric, with an internal sleeve of stretch. They disappear into the lines of the pack when you don’t need them, but expand to swallow up a full-size bottle when you do need them.

Instead of a full orange liner, we decided to run a trio of combinations, black and orange and coyote / olive. It's a more subtle approach but still ups the internal visibility.

The white colorway, however, has contrasting black fabric for that sweet Stormtrooper vibe.

Secret Pockets

The dual hidden zippered pockets on D1.0 were much-loved and useful for travel or EDC, great for securing small items that need to be kept safe when you’re roaming around questionable places.

Redesigned, they’re more easily accessed and awesome, and remain extremely discreet and tucked away.

Great organization always matters. And the balance of usable space and useful pocketing here is a point of perfection.

This pack is kitted out with high-sitting zippered mesh pockets for easy access and keeping things out of crush zones, lower stretch mesh pockets for larger items, and a lower large zippered pocket on the front panel for notepads or tech.

The Dragon has a laptop compartment that doubles as a hydration bladder pocket, with sealed hydration hose passthroughs, both left and right sides, for mountain adventures when you want to ditch the urban life and get outdoors.

The hydration compartment also doubles as a fully padded and suspended laptop pocket. On the front side of the laptop pocket, there’s a dedicated drop pocket for a tablet. And just like Dragon 1.0, to keep access to your laptop quick and easy (especially at the airport when TSA taps you on the shoulder), there’s a dedicated rear/side zip on the back panel for grab and go. Nice little bonus? The rear wall is also made from loop fabric, so you can add additional morale patches here.

All exterior pockets utilize YKK tested and proven #10 AquaGuard zippers, to ensure a long life of quality and reliability, while maintaining weatherproofness against the elements. And for everything else inside, the tough and mighty standard coil YKK zippers.

All the exterior zipper pullers are made from paracord with heat shrink-wrapped ends. Easy to grab when wet or with gloves or whatever other situations life throws at you. Plus, they’re silent (no jingle jangle) and have a clean, classic look.

All lash points and loops utilize durable Hypalon. Grippy for gloved, wet, or cold hands. These can be used as an attachment point for a Heroclip or carabiner. Or, use them simply as their most basic function, as a counter pull to make using the access zippers smooth and effortless.

And finally, for this one, we added elastic webbing keepers to the sternum strap and base of the backpack straps to keep the aesthetics clean and catch-free.

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