Thanks for the video, these did not sell out so you can still pick them up on MR's website. For me though, just like the Berserker collab with GORUCK, I passed on these bags. I much prefer the Unicorn 2.0 over the Dragon 2.0 for many reasons.
The collaborations with MR always end up being my favourites. I appreciate that they make enough for people. The futura remains unbeated in comfort for me. I was sold on this Dragon 2 the moment I saw it. Thanks, JB for the thorough comparison.
Such a cool bag, as someone who's new to the whole bag community (2 weeks ago I never knew all of these companies, collabs or bags existed!) this was the 1st carryology collab drop I've experienced, it's been cool to see everyone hyped for a drop. Hoping to pick up my 1st EDC bag soon and will definitely go down the rabbit hole on your channel, kinda excited to see collabs from the past. From reddit to the FB groups, everyone's been so kind and inviting and while I won't pick up this collab I'm so excited to see what's in store in the future!
My original dragon is my daily driver and travel bag go-to. It looks as good as the day I got it. I had to get a couple 2's. The changes were overwhelmingly positive.
I’ve gotten almost every Carryology collaboration with MR, including the 1.0 versions of the trilogy that’s been released in the last couple of years… I have noticed that the 2.0 versions are a lot narrower and don’t quite load out as the advertised volume suggests, especially compared to the 1.0 variants of the same bags… which in my book, makes the sequels less practical and overall detracts from the actual carry value… now, every color way of the 2.0 iterations, as well as the overall aesthetic feel is second to none… in other words, the Cerberus, the Pegasus, and the Dragon 2.0 are some of the best looking bags ever and the futura harness makes them incredibly comfortable to wear… however, the most important aspect of carry is how well it measures up to what it intends to accomplish, and that’s where we have a problem especially with the Pegasus and the Dragon 2.0 because not only they are nowhere near the advertised 22L and 26L respectively but also the internal structure makes the load out extremely awkward due to the narrowness of the main compartment… to me the Cerberus is the clear winner of this re-release trilogy because it isn’t advertised to be anything more than it perfectly accomplishes and my favorite bag from all of the Carryology and MR collaborations is the No Escape or Dragon 1.0 as I love the X-50 MCB / Black Dyneema colorway and the pack simply measures up to what it promises to do… having said all that, of course I will still enjoy the re-imagined versions of Dragon 2.0 just like I enjoyed the Cerberus and the Pegasus but it’s worth noting that the way I enjoy these second variants especially is more from a collector’s standpoint than from a utility similarly to how I would enjoy small portions of very fine food like beluga caviar on top of a fresh Kumamoto oyster compared to a home barbecue or an all you can eat buffet, where the goal is not to enjoy a subtle taste of fine ingredients but to make sure you’re not hungry for the next 24 hours or so…
I like the new one because I want a smaller, lower key version of the 1.0. and in their defense, they did specifically note that they wanted a more EDC friendly version of the bag based on how it looks I think they hit that target. I got a white one and a black one and can’t wait to get them both. I am on the road 2weeks a month at times. And my 1.0 has been with me for 5 years straight.
Still available in the US and UK (didn't checked more) - very disappointing that u can't buy theses bag outside spedific countries, I'll never understand this. Beside that, great review JB, thanks :)
If people are still chasing these several retailers still have them. Rushfaster for the Aussies, etc. The market said 'no rush' on these as it turns out.
I have a 14inch laptop in a bellroy sleeve, iPad mini, a binder a couple notebooks and pens, a PD medium packing cube stuffed with a change of gym clothes and rain jacket, and work uniform , a dmade Dopp kit and a bellroy caddy 10L maybe 3/4 filled with my lunch as well and a 26oz yeti rambler and 20oz protein shaker bottle. And then my wallet , car keys air pods and eye drops and leatherman in the QA pocket. All this fits in my gr2 26L fine curious if it will fit in the dragon 2.0 comfortably without using the stick it?
Some thoughts...depends on how big the binder is. Also not sure the sleeve and MacBook will fit together. But without the sleeve and just putting the MacBook in the pocket I think it will work. Those are my only concerns...I want to say it will work
Chairman, any recommendations… Not sure if you have the TAD single booster and the double booster. Trying to figure out which route to go if I want to mount two of the same (vertically) onto the stick it. Which size would you say fits best inthat config?
Be aware, 32" pant waist here: Waist belt on this bag is way too small to properly buckle up on mine. Message sent to MR, but my guess is there will be no fix offered by them and it looks like a common complaint about the bag on other sites. Great bag otherwise, but for a hauler, I need a waist belt for extended comfort.
Hey JB, how would you compare this to the Alpha One Niner Evade 1.5? I kinda need a 25-26L backpack and I just prefer the access method on the Evade 1.5 but love the looks of this MR Dragon 2.0- thanks my man!
Honestly, the Evade is overall better EDC bag so if that is your goal I'd go with that. The Dragon is good at a lot of things but the front pocket admin and use of the Evade sets it apart.
Nice 😺 I really like how the Stick-It is completely removable, as opposed to stowable. It really changes the aesthetic and external carry/stashability if you want to. I will probably be keeping the Stick-It attached for the versatility of external carry options. Great content and Dragon 2.0 VS everyone else is a great concept for your video! Party 🍻
Thanks for the review JB! I'm in hard debate mode between this and the Griffin 2 CTB26. I picked up the cbb22 and love it. So, between the Griffin ctb26 and the Dragon 2, what are we thinking? For a large EDC, 1-2 night or short trip travel pack? Is one more versatile in other applications?
Yeah, that's a tough one. Both so awesome. The CTB26 has long been my favorite travel bag in this size range. I'd say the Dragon is good if you plan to wear it outdoors too and go the distance. The harness is just better in the MR. But that said, if it's' for travel I'd go CTB26.
@@JBOutside1 100%. Love my CTB26 for travel. Intend to use Dragon 2 as a short trip travel and all around adventure bag. Unicorn 2 is my bike bag and EDC for lighter loads.
on previous bags I always hated reaching down in the bag and pulling out items past those top side mesh compartments. They stuck out into the bag and caught items as you pulled them out. Is that the case with the Dragon 2.0?
These pockets are pretty small actually and sewed down so I don't think it's a problem on this design. With Unicorn 2 they weren't tacked down so I can see that problem
@@JBOutside1 I picked up a black dragon 2.0 yesterday because of your video review. Thanks for the response, that’s great news that those mesh top pockets are tacked down 😍 I’ll end up selling a Cerberus or dragon 1.0 or maybe both.
Awesome video as always ! Will a 26oz yeti rambler fit in just the water bottle pockets in the dragon just fine without eating in the main space? Also if you decide to sell your black dragon 2.0 after getting the white in I might be interested 😅🤘
As a "collaboration" between Carryology and Mystery Ranch, that makes it limited...but they made a lot of them apparently as they are still available...except Ranger Green
Excellent overview As always. Wasn't sure if the 1.0 would be big enough at '25'L. I was pleasantly surprised they were severely conservative with that figure. Shocked to see the 2.0 is closer to the anemic (for my purposes) U2.0. Shame. If all they did was re-release the Dragon in new colorways, I'd have been all over it and offloaded the MCB.
My most sincere thanks for your video. I have the Spartan and Unicorn and had also purchased the Dragon. However, after watching your in-depth review, I decided to cancel my order for the Dragon because of its similarity in specs to the Unicorn.
@@JBOutside1 Hey JB...so I actually re-watched your video again and decided to pick up the White version of the Dragon 2.0. Number one, I really dig the Star Wars "Stormtrooper-Like" look of the bag and two, the fact that it's made out of UVX 40 intrigued me. It could turn out to be indestructible. Yeah, it's expensive but I guess I can rationalize the purchase by telling myself that It's a collector's item and by putting it to a lot of use.
Thanks for the video! Can you fit the 32oz Nalgene bottle in the Dragon? I saw that in the comparison part of the video, every backpack could fit the Nalgene but I didn’t see you trying to fit it in the Dragon.
Would like to see JB doing more eberlestock or kifaru or hpg, the carryology crowd doesn't typically know about those brands, they are a class above. I got the dragon 2 and will be running a sherman pouch on the outside $$
@@Beerdwolf Yes but the problem of Switchblade is that it doesn’t have frame like HiSpeed II. Picked Dragon 2 instead given I already bought HiSpeed II instead of 3-day / Komodo and wanna give MR a try. Otherwise, would say two are functionally equivalent (though 2x price diff with deals is tough to swallow)
JB if possible can you do me a solid whenever you have a chance and measure the loop field on the top of the bag and the loop field on the beaver tail 🙏 I’ve got a couple dragons on their way to me and want to get custom patches made for them
Does anyone have any ideas for what MOLLE attachments might work well for the Stick-It webbing? I've not had a pack with this feature before, but it seems like this would be an unstable place to attach something of any real volume.
Great question and yes to your question about stability. The location on the stick-it means the stick-it would need to be tight agains the bag to provide stability for whatever you loop into it. There are several pouches out there with MOLLE attachments to the PALS webbing. An obvious example is the GORUCK Field Pockets. Those can be looped through the webbing here for additional storage. In this design on the Dragon I suspect most will use it to clip things to it or add additional patch panels like they did on the first Dragon. In any case, If I attached a pouch to the stick-it it would be for quick access items and not expensive items.
@@JBOutside1 Thanks, JB that makes a lot of sense. Seems like there are actually a few ways to go with this. Will be interesting to see how creative people get it in the coming weeks as 1st orders arrive.
@@JBOutside1 thanks for making great bag reviews! I’ve been a GR guy for over 12 years this might be the first bag to take that spot for a little bit. I loved the harness on the Cerberus but as a dad of 5 that was not going to over take the GR2. The Griffin was doing a great job but the harness couldn’t match up to the GR and the Futura on the MRs.
Sometimes less is more. That hidden zipper pocket is just added weight and cost. On paper it sounds cool, but it looks you were struggling to get your hand in there.
Hello, nice review. Thanks a lot. What is the name / reference of the piece you've added on the right strap to catch the chest strap when not in use (right side when you wear the bag)? At that specific moment : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bTPdz4r0zl4.html
If you took that bag to Paris or some of the places in Europe where pickpockets are rife you'd get back to hotel air bnb with hardly nowt in your bag imo , think for that money you'd expect some basic security features cause wheres all money going if not the name n material ect n massive patch would make you a target even more unless it's removable, cheers for reply great video BTW, think a extended feature list could be done for stuff you don't go into or cover
