Badlands Monster Fanny Pack
The Monster on My Back
by KW Morrow on Tuesday 13 April 2004
Carrying this Monster on your back is a dream instead of a nightmare! The Badlands Monster Fanny Pack is simply the finest hunting fanny pack we've ever had the pleasure of carrying.
This past August I got an email asking me to call Vortex, the maker’s of the world’s finest expedition grade backpacks. After talking with their marketing department for a few minutes, I agreed to review their new line of hunting backpacks, marketed under the brand name Badlands. Vortex promptly shipped the backpacks and I received them a few days later. In the meantime, I researched their product lines, company profile, philosophy, warranties, and other offerings under the name brands Vortex Back Packs and William Joseph Fishing .
Three things stood out during my review of their websites, which are an entertainment treat to a gear-junky like me in and of themselves. Foremost among them was the fresh, “in your face,” contemporary approach to marketing. It was obvious, to borrow a phrase, that these were “not your grandfather’s” packs. One might expect such a pop-culture flavor in the expedition, Vortex, line; where everyone from REI to LL Bean has hopped on the Generation X bandwagon. But, in the hunting and fishing worlds, Badlands and William and Joseph stand out as “…a voice crying out in the wilderness” of stale, outdated marketing departments. I quote from the first page of their catalog.
It’s never been our way to “toot our own horns,” but since we’re already “slinging mud” and it is our catalog, what the hell.
Nowhere is the company’s “we dare you” attitude of aggressive self-confidence more apparent than in their warranties, which were the second standout. Again, I will allow Badlands to speak for themselves.
The Badlands Unconditional Lifetime Warranty goes like this: We don’t care what happened or whose fault it was, we will fix it for free forever, as long as it remains repairable (we had to have one condition). We could not care less if you bought it at a garage sale or a gear swap, as long as it says Badlands on the pack, it’s covered. All we ask is that you use and abuse your pack as much as possible, so we can learn how to make better products. Now you see why we thought it would be a shame to hide a warranty like this in fine print at the bottom of a page.
I don’t know about the readers, but this author has never read an outdoor gear manufacturer’s warranty that encourages customers to tear up their gear and send it back expecting it to be repaired or replaced free of charge…forever! The only time I have read anything even remotely close was contained in a pre-production field test I once participated in, but even that manufacturer was not pledging to repair or replace anything. They just wanted us to tear it up and send it back for research purposes. And there were only four field testers signed to a non-disclosure agreement.
The third thing that stood out on all three websites was the level of detail and excellent presentation of their product lines. Many companies are either unwilling or unable to explain to potential customers precisely how and why they build their products the way they do and/or how and why they are superior to their competitor’s offerings. Not so with the backpacks from Badlands, William and Joseph, or Vortex. Details from the size and type of thread used in stitching to precisely which zippers and cloth they use to manufacture each product, this manufacturer lays all their cards on the table. The end result was eagerness and anticipation to finally get my hands on the products and put them in the field…if for no other reason than to try to prove them wrong. In fact, I wanted one of everything! I found myself trying to invent new ways to put their products to the test in my own mind. Surely, the result on a serious customer would be very similar. However, knowing what I know about sporting goods retailers, I could not help but wonder if this approach to marketing could be duplicated and transferred easily enough to their distribution network; especially to the point-of-sale retail sales associate. This places a huge burden upon the manufacturer’s representatives responsible for developing retail distribution and sales. Very soon, enough people will have purchased these packs from stores that carry no competing products and/or who purchased them via the company’s websites that word-of-mouth will create the needed momentum to effectively brand and establish market penetration. But that is a slow-burning process that can take years or even decades to achieve. It was just a thought.
It was Christmas in August. The brakes on the UPS truck outside alerted me to the impending arrival of my Badlands backpacks. My UPS deliveryman always finds it interesting to see what he is delivering to me this time, and usually hangs around while
I open the boxes. Today was no exception. I opened the cardboard shipping containers to find a Badlands Monster Fanny Pack and a Badlands Turkey Vest. First impressions mean a lot, and the Badlands Monster made a great first impression. I’ve been using and carrying expedition-grade packs since I was sixteen years old. From North Face gear to military issue, I’ve just about seen it all. But Badlands Monster was definitely an immediate standout for quality of workmanship and materials to details of design and features tailored to the hunter. The devil is in the details, and within minutes I was inspecting stitching, zippers, pocket expansion, straps, fasteners, and even the logo embroidery. Flawless attention to detail was all I found. In today’s world of cheap products imported from the Pacific Rim and branded with famous labels, the Badlands Monster pack almost appears to be overkill. But, as any serious outdoorsman who spends significant time in harsh, demanding climates in pursuit of game far from civilization knows, there is no such thing as overkill! Rather, we have just come to dilute our expectations and plan for equipment failures. But the Monster pack sat there in my hands saying, “Come on…let me see what you’ve got. I can handle it.” And I was immediately convinced that, indeed, “this was not my grandpa’s (or grandma’s) fanny pack!” Rather, I anticipated the Monster would become a staple of my foot-hunting accessory assortment. So much for first impressions!
Ah, but “the proof is in the pudding,” the reader muses as he/she reaches this point in any review. Exactly. That was my next thought, too. September lay just around the corner. Squirrel season was already open. Dove season opener was the upcoming weekend. And the early teal season was a mere two weeks away. So I wasted no time loading my new Badlands Monster with all of the essentials that comprise my “don’t leave home without it” list of hunting gear. The folks at Badlands had not seen fit to equip my Monster or Turkey vest with the available hydration system. Admittedly, this was a disappointment. Having reviewed many different products for several different manufacturers, a hint of cynicism could not be avoided. I wondered if perhaps they were hiding something. I called my point of contact with the company and discussed this issue, but it was never resolved to my satisfaction. So the question remains and I cannot comment positively or negatively on this feature. Instead, I added standard black plastic water bottles like you would find with many fanny packs on the market today to the water bottle pockets on either side of the pack – one for me and one for my faithful hunting companion, Jake, a black Labrador Retriever. In went the first aid kit, a Leatherman multi-tool, a sealed can of honey-roasted peanuts (for quick energy on demand), a lightweight waterproof camo rain jacket, a blaze orange vest and hat, a camo rain poncho, a waterproof container of waterproof matches, a Bic disposable lighter, paraffin-dipped hemp rope sections in a Ziploc bag for starting fires, a set of Gerber pruners and retractable saw, my small binoculars, a pair of leather work gloves, a box of 20 ga. shotgun shells, and a box of .22 short hollow points. The Badlands Monster fanny pack is also equipped to carry a bedroll attached via ample and heavily constructed straps outside the main compartments. Try finding that feature on another fanny pack! The pack has a removable shoulder harness rig that rivals most expedition-grade full-size backpacks. So loading gear above and below the main compartment poses no load-bearing challenge for the wearer. Badlands unique FlexFrame and delron waist belt and suspension system prevent the Monster from sliding down onto your hips under the weight of gravity, which makes it the most comfortable fanny pack this author has ever carried. Furthermore, the amount of gear, water, food, and other accessories I was able to load into this back came up to a total weight of over 23 lbs…23 lbs…carried comfortably in a fanny pack!
The pack came in the popular Advantage Timber camouflage pattern, of which I am a big fan. I carried this Monster on my back on long, silent stalks through the squirrel woods, on many scouting expeditions for deer, turkey, quail, and ducks. I wore the Monster on several days of inventorying wildlife abundance and carrying capacity on various large tracts of land around the Ozarks, where terrain is often steep, rocky, and sometimes treacherous. I carried the Monster into the dove fields and on walk-in teal hunts. I was amazed at all of the functional aspects of this pack, and by how much forethought and detailed planning and construction the design team had put into a fanny pack for hunters. The zippers are equipped with oversized “Glove Grabber” pull-tabs and are virtually silent as well as waterproof. Everything is sealed and seam taped for maximum water resistance. They use super-strong Arimid thread for all the stitching. Ergonomically, the pack is a dream. Everything carried is easily accessed with one-handed operation. With each day afield I became more impressed with the Monster pack. So I decided to put it to a real durability test. While scouting quail one day in an especially rugged draw, I…ummm…decided (yeah…that’s it…decided) to leave the pack on while I slid down a steep, rocky hillside for about 70 feet followed immediately by a thicket of blackberry and locust foliage. Suffice it to say the pack fared far better than anything else I was wearing, including my skin. Today, after a rugged and demanding hunting season of use, I could put the Monster pack on a store shelf next to a brand new one after a brief clean-up, and no one would be the wiser, as to which was which. Simply amazing!
“Why a fanny pack?” the reader might ask. First, we must recall that theBadlands Monster Fanny Pack is no ordinary fanny pack. To this author’s way of thinking, it is an excellent replacement for a daypack. More compact and versatile than most other daypacks I have seen or used, the Monster affords more agility and mobility than a bigger pack. It also sits upright better without external support, providing superior access while sitting at your side under a tree, in the middle of a dove field, etc. I am a minimalist when it comes to gear. I want to carry as little as possible without leaving behind any of the essentials. With a larger pack, one must open the pack and remove items from the main compartment or pouches to lighten the load to meet a particular situation. With the Monster Fanny Pack, you carry several of your larger items lashed or strapped to the outside and they can be quickly removed if you plan properly in advance. Left behind at camp or in the truck, these items need not weigh you down when all you really need to carry for the next couple of hours is a box of ammo, some water, and a first aid kit. So, to my way of thinking, the versatility, durability, utility, and comfort of the Badlands Monster makes it an ideal choice for many small game hunting and any scouting expeditions consisting of two days or less duration in a temperate to warm environment.
Readers familiar with my reviews know that I call them like I see them. I’m not afraid to write a bad product an equally bad review. By the same token, I am not afraid to climb the church tower and sing the praises of a truly superior product. And the Badlands Monster Fanny Pack is certainly that type of product. I look forward to reviewing the Badlands Turkey Vest and as many of the manufacturer’s other products as they see fit to challenge me with.
Author: GunMuse Date: Thursday Sep 23 2004 10:57:44 am
