Doppelgänger,

It's a Burn, somewhat modified. Not certain precisely what Ron did to the basic design. These days I live in Richmond, VA during part of the winter. I had once met Ron Bell in an earlier incarnation we both shared (he was very good at that as well), so I went to Roanoke with my gear. We packed it up in a couple of different bags, I carried them around a bit, and then he decided what to do. My sense is that it's just slightly longer than the standard. After that, I removed the tie-on cords and associated hardware, but added four belt pockets. It now weighs just about a pound even. It has no stays or frame, but my neoair wrapped around the inside seems to add all the frame that's necessary, and its an efficient way to carry the pad.

Since we tried on the packs themselves, we never measured, but i'm now down to about 5'10" and seem to fit most standard sizes (about 175 lbs.).

There are several sources for directions on measuring your back. I've never done it, but I believe REI has one, and OM has often recommended one from McHale, a maker of very nice (but heavy) custom packs. You could contact Ron and ask if he has any special thoughts on measuring. He's very easy to work with and also thoughtful about what he does. He's made quite a bit of the equipment I now use.

Only problem is that he does all his work in-house (great quality control) and is frequently backed up as much as six or eight weeks. His work is popular.

Mountain Laurel Designs has a website.

Hope this helps. More if you need it.

best, jcp

best,