BootsnAll Travel Community

I am new to this site, but not new to traveling or backpacking. However, I stumbled upon the MEI pack searching through the internet and eventually landing on this here website.

So my question to anyone who is familiar with MEI packs is, which MEI pack should one consider? I mean, based on the search hits, the voyageur would be the most likely option, but the MEI brand has a couple more selection.

Would anyone care to help out?

thanks in advance


S.

regardless of the brand of pack you pick, TRY IT ON FIRST. and keep it on for at least 30-60 minutes in the store. any gear store worth their salt will demand that you do this to ensure a proper fit. if you can get a better price on the internet, and dont mind taking advantage of the store that let you try on the pack, so be it. At the store i work at the different brands we carry have hundreds of variations to fit all sorts of people, you need to be an expert to sort through it all. sorry, i havent heard of MEI. good luck and try it on first!

I believe that MEI is mailorder only, so make sure they have a good return policy, in case the pack you order doesn't fit well.

I don't have any experience with MEI products, but the MEI Voyageur is the one that's gotten the most buzz on the boards.

- Mike

MEI is quite good , you can trust in them .

Thanks guys for all the replies.

I actually have been in contact with Ahmed, "the DUDE at MEI", he essentially has worked with them from the very beginning.

He has been very helpful and prompt. They are very busy now with all the holiday travels ensuing.

I hope to be in possession of one soon.

cheers


shawn

Hi,
I for one would be really interested in your impressions of the Voyageur, and of dealing with the company, MEI. I'm considering the same bag.


Thanks,
Dave in Hong Kong

So after much time, with back and forth phone calls that were very interesting and educational, i am getting my voyageur pack on friday.

Its navy blue and i cant wait.

i'll let you know how it is and all that good stuff.

shawn

So after a not so long wait I finally received my MEI Voyageur pack. first, let me just say that this pack RULES!!

pardon my language, but its built like a brick shit-house. Really! The construction of this thing seems to be bomb-proof.....lets hope i just didnt jinx myself.

anyway...I received the navy blue pack and it came configured in the carry on mode.....the conversion from this config. to the backpack mode took less than 2 minutes.

the pack comes with a sternum strap, lumbar padding, waist belt w/tension adjusters, padded shoulder straps w/ load adjusters and finally compression straps for the front.

also, the front panel of the pack has a zippered pocket which can open independent of the main compartment zipper.

the volume, as first sight, is very very accommodating. Its essentially a open space with two compression straps.

In the main compartment, there is a little light blue "ditty bag", with a velcro closure.

the main handle is located on the top of the longest side of the bag and is encased with a hard ,durable plastic/rubber sleeve.


.......all in all i am very pleased with this pack and its construction. my first use of this bag will be in less than a week and half, and will be accompanying me to the Yucatan for a month. hopefully there i will figure out the likes and dislikes of this bag.

so I give 2 "boots" up to this product and vendor.


shawn

p.s. if anyone has questions about this product and wants my opinion i'll be more than happy to share.

Hi there,

I've been looking at the MEI Voyageur for a while now and have pretty much decided that it's the back for me- if it fits! Being that they are mail-order only it's hard for me to try one on short of buying one...

So, to those of you who have a Voyageur, do you think it would fit somebody 6'3"?

Much obliged..

I doubt it.

People, especially those that are 6'3", should definitely have any large pack fitted before purchasing it.

And why people are so interested in MEI's packs eludes me. Travel packs have come a long way in 20 years. MEI's haven't. You can all do a lot better.

Whoa.. thanks for the quick reply.

Well then, if the Voyageur is out, I'm back to square one. Does anybody have any suggestions on what carry-on compatible bag might work for a 6'3" someone? I really don't want to check my pack, surely there's a bag out there for me?

Thanks in advance..

Here is the problem: Everybody is biased and uneducated.

Everybody buys one pack after lots of research. The "research" comes mainly from the biased opinions of amateurs (on forums such as this one) who know their pack well, but haven't traveled the world with other brands of packs. Otherwise, they look up "reviews" in magazines that depend upon advertising to pay the bills: a hardly unbiased source (Backpacker and Outside magazine would award "product of the year" to a turd if they bought enough advertising).

Since most users made a decision after painstaking research, they are most likely very pleased with their decision, will constantly boast about its wonderfulness and don't ever want to find out that there may have been better choices. Even if the posters are long in the tooth, chances are that their experiences with packs are comparing the one that they bought last year with the one that they bought five or ten years before that.

In addition, the packs change all the time. Designs change, designers change, materials change, construction changes. Keep in mind that, other than lighter materials and better harnesses, there have been no significant changes in pack design.

It is a very competitive business involving groups of very seasoned, smart professionals who recognize design and construction flaws and are keenly aware of the small chance for any mistakes. Those manufacturers test packs more than any of us possibly can before they hit market. Any previously overlooked problems are quickly identified and corrected.

If you stick to the top tier brands: Eagle Creek, Osprey, Arc'teryx, Macpac, Karrimor, Mont, etc., you really cannot possibly go wrong. You can easily be miserable with the mid-line brands such as Jansport, Kelty or Kathmandu.

In a perfect world, the well-trained retail employee in the pack section would know the product lines and have several different brands and models of travel packs to sell. In reality, the stores of today have many brands but little selection within a brand (REI is especially guilty of this), and the underpaid retail employee may have memorized information from sales clinics but in any event has less travel experience than the customer that he is selling to.

Which is the best pack? I don't know. I am trained in how backpacks fail, not how they fit or which one is the best this week. I do remember that MEI sold their travel packs as an SMU for The North Face retail stores back in the mid-90's and that they had an impressive failure rate with their zippers. Maybe they have learned by now to use nickel-plated YKK #10 sliders, solid-core polyester thread and have finally bias-taped their interior seams, but it still wouldn't make up for the fact that their packs still weigh a ton while empty.

All i have to say, which is what i said before, is that these are my opinions about the pack.

....and I totally agree with "static", the most useful data or info one can gather from all this is try them all out and inform yourself.....I am not totally new to backpacks and bags......as well as construction materials and designs. However, what my (subjective/biased) experience has taught me in the past is, when dealing with this specific product technology, lighter doesnt always translate into better/stronger/more durable. Also to keep in mind, weight of pack material should never be a major consideration when one has the ability to control what contents they put in the pack/container, especially if most of us are considering bringing boots, laptops and jugs of hair products with over sized package materials.

As for the companies, I agree that usually the name brand, top tier companies are the ones to strive for. However, some of those companies have deviated from their original design/quality aesthetic, which had made them more desirable/credible in the recent/and distant past.

In particular, I wouldnt be afraid of using Jansport products. i am also in no way affiliated with this company, but what Jansport does do, since the beginning, is design bags. For me that is comforting......company's design longevity.

In end, I chose MEI because of its simplicity, its use of 1000 denir cordura in the pack material construction.It also was very affordable and its design lacks all the superfluous webbing, clamps, straps and flashy logo/name that would usually attract potential no-gooders.

..........and most importantly I was able to talk the guy in charge, Ahmed.......I identified with a face at MEI. A man who has worked with MEI's originators from the beginning. A guy who has seen whats works and didnt work for
MEI in the past..... not a corporate chief's assistant to the assistant-customer rep.



.....and that still means something to me.

if the pack holds up for this upcoming years partial RTW, i will surely do more biz with them.


thanks

I'm a 'virgin' backpacker and due to having NO retail outlets nearby and not being able to try any packs on at all; I did the research, made the decision to purchase the Voyaguer and recently had occasion to use it for several weeks. I'm 5'10" and found it to be very comfortable and easy to adjust (I did purchase extra slides to take up the long tails of the straps). I was impressed with the pack, for me - it was convertible to various modes (shoulder/backpack/luggage) in minutes and didn't look like a backpack when I carried it as a shoulder bag (I had a shoulder strap from another piece of luggage). I'm not rough on my stuff, so I can't say how it would handle a RTW by another traveler; but it was great for me (I do agree it's heavy when empty...about 3 lbs I think). Not having the ability to try other packs obviously is a disadvantage, but I'm comfortable with what I ended up with and Ahmed is a true professional and works very hard to keep up with the orders.

quote:

Originally posted by 2gowhere?:
I'm a 'virgin' backpacker and due to having NO retail outlets nearby and not being able to try any packs on at all; I did the research, made the decision to purchase the Voyaguer and recently had occasion to use it for several weeks. I'm 5'10" and found it to be very comfortable and easy to adjust (I did purchase extra slides to take up the long tails of the straps). I was impressed with the pack, for me - it was convertible to various modes (shoulder/backpack/luggage) in minutes and didn't look like a backpack when I carried it as a shoulder bag (I had a shoulder strap from another piece of luggage). I'm not rough on my stuff, so I can't say how it would handle a RTW by another traveler; but it was great for me (I do agree it's heavy when empty...about 3 lbs I think). Not having the ability to try other packs obviously is a disadvantage, but I'm comfortable with what I ended up with and Ahmed is a true professional and works very hard to keep up with the orders.

I am in absolute agreement. I just came back from a month stay in the Yucatan and I had no problems with the conversion ability of the MEI voyageur. It was heavy empty, but I rarely ever used the pack empty.

the pack was fantastic to travel with in buses and the plane. I had it packed to the top and there was no problem with oversize issues.