Dave, you can always hope it'll be less than 12 weeks. The white Tyvek envelope showed up on my porch 2 weeks earlier than I expect. It was better than Christmas. I dig this backpack, I bet you will too.

I echo Art's thoughts on this pack. Dave, I think you made a great choice as well! I recently received an order a lot earlier than I expected so maybe you'll get lucky

My new MLD ExodusFS pack arrived early last week, and it was - in almost all ways - a smartly designed, superb quality pack. The Klymit air pad frame is a beaut, and load transfer to the hips was outstanding. Comfortable, elegantly simple, rugged, I loved it... but I had to send it back. No fault at all of the pack, it just turned out to be too small for my gear. From all the reports I read saying it seemed larger than the specs, I thought it would be the one pack I could use for everything. Overnights, long trips, the works. Maybe for some that might be true, but while my baseweight has been reduced significantly over the past few years (I'm at about 12-15 lbs depending on what luxuries I bring along), I guess my gear volume has not been reduced quite as much.

I'll have to stick with my MLD Ark pack for now (a great pack in its own right), but it was fun to dream. BTW, my ExodusFS arrived about 4 weeks after ordering. So if anyone here wants one but is put off by the 10-12 week lead-time showing on the MLD website, go ahead and place your order. Ron might surprise you.