Reading Jhaura's post about discounted shipping at Sierra Trading Post, I also noted that they have the Mountainsmith Ghost on sale! Interestingly, the Ghost comes in black rather than "bronze".

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/,85740_.html

The Ghost has been somewhat attractive in its design and features, particularly the fact that it is a panel loader, but I never could get over the used, WWI surplus look it had, even brand new, with that awful brown/tan hue. This pack might just turn into a best seller now that MS is producing it in a less repulsive color.

Bizarre. I've never seen any of the Mountainlight series packs in all black. I do remember the old blue ones. Checking Mountainsmith's website there is no indication that they're bringing those packs back into production. I am still mystified as to why they discontinued such a great, popular line of packs.

It sure does look like the same pack. Maybe its leftover stock from another country?

At the same time mountainsmith made some nice lightweight sleeping bags - the vision and cypher are the ones I remember. Great bags, though to get the weight down they really use too thin of shell fabric. I was surprised too that they seemed to get quite a bit of accalim for their mountainlite series and their line of sleeping bags, only to discontinue them after a couple of years. They must not have been able to sell them in sufficient volume.

I chatted with a couple of MS customer reps. In essence, what they said was that their clientele had always been the more traditional backpackers. While the Ghost sold really well, they also got a lot of warranty returns all across the entire "Mountainlight" line (i.e. Ghost as well as Auspex, Phantom, etc.) from users buying light weight packs to haul the same heavy gear! This prompted them to "return to their roots" so to speak in the beginning of 2006. Looking at Mountainsmith's current website really bears this out.

Interestingly, as a light weight hiker, I find the material used in the Ghost quite robust actually! For pack weight of 25lbs or less, I wouldn't hesitate to buy this pack again (actually, I would, because I've already got two of them, and even after three years of use, I haven't even begun to wear one out yet).

Ben,

My B/S alarm just went off on that statement from MS's reps. Sounds like some corporate suit crunching numbers and making a bad decision. Instead of marketing a great product more successfully and to the appropriate audience (which was already receiving it very well, ala the Ghost) they just yank the line. I'm also inclined to think that they needed to invent a new line of stuff so they can keep people buying the 'latest and greatest'.

Actually, in researching, I'm seeing that the Mountainlight series was made of VX-21 fabric made by Dimension-Polyant is 210d, which is the same denier that Mountainsmith's new Treklight series packs are made from.

My wife owns the Mountainlight Muse, and the fabric is very durable. She's never carrying more than 30 lbs, but her pack has had some pretty serious run-ins with slickrock and briar patches, and is none the worse for the wear.

I own a ghost as well, and do think there pack fabric were robust for lightweight hiking. There sleeping bags, however, used .7 or.8 ounce fabric, which did not wear very well. I think my comment about the MS Sleeping Bag shells above may have started the conversation about the pack fabric.

I too was disappointed that the Mountainlite series was discontinued; the new line is rather heavy. I did manage to snag one of the Muse packs last spring. After stripping it down a bit, it is really a sweet pack. Plenty of room for all my stuff with room left over, enough padding but not too much and all the amenities. I found it to be very comfortable for the loads I carry (around 25 pounds or less for 5 days). Others I saw on the AT with Mountainlite series packs were very satisfied. It is a good thing lightweight backpackers are adaptable.

It appears to me that Mountainsmith not only changed the color, but also the fabric on the Ghost. In the picture, the fabric looks like plain old nylon, not the traditional VX fabric as on the old models. I could be wrong.

That's right, the 'new' ghost pack is using nylon fabric, not VX21 fabric. I have been using my MS Mountainlight Phantom 2600cu pack for a few years now and it has'nt shown any sign of failing any time soon.

The large ended up being a better fit for me and I managed to locate and purchase two of them. I would like to pass this medium torso ghost on for the price I paid for it. I am asking $100 shipping included to lower 48.
I tend to concur with the opinions expressed already. MS should not have yanked the mountainlight series stuff. Ghost packs rule!

I bought a Ghost from STP about a year ago in the "old fashioned" bronze color. I had never seen it in black until now... I'm very happy with the pack and grew accustomed to panel loading rather quickly. You can cram way more than you'll need in there and it is still comfortable. It was a VERY difficult decision to demote my Ghost in favor of the Jam2 for my '07 AT thru. I actually like flying with the Ghost as carry on luggage as well...

$89.95 and free shipping until the end of the day today.

Torso is too long for me. :-(

STP price is now $74.97. It's not the old VX-21 material, but it's still a very nice pack.

Well, on further review... shipping is $10. It's a bit cheaper than it was, but not much. They did have free shipping.

Edited by samurai on 07/12/2007 19:03:50 MDT.