Andrew interrupted his work (they were preparing to produce video of the Reckless system) to mount a mounting (wedge) plate on a rack so Pete could show me the Backcountry set-up. That plate is very firmly attached to the pannier frame with eight bolts into four back clamps. Those backing pieces are machined to fit various sizes of rack frames, including the square rack frames from Happy Trails. The wedge plate Andrew is working with was mounted to a Hapco-Becker rack, and that is roughly the same size as the TouraTech rack.
In fact, you can see some TouraTech frames right above Andrews head.
When that plate is mounted ( and it is designed for some vertical and horizontal adjustment, which necessarily varies according to the rack manufacturer) it is very firmly affixed. There is no looseness. In turn, when the bag with its integral plate slides down onto the wedge plate, it becomes a lawyer's nightmare, as there is no wiggle room. The two plates snap together with a satisfying, sturdy sound (they literally "snap" together - lodly!). Then the mechanical connection is finished with a metal clinching latch. The bag is now solidly on the bike, and it will take a catastrophic event to separate bag from bike.
Pete took me through features, and there are many. 
The best way to understand all the features is to watch the videos on the website and to read their product description material. But the most important thing I saw was the attention to detail - in both design and production. There are things that don't matter until you are somewhere in the dark between villages and it's 100 kilometers either way. For example, they use metal buckles, which fail very seldom compared to plastic or Delrin. Okay, that's good. More importantly, the edges are chamfered, or "eased" and they won't fray or snag. It also means that when your fingers are cold or tired, it is easier to fasten them, because they are designed to work smoothly with the straps and bags. I have Soft bags from two other soft bag manufacturers, and neither one approaches this level of design and attention to detail.
Another seemingly small thing are the ends of the straps. On a compression strap, you will always have a long tail, it is the nature of the compression design. You pull the strap to compress the load, and you wind up with more strap on the free or tailing end of the strap. Having chewed off several feet of flapping strap that made its way loose from my attempts to knot it off, I can tell you that sometimes you wish you had some of that strap back. When you need a 48 inch strap, a 42 inch strap often won't do (even the use of profanity will not stretch a nylon strap - I've tried). Their solution is to use Velcro strips seen firmly to the end of the strap which allows you to roll the end of the strap up on itself and then use the Velcro to secure the rolled up strap end to the strap itself. Very tidy. It beats every other solution I have seen offered.
Another thing that is important to some people is to have your back rack free for other uses. My Magadan bags are saddlebags, and so the supporting straps go across the top of the rear rack. That takes away from the utility of a flat smooth surface. Mosko's Backcountry design hangs the soft luggage on the racks themselves, leaving the rear rack free. (Their new Reckless design will have a bag across the rear rack, but that bag has so many integral design features that riders are going to love it. I promise. If I were going to be doing shorter trips off-road, that would be the set up I would use, hands down. Wait for it, folks, it's going to be the Cadillac for off-readers).
Also, the Backcountry bags are designed to maintain their shape by using lightweight foam panels on the large sides, which I guess I should call the front and the back, as the back
Is mounted to the plate that attaches to the pannier rack via the wedge. Maintaing the shape of the front and back panels may not seem important, but when it is dark and rainy and the wind is blowing (or any of those things) and you are trying to find something in the bag with a flashlight between your teeth and you are slobbering around the flashlight, muttering bad words because the front edge of the bag keeps flipping over and blocking the light, you will wish the side of the bag was stiffer. These bags solve that problem. I distinctly remember using bad words on the side of the road in Uzbekistan trying to get something out of the right pannier and I could not keep the bag from flapping closed. It was windy, hot, and sandy. I was frustrated and it was unpleasant. I really try to minimize those types of frustrations. You can easily imagine why.
A word about weight. In my opinion, the Backcountry design is a dual sport design. It is designed for both off-road and highway use. The mounting plates and bag stiffening material is going to add weight. I don't think it will add more than three pounds total, but I can't say until I get them and weigh them. For men and women who count ounces going on their bikes, this will be important, and they should wait for the new off-road design. To me it does not matter on this trip. On another trip it might.
I looked at some bags in the shop that have been used, and while they were dirty and abused, they had held up. When you look at these bags, you will note some things right away. The cut of the fabric is excellent. The sewing is tight and even. The welded seams are flat and smooth. I did not see any production flaws. If I were to receive one of their products that did have a manufacturing defect, I have no doubt I would have a replacement quickly with no fuss. But at the outset, the designs appear to be very well executed. The product is quite simply well made.
Finally, as I have written before, the beaver tails and the Molle attachment points just make this the most versatile system I have seen. Wolfman claims great versatility, and they are versatile. However, they just dont come close to what you can do with this total system. I like Wolfman, and I will continue to use their bags for my front panniers and my "house" bag (I call it that because my tent, my sleeping bag, my air mattress, and all related gear fit in it - it's a long narrow waterproof duffle) because they are best suited for those tasks. But I can't expand them as readily and as easily as the Mosko system.
I am going to order a set of the Backcountry panniers to take back to Central Asia, paying full price, because I think this is just a great product. I am going to prove, I suppose, whether I am right or wrong in my assessment. Like all riders, I keep searching for the perfect equipment that allows me to do, and assists me in doing, the kind of riding I want to do where I want to do it. When I'm storming across I-70 on yet another Trans-Missouri Expedition, I want my TouraTech aluminum panniers. They look good, very butch, and tourists love them. When I'm riding where the road is defined more by the absence of vegetation than the presence of a graded surface, I want a soft bag that is lighter, waterproof, fully and almost infinitely adjustable to load, tighter to the bike, and which is less likely to snap my leg if "the bad thing" happens.
Pete and Abdrew have reason to be proud of this product. I'm looking forward to seeing what else they come up with.
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