Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Osprey backpacks

Please give me your honest opinion about the current Osprey backpacks.

I have zero experience with them, but we saw them at the Outdoor Retailer show and they looked impressive as far as the suspension goes, which I tend to look at first.

Actual experience is preferred.

We are opening up a retail store front in North Salt Lake City and are looking for a production pack with a good name and positive feedback from users.

Complete crap. Gimmick ladden junk.

It's a shame, in the 90's (along with Dana) and early 2000's they were in my estimation the top maker in the land.

And yeah, the last two summers I tried two of their new offerings on two trips (Aether and Argon).

My wife and her friend each tried the Xenon's.

We all hated them. Uncomfortable, compromised suspensions.

Okay, you have my attention, but can you tell me why you feel the way you do, besides being gimmick laden?

Okay, I just read your edited post. Thank you for your feedback.

Do you have another production pack in mind that you would recommend?

You can do a search... I did a review on the Aether here.

The Argon? Not worth the trouble other than to say a pack with 2/3 stays is a compromise that leads nowhere good.

Here ya go:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthread...e/Re_Osprey_Aether_70_Review#Post6008898

Thanks. Very informative.

As a sidenote after reading the above review, I owned a Bora 80 for two years and sold it. I did not care for the stiff hipbelt, and the pack has a whole was not comfortable to carry. Very well constructed, just not comfortable. Goes to show you how different we all are.

I'd love to see how the stays were bent to your back. My bet is they weren't adjusted correctly.

I do hear you on the hipbelt, it's not for everyone. Some love it, some don't.

Good point. I don't remember, but that very well could have made the difference. I really liked a lot of its features though.

Vigil, the makers of packs back in the day lived in continual frustration because of sales people who couldn't fit their packs to customers.

You still see it today, and it's appalling out on the trails to see so many poorly fitting packs.

Sometimes I lurk at the local REI and watch the employees "fit" customers. Pretty scary stuff mostly.

This all has led to all sorts of insanity like non-removable stays and one-size-fits all packs.

I'm pretty confident I could have got you comfortable in the Bora (apart from the belt which is a separate issue).

Absolutely love my two ospreys. I have an older crescent 85 that i use for packing up to 100#. i also have a year old atmos 65 for 35# and under. Only complaint i have on atmos is it difficulty getting water bottles.

I love my Osprey also, as do many of my friends.

I've got an Aether 75 I bought in 1997 and I like it just fine along with the Cresent 65.

Charles,

The smaller Osprey packs are nice. The Exos series in particular, although I am planning on grafting an HPG shoulder harness onto mine. Perhaps its not fair to compare the shoulder suspension to HPG though as HPG is worlds better than most anything out there.

I have an old Silhoutte the is a fine pack. The newer one's I do not care for. The suspension is not strong enough IMO

Sorry VG no experience with current line up. Can say that my older Aether (bought in '05) is the most comfortable I've carried yet. Somewhat limited experience, I've used Lowe, Gregory, and Black Diamond (day packs). Have yet to give my Granite Gear a good shake down and want to try a Mystery Ranch.

I have a new Osprey Manta 30 hydration/daypack....I love it; especially its hydration system,(I prefer it over camelbacks) but it falls into the smaller pack category, which it seems is not where most of the complaints are coming from.
johnny

Ran a Crescent 110 for 2 years, 2 years too long I might add. The suspension sucked and the waist belt kept coming loose constantly.

Sold it happily, hell I should have paid him to take it and I bought a MR Ranch Kodiak and that's been 5 years ago and I love the thing. As a matter of fact it is getting packed for a 3 day trip the end of the week.

PG

Liked my Crescent, Aether was ok for lighter weights, very comfortable, Argon pack I could not wait to get rid of. Still have a smaller Kestrel that has it's place. Moved on to a couple of Kifaru packs and have not looked back.

I know very little about backpacks so I just buy what looks like what I can use and from my point of view is pretty well constructed. And I sure don't want one that will hold a couple of tons or so so when I head for the hills, it is my Atmos 35 that gets to go with me.

I didn't like the water bottle thing either so I slipped one of the hydration packs in it. That works real good. And if I need more water, I haul a filter along.

I have no idea whether or not it fits me correctly but it holds all the stuff I can carry.

My two youngest- 9 and 13- both have Osprey packs. It has worked out well as the packs are comfortable for them with moderate loads and the packs adjust well as they grow. Also the packs are very light and durable. For the smallest girl in particular- having a light pack means the overall load is more manageable and comfortable. The first pack was bought mail-order from REI as we didn't have a backpacking store near us. The latest pack was bought from a well stocked backpacking oriented store. The pack wasn't especially expensive but it was by far the best youth sized backpack in their stock.
Just an observation- as pack load weights have gone down over the past several years, Osprey seems to have shifted focus to packs designed for lighter loads with lighter suspensions not suited to the heavy loads that hunters occasionally carry.