The Pack

 

Osprey

Everywhere I look, experienced walkers, people I have known all my life, people whose judgement I trust and people whose achievements on the most celebrated trails are blogworthy - are using Osprey packs.  You can't watch a video of people on the trail without an Osprey logo wandering past the camera.  

When I did my own research into the most suitable pack for my needs, Osprey came up top, time and time again. I am really impressed with their anti-gravity frame, ventilation, pocket configurations, intelligent and elegant systems for zip closures, compression straps, compartment segregation, hydration system accommodation. Their capacity for fine tuning the fit of the harness, the intelligent way the hip belt distributes weight and their obvious continuous improvement from one iteration of the pack to the next, are all impressive.

I chose the Osprey Atmos AG65 (65 Litre, Anti-Gravity), and here it is with all my kit loaded into it.

There is only one disadvantage that I've identified so far.

When I strapped myself in to the fully loaded pack, weighing almost 35 pounds, the weight spread itself across my hips and there was no drag on my shoulders. I walked up a flight of steps almost as though I had no pack on. It was hard to credit that Osprey had somehow made half the weight of the pack simply disappear.  

Now - that's dangerous.  Overconfidence.  I know I need to bring my pack weight down. I know I need to carry under 30 pounds if I'm going to be comfortable doing that day after day. But I can't yet get my head around how light this pack feels at 34 pounds.  This will take some discipline on my part. But Osprey - you have this system working really well.