New pack audition-Osprey Exos 46

[OwenM]

Pics added to next post. This one's as much about the hike as anything, but the hike let me try out the pack...
The idea of "lightweight" and "ultralight" packs is one that I have always been skeptical of. I'm a big fan of overbuilt suspensions, and plenty of padding.
Also knew there was no point even trying a lightweight pack until the rest of my gear weight had been relatively minimized, so I have only recently had any real interest. I was not actually looking for a minimalistic pack(weight-wise, this one has tons of features). With the heat and humidity that we have here in Alabama, though, I do a lot of sweating almost year 'round when wearing a pack. What I was looking for was something that provided good ventilation for the back without having the packbag itself sitting too far off the back, and causing comfort or balance problems. This completely negated any of the ultralight packs that require using a sleeping pad in the place of a frame-something else I'm skeptical of, too.
In the process of trying on practically everything Deuter, Osprey, ArcTeryx, Gregory, etc. makes in the 40-50L range, I intentionally ignored the Osprey Exos, along with the Atmos. The Atmos is the only pack I've ever tried on that was actually painful to wear with everything tightened down-and that was with the pack empty. The hipbelt and my waist/hipbones do not get along at all.
After trying, and liking, the Deuter Spectro 38, and finding it suprisingly comfortable under load, I decided to give the Exos a chance.
As it happened, the size M for torsos of 18"-20.5" fit my 19.5" torso to perfection, and the hipbelt, even with almost no padding, felt great. Loaded with all my gear for a 3 day winter trip it was very comfortable in the store, too.
They only had "Ember Orange", which I didn't care for, and REI was having their anniversary sale, plus I had a little dividend, so ~$120 and three days later, I had the Jungle Green version.
http://www.rei.com/product/780219/osprey-exos-46-pack
I don't really care that much for the Jungle Green, either

Anyway, I got it. And it has sat in my house, loaded with my overnight gear, for the last month or so while I got back into rock climbing 3-4 times per week, and have not been hiking enough to require any more than my Mountainsmith lumbar pack.
Today I loaded it up with some gear, plus towel, sandals, and swim trunks in case I wanted to go swimming. Also carried a CamelBak Storm full of ice water in the hydration sleeve, and a pair of Nalgenes, so ~5L of water. I did not weigh the pack, but it was probably about 20lbs. My regular overnight load weighs 17-18lbs(with this pack), increasing to almost 25 with gear for 3 days of winter here.
I'll go ahead and say this now. This pack will probably not carry much over 25lbs comfortably. (Editing this, as I will try the pack at different weights before making statements about it)
Back to today. I carried it ~15 miles in hot, muggy weather. It felt weird at first. I'm so accustomed to my back sweating, and having sweat roll down my butt, that it just seemed wrong.
It felt like I was wearing a lumbar pack, but a light lumbar pack, and one that didn't make me sweat more at my hips and lower back, either. The weight was mostly on my hips, with barely any felt on my shoulders. Very comfortable.
Another thing I was skeptical about was a ventilated back actually working in humid conditions. I didn't think it would work that well, as we lose the benefit of evaporative cooling due to the amount of moisture in the air. Well, it does. My upper back actually felt cool compared to the rest of my body.
I hiked the Chinnabee Silent Trail in its entirety, which dead-ends into the Pinhoti trail, then went a little way up the Pinhoti, and then about a mile back down(adding a mile back up). This required me to then hike the Chinnabee in the opposite direction to get back. Along with having circled Cheaha Falls instead of just crossing the creek on the trail this made the hike somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 miles. I planned to stop and take pics on the way back, but never did.
Trail profile I found online:

I will add a short video taken at mile 5, where I stopped to offload trash I'd been picking up, to give an example of how much I was sweating, even before the steep uphill climb. For my back to have been so comfortable, and to not have sweat pouring down my rear(yes, it's a big deal, and that's why I bought this pack to begin with!) was nothing short of amazing to me.
edit: I was meltiiiinnnng
[youtube]zTJqybiD9CY[/youtube]

I am not recommending this pack to anyone. Pack fit is an individual thing, and the Exos' construction limits the load it will carry. I will say that, if we're pack shopping, we should try everything, and be objective, neither building up or dismissing anything based on appearances, or even experience with similar products. This pack was a very pleasant surprise for me in the store, and on the trail today.
The proof is in the pudding, and after actually getting to use this pack, I'm beyond happy with having chosen it.
My only concern now is durability. I did a little climbing with the pack on, scaling a rock wall, plus some playing off-trail looking for an overlook on top of the mountain, and cringed whenever the pack scraped against rock, or got thorns hung on, then ripped out of it. I may be a little too rough for a pack like this... My intention is that it only be used when hiking established trails, but since I can't seem to stay on them, time will tell.

Well, there's me, anyway. Can't really see the pack. The MSR pocket towel thingie came out in the first mile, and stayed out the whole time for mopping sweat off my face. Worked great, and never felt wet...

 

[OwenM]

I like the dual entry side pockets. It was easy to stick little pieces of trash I picked up off the trail in there:

This one kind of shows the curvature of the frame, and how the packbag is held away from your back.

A lot of the features are obvious from the advertising, but the inside/out compression was something I wanted. I hate tightening a compression strap over a water bottle. Also love how this well this design compresses the packbag. I'm actually going to be using this as a daypack, in spite of its capacity. It's lighter than most daypacks, anyway

Course if you use the side pocket for gear you do want to secure, you can still do that, too.

The toplid pocket is cavernous.

All of this stuff is in there, and room to spare:

There is also a very roomy valuables pocket on the bottom side of the lid.

Here are the quick access items that will typically ride in the stretch pocket. Lots of room there, too. Bandana, light gloves, toilet paper, bug repellant, plus water filter and rain jacket.

I used the word cavernous, referring to the lid. The whole pack seems cavernous. The main bag and all the pockets hold so much more than I'd expected...

I love this pocket. Had no idea it was there. Didn't see it in the advertising, or even notice it when trying on the pack.
It's a vertical zipper, and the pocket is under the stretch pocket on the outside. It's basically the size of the entire rear panel. It can hold my bivy or tarp/ground sheet if they're folded instead of rolled, wet or muddy gear you want to keep separated, etc.

The pack is lightly built, but Osprey reinforces all the tie downs and attachments. You can't always see it, but you can feel it!

It's not a heavy duty pack by any means, but I'm impressed with the construction quality.
Most impressive to me, though, is that I sacrificed no comfort as far as how the weight of the load rests on my body(there's a reason "fit is everything" gets repeated repeatedly on backpacking boards) compared to my heavier Mountainsmith Lookout 45 and Mystery Ranch Dragonslayer, while gaining the ventilation I wanted for my back.

My other packs are both more stable, and much tougher, so each has its place. I really like packs in this general size range, and that's all I ever use, but I think three will be my limit.

 

[crossada]

Excellent review Owen. That short video makes it look like the hike was torturous regardless of what pack you were using!

 

[OwenM]

Thanks. I do my best to ignore the weather...just dress for the occasion, and stay hydrated.
That's really a fun hike, and a good workout. I enjoyed every bit of it.
It has a little bit of everything. You start following a beautiful section of creek that has a bunch of small waterfalls, go over rolling hills and along ridges with our small version of mountains opposite, cross another creek with a larger waterfall, through more woods and smaller streams as the trail becomes rocky, then up the mountain.
I'm sure it will be even more enjoyable when it's 60 degrees cooler in the daytime

 

[ROCK6]

Great review Owen. As much as I love bomb-proof military packs, I've found Osprey packs fit me best for trail packing. Not only do I like the fit (which is the most important), they have several small features that are really the icing on the cake. The frame/suspension are pretty neat. I have a Badlands Ultra Day pack for hunting that has a very similar design...a lot of airflow behind the back which is great. It does give up a lot of packing space, but depending on the activity can really help cool the back on those hot/humid hikes.

ROCK6

 

[OwenM]

The frame/suspension are pretty neat. I have a Badlands Ultra Day pack for hunting that has a very similar design...a lot of airflow behind the back which is great. It does give up a lot of packing space, but depending on the activity can really help cool the back on those hot/humid hikes.

ROCK6

I'm really impressed with how well it worked!
I had been tempted by the Manta 25 for a daypack w/bladder, but it was really smaller than I wanted. This Exos actually weighs less(well, sans bladder-plus you can remove the lid) and compresses down to nothing. I believe it's going to see a lot of use, and replace my Mountainsmith Day for most dayhikes.


This page on Osprey's site has a video review of the Exos 46 I had not seen before:
http://www.ospreypacks.com/en/web/exos_series

 

[PropThePolecat]

Nice review. Looks like it was hot as hell!

Ive got 3 Osprey packs in different sizes...the Talon 22, Stratos 34 and Aether 70. Theyre all excellent packs purpose-built for hiking and backpacking.

 

[mtwarden]

I owned an Exos 46 for two years, very good pack that is very feature rich, yet very light. It also carries like a dream (if it fits!). I was able to eek out 7-8 day trips w/ it, fairly impressive for a 46 liter pack IMO- I found 35# to be near the upper limit, it would carry more than that, but the comfort level really degraded

I use trekking poles and really like the stow&go setup, also liked the mesh side and rear pockets

I have since replaced it w/ this, so far so good- feature set is less, but it's a pound lighter too

http://www.ula-equipment.com/ohm.asp

 

[OwenM]

The Ohm was the one I would have liked to have tried from the ULA lineup, but I have not seen one in person. Tried on two of their packs this spring, but they didn't "feel right". I like the idea of that Dyneema, though, and they're cool packs.
My gear has reached the point where the weight is pretty much insignificant, and my fitness level is increasing, so I guess the search for lighter and better is over for now.
Said 25lb. max for the pack, above, but that may have been when I had it stuffed full to see how much it would hold. Will have to recheck that.
Did you have any durability issues in those 2 years? Mountains sound good, but I keep gravitating toward canyons, and do have some concerns about wear and tear.

 

[mtwarden]

I had some minor wear on the weave portion against your pack, was very minor and didn't effect performance any- minor abrasion here and there- again nothing that had any effect

my opinion is this pack is a lot tougher than it's weight would belie

they also have a very bulletproof warranty if something were to come up

the Ohm won't carry quite as much as the Exos, the frame setup isn't as extensive (carbon hoop w/ a firm pad)- volume is pretty close, but you lose the top pocket, which I really like on a pack- it does have good size waist pockets though (I'll probably add a pocket on the shoulder strap as well)

 

[OwenM]

That's good to hear!
I finally settled on a trip for this fall, sometime in October. Should be doing a couple of slot canyon hikes in Escalante Grand Staircase, along with finishing my La Verkin Creek Trail hike that got cut short in Kolob this spring, and may take this pack. I want to keep everything as light as possible, since I have a regular plan, and another more ambitious one if I can keep the pace up.
The slots are mostly hiking, not technical-just require some scrambling, and crawling down a few tight cracks.
The pack can go in my rope tarp when lowering it through the cracks, and get a pack cover put on so it doesn't get scraped on the walls in the narrow places.

Hopefully the weather won't screw me up this time. Early snow at Kolob will be ok, even welcome, as long as it isn't a freaking blizzard, but they show the Escalante backcountry as inaccessible when it's wet, due to the crappy roads. I refuse to go during tourist season, though.

 

[mtwarden]

Sounds like fun

I'm hoping to get my Kolob trip in next spring, didn't happen this year

 

[OwenM]

I may do your Trans-Zion hike minus the East Rim(part of an earlier plan) as a two-nighter, and save the two slot canyon hikes for later. Camp the night before, and start at daylight, which would let me see Kolob Arch and Beartrap Canyon on day 1, then spend day 2 and 3 getting back to the main Canyon.
I keep reading, and looking at pics.
Should be there the last week of October into the first week of November. That's apparently when the colors peak, and if there's snow, it should only be at the highest elevations. The water should be no more than waist deep in the Narrows. Some people just rent drypants, because they don't have to swim below Orderville Canyon, which would be my destination for the dayhike. Somehow got to make up my mind

It was kind of an eerie feeling looking at pics of trails I hiked in March, and realizing that some of the places where I was walking on snow to get off the ice and have traction in a couple of tight curves near the entrance to Hidden Canyon, and higher up going toward the East Rim-there is nothing. The chains they have around some of those very narrow spots were buried under snow, too, and I didn't even know they were there until last night. Damn...

 

[mtwarden]

my trip was going to be sans East Rim as well, take in Angels Landing and then catch the shuttle back to my vehicle- if you end doing that route lmk

 

[HikingMano]

Great review, Owen, thanks. I had considered trying on this pack when shopping for my first backpacking pack but thought it'd be too small for my needs. I can only afford one backpacking pack for now, so I opted for something larger that could do both short weekend trips and longer week trips, with my current gear. I tried on the Atmos65 because of the ventilated suspension, and although I really wanted to like it, it fit me horribly. I loaded it with 25-35lbs, and the pack sat too far off my pack, causing the lower edge of the frame to dig into my back painfully. I ended up with an Aether70 (comfy comfy comfy, but not UL), and I think it should serve my needs well. The straight jacket compression feature should come in handy for smaller summer/weekender loads.

I'm definitely going to try on the Exos the next time I'm in REI :thumbup: Maybe I can pick this one up as a daypack/overnighter/weekender when dividend time swings around.

 

[OwenM]

Those Aethers are really nice packs. I was going to buy one a couple of years ago, but decided to revamp all my other gear first, and ended up not needing something so large.

If things go as planned, there'll be an even longer dayhike this Wednesday with the Exos loaded with my exact gear for a trip this fall. If the pack and I are still getting along after that, it's all beautiful.

btw, be sure to load up any Exos you try on, and check the size. Comes in 3 sizes, but won't be for everybody. If the fit isn't right, a pack this light doesn't have enough padding to disguise it, and should let you know pretty quick. REI's site just shows the Exos 46 and 58, but there's a 34L version, too.

 

[HikingMano]

Yeah, I have a tarptent moment, 20deg down bag, and can pare down to relatively minimal gear (if I can get away from being a what-if monkey)... so I'm thinking I won't need 70L for the kind of trips I'll be doing most often. But for now, I'd rather have one pack that can accommodate larger/heavier loads if need be. Especially if I'm going to be doing trips in places like Yosemite, where bear canisters are required. I'm looking forward to picking up a smaller pack down the line, as I refine my gear.

I definitely will be trying on the Exos with weight. Packs feel much different with 20-30 lbs in em. And it's good to know there's a 34L version... more intriguing in the dayhike/overnigher role.

 

[OwenM]

Not sure what to think of this at the moment. Yesterday I started on a very steep, rocky uphill, and then hit a series of slopes, many of which were downhill, where I would run for short periods. The pack was intentionally loaded beyond what I would normally carry, with about 28lbs. total.
I knew something was wrong when I blew the water back through the hose of my Camelbak, and felt it bubbling against my back. The pack was still carrying comfortably(though making some creaking noises), and time was limited, so I did not stop. When I made camp, and took the pack off for the first time, I saw that the center support, which frames the "Airspeed" logo in that second pic of post #2, had fallen out, and was resting under the mesh at the bottom of the frame. I couldn't get it back in the little sleeves its ends pop into, and am at a loss how I'm going to with the mesh back in place.
I took pics, but had the memory card out, so have to find my cable to get them from the camera to the computer.

 

[OwenM]

Here we go:

 

[HikingMano]

This is interesting. Andy looks to have had the exact same failure with his Exos 58 on his recent trip:

The only bad part was my pack failing as I got ready to come home.

Fixed. I've already called Osprey to replace it.

He contacted Osprey straight away and they're going to take care of him...but still. Makes me a bit wary to pick up something from the Exos line unless this problem is addressed with the next revision.