Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Luggage - 22''

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

My wife and I recently bought both an Osprey Meridian 22 and an Eagle Creek Switchback Max 22 and have been comparing the two. Our goal is extended travel with no check-in luggage.

What's similar: Both systems are designed to meet airline carry-on requirements and as long as the outer daypack is detached from the main pack and carried on separately, and neither is packed to bulging, they should pass. We found the design, functionality and workmanship of both the Switchback and the Meridian to be excellent. The main packs in both systems have fully functional suspension systems with comfortably padded shoulder and waist straps. Both include adjustable straps above the shoulder pads to pull the load in snug against the back. The suspension systems can be set up or stowed quickly and easily. The detachable daypacks on both systems are quite roomy and include water-bottle sleeves on left and right sides. The daypacks attach to the main pack with durable zippers and are held in place with straps and snap-buckles. Both systems include dual internal tie-down straps in the main compartment and have lockable outer zippers.

What distinguishes the Osprey Meridian:
1. The daypack contours extremely well to both male and female anatomy making a waist belt unnecessary.
2. The daypack has a much more adequate system of organizing pockets than the Eagle Creek Switchback.
3. Attachment strap buckles are well protected and reinforced.
4. Shoulder straps on both the main pack and the daypack remain permanently attached (i.e. no need to reattach them each time they are used). Shoulder and waist straps are also slightly better padded on the Osprey than on the Eagle Creek Switchback.
5. Main pack has four security straps when the daypack is removed (the Eagle Creek Switchback has only two).
6. Zippers don't snag.
7. Wheels are large for smooth, quiet rolling.
8. Main pack has separate compartment for dirty laundry.
9. Includes built-in self-hiding luggage tag (a small but thoughtful feature!)
10. Suspension system and contours are particularly well suited for female anatomy with a curving bar at the bottom to conform evenly to hips.

What distinguishes the Eagle Creek Switchback:
1. The detachable daypack includes its own waist belt.
2. The capacity of the main pack is the largest of the two.
3. The placement of the waist belt and contours of the pack are particularly well suited to the male anatomy, especially men of average-to-tall height (I'm 5'9").
4. The daypack has a lockable zipper on its main compartment.
5. The daypack can be hung from the shoulder straps of the main pack so that it is positioned in front of the wearer (which is useful for balancing if the main pack is heavily loaded).

In summary: The Osprey has superior features, in our opinion, but in the end it all comes down to comfort. I prefer the Eagle Creek Switchback's fit while my wife prefers the more female-friendly fit of the Osprey Meridian. And we're finding that having both systems gives us enough capacity to pack all we need for a 7 – 10 - day stay, even in winter climes.

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

This is a combination review and comparison to the previous version. If you can still find the previous version of the Meridian 22, buy that one. The new version seems to be made cheaper. The day pack no longer has normal water bottle pockets on the sides. It has ridiculous zip pockets that barely fit a small water bottle. There is a pocket that is accessible from the outside of the main bag that takes up space inside, but if you fill the inside up with clothes, that pocket becomes useless. The handle on the bottom of the main bag was made smaller, so anybody with even medium size hands will find it almost useless. They removed the pocket on the outside of the main bag. They use iron-on logos now that look like they'll peel off in a short amount of time. They basically turned a fantastic travel bag into a less-than-desirable travel bag.

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

When I found this bag, it really seemed like exactly what I have always wanted. There are a lot of great things about this bag, but for me, somethings just turned me off.

I am not going to get into all of the highlights of this bag. Several of the other posts here do a excellent job at that. That said, here are the things that I think are an issue:

1. The zippers don't seem to be the highest quality. They constantly seem to snag. Considering how many zippers this has, this has gotten pretty frustrating.

2. There are four straps that help hold the daypack on the rolling bag. I have found that these are awkward to use. If you look at the bag, you will see that the fabric covers the clip on the rolling bag. To connect the strap you end up having to push the fabric back. I verified that this isn't just a flaw on mine. This may seem like a small deal but i'll come back to it in a minute.

3. I travel with a laptop (17' macbook pro) and have found that with it and a few more small items in the daypack connected to the rolling bag, it causes the bag to tip over on the the daypack. I tested it with my wife's 13" macbook pro and had the exact same experience.Considering that her computer is on the smaller side, I would image that this will be a universal experience. Not only is this frustrating, but depending on what you have in the pack could break/scratch something. It is annoying that using this bag as designed causes it to fall over. Note: this happens regardless of how much load is in the bags.

4. It isn't convent to get the daypack on or off the rolling bag. Maybe it is just me, but when I am trying to get on or off the airplane, the zipper off bag is just a real pain to use. I highly recommend NOT trying to unzip if off once you get on the airplane… I made this huge mistake once and really regretted it (along with several people behind me). When it was time to disembark from the plane, I didn't make the same mistake. But it took several minutes to get it all strapped back on and ready. The strap issue from #2 lent to this process. For many people this may seem like a non-issue. But sometimes when you have limited time to get from one side of the airport to the other, time matters. The logical response would be why not just wear the daypack instead of strapping it back on. Well, I purchased this bag so i wouldn't have to carry around a backpack. But even if i wanted to carry the whole thing as one big backpack, you still have to go through the whole process. Though I will concede that for some people this one may not be an issue.

5. The compression straps in my bag snapped. This was the straw that broke the camel's pack…. err, I mean back. The straps and clips in this back are not made as high of a quality as the rest of the back. Which is very disappointing. Considering the point of compression straps is to squeeze your clothes to get them as flat as possible, this bag really fails to deliver. In fact I was always apprehensive about using the compression straps for the designed purpose, because they always seemed a bit on the fragile side.

For many people these complaints may not be a big deal. For me, I ended up returning the bag and am on the hunt for a replacement.

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

I got tired of all the luggage fees and used this bag for a week in Hawaii. I used the removable backpack for my cary on bag and the suitcase for my cary one suitcase.
The pockets are usefull and i was able to stay organized that way.
I would say the only down side to it is the built in backpack option built into the suitcase part of it takes up space of the inside of the suitcase,so there is less room inside it than in looks.
But all and all i totally loved it!

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

After reading the other reviews, I think I have the previous model/version of the Meridian. If the new model is anything like the older, it's a great bag.

I travel all over the world with students every summer, and so far, this bag has been up to the challenge each and every time. I don't allow my travelers to bring checked luggage, only carry-on. So I recommend this or the Eagle Creek 22" as a means of luggage. We are constantly moving around while on tour. Our bags get tossed from trains, motor coaches, and ferries, so it sees its share of abuse. After three years of numerous trips and countless miles, this bag hasn't let me down. The high-quality wheels really stand up well to the cobblestone streets of Europe, as well as the dusty outback of Australia.

The only two drawbacks I can mention, which also prevent me from giving it five stars, is that:
1. The backpack feature (which is nice and comfortable, I might add) takes up a fair amount of space in the pack itself. It is contoured to your back to make it more comfortable for wearing as a backpack over long treks. However, I am still able to fit everything I need for one week or one month of travel with no problems.
2. The daypack is awful tight and small. I do like that it can attach to the main pack by way of zipper and buckles, but having a larger torso makes it rather uncomfortable to wear all day long, even with the shoulder straps adjusted to their largest size. Just going around town is fine, but fully loaded and all day makes for an uncomfortable experience. When on tour, I usually leave the daypack portion at home and use my North Face instead.

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

Packs like this tend to tip over backwards if set down while the daypack part is heavily loaded, and are a little less sable when being wheeled in the same state. This is okay, and expected. What makes this pack awful is that while the face of the daypack portion has that big X-shaped ballistic nylon portion, the very bottom part of the pack (the very part that is likely to skid) is just made of thin, unreinforced nylon. This makes it a lot more likely to tear. I took mine back to my local REI and exchanged it for the equivalent bag made by Eagle Creek, which happens to have a huge skid patch in that precise location. It's a shame, because Osprey usually makes pretty good packs, and this pack is pretty attractive, at least.

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

This is a quality product but has a few annoying features that drag the product down.

PROS
Durability, I haven't had any problems using the buckles or zippers. I tend to only buckle the pack on and not zip it if I'm planning on taking it off while boarding etc..

CONS
I have to reiterate the pack tips over backwards if you store anything in the daypack. In addition the daypack won't hold a standard nalgene bottle which is pretty annoying.

I'm to the point where I'm going to return it and get an Osprey Vector 22 to replace it. Then just find a small daypack that I like.

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

We went to Europe for two weeks. The 22 fit in the overhead compartments of multiple airlines and traveled well on the Train. I used the day pack every day. It was large enough to carry what I needed and small enough not to be cumbersome. I had my camera, laptop, pocket book and video camera in it. We were on packed buses and trains and it kept everything secure. No problems with performance. It's large enough for a long weekend and great as an extra bag. It is easy and comfortable to use as a back-pack, which works great if traveling with two bags!

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

I took this bag (the old style one) to Japan, Hong Kong, Maccau,Thailand and Vietnam. I knew I was going to be doing a lot of train and bus travel so I wanted a bag which would do this easily. The small bag made this a pleasure. It was good as long as you did not attach the daypack, when it would tip over but I usually wore it and rolled the main pack anyway. The overall quality was very good and as much as I stuffed it, the zippers held up well. Packing it through the jungles of the golden triangle was not the best as the attached daypack threw your balance off. In Vietnam the bottom handle which was riveted on on the old pack broke on one side. REI replaced the pack with the newer version which has a molded integral handle. Not as good. I especially missed the embroidery on the old pack. Silly thing I know but...new one is just not as good. The old one had pull extensions on the zippers which made it easier when trying to close it. At the end of the tour I bought a larger bag in Vietnam for souvenirs which I would recommend if you plan on getting a lot of gifts, wait to the end of your tour to supplement your baggage.

Comments about Osprey Meridian Wheeled Convertible Pack - 22'':

The Osprey Meridian is a fantastic bag. Always fits in the overhead (put the wheels facing out), and can cram more stuff in there than I expect every time. After years of refusing to succumb to the wheelie-bag phenomenon, I finally caved in after my second child was born. I did my homework online, then went to REI to take a test drive of the backpack straps (with weight in the bag). The Meridian is amazingly comfortable and easy to use. This bag proves itself time and again, and we have no problem fitting at least two people's stuff for a week. That is of course, if you know how to pack. Shortly after buying the Meridian, I traveled solo with my kids, and had to use the stairs while carrying my stuff, their stuff, a car seat, and a stroller. Just whipped out the backpack straps, and voila...off we went. The only drawback is the weird design of the day pack, which seems to be best accessed from the zipper compartment at the back. After three years of solid use, my Meridian looks almost brand new. Can't wait for Osprey to come out with a kids version of this bag. Go to REI, try it, then buy it. Your vacation purchases will thank you.