Osprey  Stratos 36 Pack

Hiking in the desert, I prefer to carry more water than I need than less. At times I carry 6 or more liters of water (13.2 lbs). Add in snacks, emergency gear, first aid, etc, and my daypack weight often exceeds 20lbs. My previous pack would accommodate all this cargo, but any three plus hour hike would cause back and shoulder pain. This caused me to start searching for a pack with an internal frame. The first test of this pack was carrying 20lbs. of weight around the store for 90 minutes. The second was lugging nine liters of water ( I wanted to have at least five liters left at the end of my hike) for a seven hour hike. The result was zero pain, and a little stiffness in my lower back that was relieved by bending over and touching my toes, while wearing the pack. Carrying a mere six liters now feels like a dream. The compression straps keep your load exactly where you put it, and no amount of jumping, leaning, or scrambling has affected my balance. Living in the desert, I'm not sure how much I will use the included rain cover, but it is nice to know it is there. The trekking pole loops are intuitive and easy to use, and keep your poles out of the way when not in use, without sacrificing pack space. This pack is fairly large for dayhiking, but after strapping it on, it does not feel large. The extra room will come in handy for overnights and full weekend trips. The spousal unit has a similar pack and there is plenty of room for a sleeping bag, half the tent and food and sundries for overnight and weekend trips. All of these factors coupled with the Osprey guarantee make this purchase one of the best decisions I have made regarding outdoor gear. My only regret is not stepping up to a quality pack sooner.

I wanted to replace a very old REI pack in this size that had worn out but had many useful features. I needed to stay in the 30-35 liter size for long day hikes which required me to carry extra items because of changing weather conditions at higher elevations. I'm not a brand freak so I looked at all the brands that my local REI handled. To tell the truth, I'm not really happy with the features that all the the current manufacturers offer. In some ways, it seems like they all use a very similar design and have the exact same features, which to me seems very basic. Where are the small zipped side pockets that my ancient old REI pack had? Where is a mesh pocket on the back that my ancient pack had that allowed you to stow a wet or dirty item without having to stuff it in the main pack? All these new packs don't have any of these features. To me, it seems like all packs in this size range regardless of brand name, come from the same factory in China, designed the same, with the same lack of features, but in a wide assortment of colors. Is that what manufacturers think we only care about - the color of the pack? I'm really not very happy with the choice of the 5 or 6 brands offered by REI in this size range. This Osprey Stratos 36 Pack overall is adequate but not stellar. It rides well and is comfortable with 20-25 lbs on long day hikes covering up to 20 miles with up to 3000' of elevation gain. Its lack of small side pockets make digging into the pack to find smaller items a chore. The top removable pack has 2 compartments for smaller gear and is adequate. I use a 3 liter Platypus water bladder which fits nicely in the front compartment and works well. The 2 micro pockets on the belt work well and zip and unzip fairly easily on the move. If this pack had a couple of zipped side pockets and a mesh pocket on the back, I would love this pack. Come on manufacturers, give us some unique features that aren't the exact same as everyone else.