Osprey Packs

Aether 55L Backpack

Very high quality and comfort.

Familiarity:

I've used it once or twice and have initial impressions

Size Bought:

Large

Very impressive quality and the comfort level, fully packed for a 4 day trip, was exceptional. Easy to pack, does take a while to figure out all the features. A great value!

Very comfortable to wear. Carries

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Very comfortable to wear. Carries all of my gear. Included rain cover.

Great pack. Comfort, capacity and

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Great pack. Comfort, capacity and quality are a 10

Great but the rain cover is useless in wind

Other than the rain cover, it’s a great bag. I used it for the first time doing the presidential traverse in the White Mountains and it performed great. It’s easy to load and unload. It has great compression. It was very comfortable with 30-35lbs in it for a day of hiking. The only negative is the rain cover that came with it did not stay on in high winds. It doesn’t have anything built in that holds it to the bag and it relies totally on the elastic draw string. There were 60 mph winds one day and it just blew off. Thankfully I had clipped it in with a carabiner, but otherwise it would have been gone down the gulf and I would have had a very wet bag. My wife has an Osprey Aura AG 65 that has a rain cover with two slots for fitting the hip belt through and her rain cover stayed in place perfectly the whole time. I know I could just buy a better rain cover, but this seems like a miss from Osprey on such an expensive bag.

Size and Fit

My torso is 17" so I purchased the S/M size expecting it to be on the shortest setting. I found I needed to have it just under the longest setting to fit me correctly with the middle of the hip belt on my iliac crest. I think you might be able to squeeze into this pack if your torso is 19" maximum. Easily the most comfortable pack I have tried on, very happy with my purchase.

Great features but TERRIBLE for long days with Heavier loads

This pack has every feature one would want in a pack except for a MAJOR design flaw. It has 2 friction points on the back adjustment system which rub on my back and leave me with two red chaffing marks and bruises after every long hike with heavier loads (40-45lbs). I originally bought this for mountaineering and it was perfect because I was wearing so many layers due to cold weather. Now that I'm using it in warm weather without the extra layers on my upper body, I have found that the 2 adjustment strap connection points rub on my back and have removed the skin and caused painful bruising. I have adjusted the pack a number of times to see if it would help but have found that nothing works. I own numerous packs for every possible situation and although I love the features of this pack it is simply too painful to use in warmer weather when I am not wearing extra layers to provide some protection for my back. I hate to say it because I love the features but coming from someone that wears a pack at least 3 out of 7 days every week, I would NOT recommend this pack. There are many other brands with different designs that do not have this issue.

Thruhiker approved

I got this pack for my AT thruhike. It held up really well, carried the weight well and was comfortable for the entire hike. My pack was between 35 and 50 pounds with full food and water and I didn't really notice much of a difference in how it carried. It is a bit heavy empty, but for the comfort and versatility it was worth it.

Kilimanjaro, Africa

I contribute my success of submitting Mount Kilimanjaro to this pack. It is extremely comfortable and when I was in the military I could really use this.

Pack is amazing! The ""waterproof"" pack cover wets-down.

Pack is amazing! The ""waterproof"" pack cover wets-down. Had the cover wet down after an hour of use. Had the brain of the pack drenched. This was the first time even exposing the cover to rain and snow showers. This was the first time using the pack overall!

A comfortable workhorse that can carry it all!

This is a great pack for multi day trips. Would recommend for experienced and novice backpackers.