2014 Osprey Exos 48

[victor larivee]

Looks like many stores have them in stock. Anyone touch one yet? Very curious about the new hip and shoulder material.

[Christopher Kuzak]

Anyone here get their hands on one yet? Even an in-store view?

[Sam Sockwell]

a week ago at local EMS and really like the changes- hip belt and shoulder strap much better now. Slick new look. I liked the pack before and like it better now. Waiting for REI sale, and weighing alternatives

[victor larivee]

Well after researching this pack for a month and drooling over it I finally made it to my local EMS store where they had the 48 instock. I went there ready to make my purchase but after I tried it on I was disappointed. The new exo form shoulder straps were great (very comfortable) but the hip belt just didn't work for me, I need a medium size pack for my torso but the hip belt wings ended right at the front of my hip bone and the new buckle located right there is large. Oh well!

Moral of the story, weight or lack of doesnt matter if the equipment just doesn't fit your body.

[Jeff M]

I had a very similar experience on the fit of the pack.

I would give the function and overall quality of the pack high markings. Despite the complaints about gimmicky extras, I find these packs to be well thought out and very usable. The new shoulder harness seems to fit very well and feels very natural on my body. However, I found that the bottom wings of the belt (near where the belt meets the frame) dig into the back of my hips, almost as if the lower half of the belt is too tight relative to the top. I could also feel the bottom corners of the frame putting pressure on my hips and I'm guessing that would only get worse over a long day of hiking. I tried placing the hip belt at various heights on my body because I really wanted this pack to work, but the problem persisted regardless of positioning. For reference, I am 5'-11", 177# with a 35" waist, so the problem is likely that my body does not pose a perfect match to this pack.

[L Lanian]

So I ended up picking up the new model, and my first impressions are this:

I love the new straps and hip belt- much more cushion.
I actually like the flap jack lid. The first thing I did was take off the top lid
It was a disappointment the top lid didn't turn into a daypack though. I love how it lets me take off all the straps without cutting- allowing me the option to put them on later if I find it necessary. I HATE cutting straps only to have that one time when I'm like, "Well… wish I had that NOW!"

The front zippered pockets were never useful for me because that location was where my bear canister went; I had no space to put things in there.
For the most part, there are very minor changes- just the same pack with less pockets/straps and more padding. I call that a win.

I'm doing a three day trip next week to kick off the season. If you guys want a more detailed review, I'll write one up after that.

[L Lanian]

Okay, so I'm following up as promised!

I just did a 3 day trip with the new 2014 exos 58, and here's my take so far:

Pros:
More comfortable- the hip belt and shoulder straps seemed to have more cushion in the right areas.

Lighter- Now that I could take the top lid off and use the flap jack as a cover, I was able to eliminate some weight.

Larger- The interior fits my bear can better. I don't know how or why it is that way, but before it really took some doing to get my bear can to fit. Now it slides in easy.

Cons:
Pockets- Now that the top lid is gone, I miss the zipper pockets it had. They were redundant before with the lid, but now I lack a pocket to put my small items.

Loosening belts- On the old exos, I'd tighten the belts and forget them. On this new design, I find myself retightening the belts periodically. Kind of annoying.

Top part of frame pinches inward- Small detail, but the frame on the top pushes inwards at the opening, making it slightly more difficult to put larger things inside, but once inside it quickly swallows it. It feels as if the shape of the bag is more oval than before. Tighter on top and bottom, bigger in the center (right where my bear can goes. yay)

I'll write up a more detailed review on my blog, but for now, that's the points right off the top of my head. Still a very nice pack. Rode well for the whole trip.

[Gordon Gray]

I got my 2014 Exos 58 the first day of the REI 20% sale. I am yet to take it out on the trail. It has been loaded up with 40lbs and carried around the house several times (and the store when testing).

I was actually looking at other packs (Osprey and Gregory)and originally crossed this one off my list since it didn't have a zillion pockets like the others in the same size/ price range and one review mentioned it being a little fragile. However, after trying on the others I realized they didn't quite fit right. If the shoulder straps felt good, the waist strap would slide. Or if the waist strap was good, the shoulder straps would push on my neck, ect….

I was about to leave and continue my research online or look at another store. I then decided to just try on the Exos 58 in large to see what it was like. Wallah! It felt amazing. Nothing pinched and everything was secure and stable. I was stoked to find a pack I liked and it was a pound lighter than the others.

[SPIRIDON Papapetroy]

I noticed that the 2014 version has thicker padding at the shoulder straps, but only in the shoulder area. The lower part of the shoulder straps has no padding at all, while the older version had. I am also missing the zippered side pocket. I was looking for an alternative with the same design in the packpanel but all are much heavier. The Stratos which could be an alternative, doesn’t have the big front stretch pocket as the Exos.

[Author]

Posts