It’s time to overview my present backpack, the Osprey Kestrel 32. Having a backpack that matches correctly and is geared in direction of the actions you’ll be doing is essential when selecting a backpack. I took this pack on many hikes and treks throughout our very outdoorsy journey by means of Mongolia, Central Asia and the ‘Stans and I used to be very impressed with it.
We’ve now completed our epic 5 month journey, and right here’s what I can report about my backpack:
This backpack deserves excessive marks on this space. I stuffed this bag with 10kgs of drugs whereas trekking by means of the Mongolian steppe for 8 days, carrying all the pieces from meals to firewood to sleeping luggage.
This pack sat good and cushty on my hips and completely distributed the load between my shoulders and my waist. There’s a good quantity of padding on each the shoulder and hip straps as effectively.
Throughout an everyday journey day, I barely even seen I used to be carrying a backpack as a result of it was so snug.
I completely love the way in which the Kestrel 32 is designed. I can’t stand top-loading backpacks as a result of you’ll be able to by no means see what’s within the bag! This backpack is a panel loader, which implies it opens like a sea shell, permitting you to simply and rapidly see all the pieces in your bag, and cargo it up sooner.
The harness adjusts as effectively, utilizing a very robust Velcro, to make sure the right match. They’ve additionally added a again panel that permits air to flee out of your physique, which is ideal for whenever you’re trekking, climbing and even simply strolling. There’s nothing worse than having sweat dripping down your again whereas travelling!
On the again is a pocket excellent for a hydration system like a CamelBak.
The weight and dimension of this backpack is wonderful. Weighing in at just a bit over 2 lbs with 32 L of room for gear and capable of deal with as much as roughly 20 kgs of weight, what extra might you need?!
The Kestrel 32 is available in two totally different sizes: small/medium and medium/giant. In addition to 4 totally different colors: Fireplace Crimson, Tarn, Conifer Inexperienced and Gray.
Osprey has added a mesh, stretchy, lycra pocket to the entrance of the bag, which stretches such as you wouldn’t consider! I put my sneakers in there, maps, meals and anything that wouldn’t fairly match into my bag.
On the facet, there are additionally 2 of the identical kind of pockets which might be excellent for water bottles, or in our case, the underside finish of Nick’s fishing rod.
On the waistband, there’s a little zip pocket on all sides. They’re the right dimension for placing belongings you’ll have to have quick access to whilst you’re on the transfer, ie: level and shoot digicam, lip balm, iPhone, snacks, a lighter, drugs, and so on.
Working alongside the mesh pocket on the entrance of the bag they’ve added one thing referred to as “entrance daisies” that are these excellent little loops which you can hook carabiners onto. I hooked water bottles off of the entrance of my bag, and generally sneakers. It was perfect.
There’s a spot proper close to the waist belt for storing trekking poles whereas on the go.
My favorite function might be the compression straps on each side of the backpack. Not solely does it assist to maintain the pack cosy towards your physique, nevertheless it permits for storing objects on the perimeters of your bag. On one facet I had Nick’s fishing rod, and on the opposite facet, I rolled up my jacket and strapped it in.
In case you have been doing any kind of climbing the place ice was concerned, there are ice-pick loops on the base of the backpack. Nonetheless, I used the loops to safe the bottoms of my 1-liter water bottles.
The mesh, zip pocket on the high of the bag is a superb place to place smaller objects that you just don’t need getting misplaced in the primary compartment, ie: playing cards, headlamp, jewelry, and so on. There’s additionally a hideaway raincover.
For my part, there are 3 cons to this backpack.
The primary and most vital is that the zippers can’t be locked collectively. You’ll be able to solely lock collectively the zipper ties which might simply be minimize open. That is ridiculous as a result of clearly, each traveller desires to have the ability to correctly lock their bag.
The second is that I might have favored to have one other pocket or two within the backpack for small objects. The one on high of the bag is helpful, however it could be good to have one or two which might be hid contained in the bag.
The third con is that not like the Osprey Farpoint Collection, the harness unit can’t be zipped away with the intention to defend the backpack straps from harm, both from getting caught on one thing or from airline workers being a bit too tough with the bag.
Aside from that, all the pieces is a “professional”.
I might advocate this backpack to anybody. Although the Kestrel collection is technically a males’s backpack, it labored for me. As a result of I’m tall (5’10”), the harness adjusted to suit my torso completely!
In case you plan to do any kind of climbing, trekking, tenting or climbing, this backpack is right. In case you don’t plan on doing any kind of outside actions, I nonetheless assume this backpack has a great deal of options that the on a regular basis traveller might use as effectively.
An enormous bonus is its dimension. Technically, it’s sufficiently small to suit as a carry-on bag when flying. The associated fee can also be fairly first rate: I bought mine on sale on-line for about $90, however from the shop, it’s often about $130.
It’s time everybody grew to become a light-weight traveller. Downsize your backpack and purchase the Osprey Kestrel 32, it’s the right dimension for any journey. Hopefully, this overview helped. Good luck discovering the right backpack for you. Click on right here to see the backpack on Amazon.
Replace: Since penning this overview, we switched to Osprey Stratos 34 backpacks which served us very effectively on varied hikes, together with the Inca Path to Machu Picchu.
What sort of backpack do you employ? Would you advocate it? Why/why not? Share with us beneath!
