Astonishingly well thought out and assembled

By Mitch Stein Ranked #128 - Trail Running Hydration January 1, 2010

I really love this thing!

Out of my collection of lumbar packs, this is the one that I instinctively reach for, whether heading out for a quick jaunt in the canyons near my house with my pup, or longer day treks that don't require much space for clothing or gear.

The fit is great, and it can be locked down snugly so nothing flops around when the going gets jiggly.

There is an amazing amount of smart engineering put into this seemingly simple device.

Thanks to the Airscape back and side panels (which hold the pack off your body with a combination of curved semi-rigid frame sheet, highly dimensional, perforated foam pads and soft netting)it stays cool on my lower back and rides like there's nothing there.

In addition to the sophisticated suspension, nice touches abound, like the substantial, reflective talon graphics;
waist strap adjuster keepers (keeping the straps readily at hand and preventing them from whipping around);
foam reinforced bottle pockets (never collapse, so it's easy to re-holster the H2O while on the move);
Osprey's excellent, easy grab zipper pulls.

I only have a couple of issues:
The loose ends of the hip stabilizer straps often get caught in the side pockets, blocking the zipper;
The compression straps on the outside of the pack would be much more useful if they integrated some sort of net pocket for quick-draw stashing of a light shell, gloves, hat, etc;
My pack has no internal mesh pocket for organizing small stuff... I want it... in fact an organizer panel with a number of zipped and/or stretchy pockets would be great!;
the side pockets could be a scosh larger and made of a stretchy material;
Devise a method of closing off the bottle holsters, so they can optionally be used as additional secure storage;
Either include some sort of (tethered) rain cover, or make the thing more moisture tight;
Keep an eye on weight while adding these additional features... natch!
Make this awesome pack expandable, or available in a range of sizes!

View Details: Osprey Packs Talon 4 Lumbar Pack - 244cu in

Helpful Votes: 2 Yes