Osprey Atmos 50 or 65 for thru hike?
Thanks for all the responses. My question is concerning the Osprey Atmos backpacks for an AT thru hike. I am asking for advice on the pro's and con's of each? Thanks for all your help.
Use the smallest pack that will fit your gear, food, & clothes.
The trail was here before we arrived, and it will still be here when we are gone...enjoy it now, and preserve it for others that come after us
I am a big fan of the Osprey Backpacks.......I've been using the Aether-60 for several years and it continues to serve me well. If you are going to attempt a thru-hike starting in March or April then the Atmos-50 should be large enough for all of your gear. If you plan to start in January or February, which would require a bit more gear, then the 65 might be the way to go. I recently finished a long stretch from Hanover, NH to Waynesboro, VA and the Aether-60 held all the extra gear I needed for the colder weather. Good luck on your hike.
Go with the bigger one. Trying to cram everything into a pack that just barely fits sucks.
Looking at the new models the Atmos 50 and 65 are virtually the same pack except for the volume. Your call on which one to get. Osprey packs are super comfortable and I don't think you can go wrong either way.
The only con is the hipbelt mesh pockets. They are fragile and invariably get shredded. I wish Osprey would switch to a solid sil-nylon type pocket.
"Fish Camp Woman.... Baby, I like the way you smell"
- Unknown Hinson
I have to agree with Spokes on this. That is what kept me from buying an Osprey pack in the first place. Best pockets on a hipbelt award, IMO, goes to ULA.Originally Posted by Spokes
"If you play a Nicleback song backwards, you'll hear messages from the devil. Even worse, if you play it forward, you'll hear Nickleback." - Dave Grohl
I have a small Osprey Atmos 50 for sale!?!?!? $100 and you can have itI have to agree with Spokes on this. That is what kept me from buying an Osprey pack in the first place. Best pockets on a hipbelt award, IMO, goes to ULA.
I've got an Atmos 65 that I use for good weather weekend trips. But when it comes to long distance hikes in cold weather, I use my trusty old Camp Trails Rainer pack. 5200 cu. in and room for everything.
The 50 and the 65 are basicallly the same except for few small differences...the 65 has a zipper on the bottom for easier acces to the sleeping bag which I like. The 50 on the other hand is a single compartment so everything must be loaded from the top. If you are not used to that type of pack it will take a little getting used to packing it. The 65 when fully packed will put a lot of weight above your shoulders which may make it a little harder to keep you balance. I just spent almost an hour at EMS looking at those two packs and in the end the 50 liter is what I ended up choosing. All that being said, the main reason I choose the 50 was becuase I could fit all my gear in there (granted I use compression sacks for everything) and still had plenty of room to spare. I reccomend taking all of your gear to you local osprey dealer and pack the packs up amd see 1.) How the pack fits YOU 2.) How you GEAR fits the pack. I hope this helps.
Oversized packs encourage over packing and carrying extra weight
Use the pack that your gear fits into. A properly sized pack doesn't require cramming gear into
The trail was here before we arrived, and it will still be here when we are gone...enjoy it now, and preserve it for others that come after us
If the size of your pack encourages you to overpack then you are an idiot and deserve to struggle. I like the option to sometimes bring something special like a six pack. Options are good. Hiking the AT is all about flexibilty and the more options you have the more flexible you are.Oversized packs encourage over packing and carrying extra weight
Use the pack that your gear fits into. A properly sized pack doesn't require cramming gear into
Definitely a more russian saying. i think that by thinking big picture in this case the best bet might be to purchase the smaller of the two. my rationale is as follows, this is a sport where things are progressively getting smaller and lighter. and while its cool to have space for a 6 pack trust me i always find a way, i especially dont like having a huge portion of my pack just sagging and empty. feels funny that way. if you can get your stuff to reasonably fit in the 50 buy the 50. just dont lose sight of the fact that if backpacking is something you want to continue to do, eventuall you'll have smaller lighter equipment and a 65 will be way to big...
I bring the pack that fits which usually is a 20 or 32 liter pack http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...9&postcount=32
Srestrepo's advice is sound
The trail was here before we arrived, and it will still be here when we are gone...enjoy it now, and preserve it for others that come after us
Personally, after many years of using much larger packs I'm really enjoying using an Osprey 50L pack and the mesh back is a bonus during the kind of hot, humid weather the east coast likes to throw during the summer. Plenty of room, no issues with the mesh pockets, although last summer I met a thru hiker in northern Maine who said he and some other hikers had wear issues with the mesh back on the Exos, and Osprey was going to replace his pack when the hike was over.
I now prefer to use the pack without the top lid - saving about 4 oz. - and have found the pack carries well over varied terrain. Packs are such a personal choice - as other posters have mentioned perhaps see if you can take your gear and load it up in a variety of packs, walk around with it for a bit, and see what you like best. It's always possible to make adjustments down the line.
Good luck with your hike and enjoy!
I agree with this. It's also important to note that the recommended load range (weight-wise) is different for these two packs. Not unexpected, as smaller stuff usually equals lighter stuff.
But the 65 does allow for that six pack, or that small watermelon you want to surprise everyone with at the first shelter out of town.
I've seen many hikers blow out the zippers on the pockets because they were overstuffing them, mainly because they wanted a lighter pack without adjusting their gear to that lighter/smaller volume pack.
This is also, by the way, the major reason why the mesh back on the Exos failed for some hikers -- not because of a flaw in the pack, but because hikers wanted to put 40 lbs. in a pack with a load range of 20-30 lbs.
Knowing the design limitations of a pack will go a long way towards not damaging it.
I think you have lots of very valid thoughts above. I would be in the camp of getting all your major gear together, going somewhere that has these two packs, and really packing it up before buying. Then you will be an informed buyer, and happy. Or if you are buying on the internet, buy the pack last, order both, again pack full, send the one back. Paying the fee to send it back is minor.
i am also not a fan of having a just right/too small pack. Food variables, and just having to jam your stuff daily gets old. Little bigger = little easier in my book.
this is something that i have my friends do when i let them borrow my 75 liter pack (that i dont use because i bought too much bag just because)
i have them pack the bag while the bag is laying down so that the shoulder and hip belts are on the floor.
then i have them slide things into the pack so that the load is closest to the back of the person carrying it.
once everything is in there and its all evenly distributed i have them close the top and cinch down ALL of the compression straps of that pack to stabilize the load and keep it in once place.
i havent had anyone complain about any type of discomfort and the loads never move and the loads are closer to the carrier so that balance is improved.
also, i took ALL of the stuff i wanted to put in my backpack for backpacking and i went to REI and i walked out of there with the last bag i ever expected to buy, a gregory z35. wouldnt have ever thought of it but it carries all of my gear very comfortably with more than ample room for some beers and extra crap that i carry just because.
hyoh
I respectfully disagree. There's nothing about an Osprey pack that is fragile. The mesh pockets have never caused me a problem & are definitely not fragile. I have a few picks on mine, but nothing out of the ordinary. If you do a lot of off-trail hiking through thick brush, you may have to be more careful than normal.
I know that a number of thru-hikers passing through Harpers Ferry have had problems with the mesh pockets, although I had no issues on the PCT. The mesh isn't particularly weak, though. I suspect that whether or not you have a problem with this will have a bit to do with how and where you put your pack down when you take it off.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
