Osprey Exos Pro 55 Backpack Review

The Osprey Exos Pro 55 Backpack is a ventilated and adjustable-length ultralight backpack that weighs 33.2 oz. It’s principally an ultralight redo of the heavier Osprey Exos 58 Backpack, that’s 11.8 ounceslighter-weight utilizing recycled materials with just a few minor adjustments to the design. Despite the load discount, the Exos Pro 55 stays a fairly vigorous and dynamic backpack that’s responsive and enjoyable to hold. However, the usage of thinner materials implies that this pack goes to be considerably much less abrasion resistant than the heavier Exos 58, which is one thing to think about should you’re tough on backpacks.

Specs at a Glance

• Weight: 33.2 oz (dimension S/M)
• Stripable prime lid weight: 2.6 oz
• Volume: 55L
• Closure: Top lid
• Adjustable Torso Length: Yes
• Ventilated: Yes
• Hydration suitable: Yes
• Pockets: 6, plus the primary compartment
• Frame: Internal aluminum perimeter body
• Torso: S/M: 17″ – 20″ (L/XL 21″-23″ additionally out there)
• Hip Belt: S/M: 28″ – 50″ (L/XL 30″-50″ additionally out there)
• Bear canister compatibility: BV500 or Garcia Backpacker’s Cache match horizontally or vertically in the primary compartment. They can be held in place beneath the floating prime lid pocket.
• Materials: 100D Nylon x 200D UHMWPE ripstop w/DWR remedies made with out PFAS
• Maximum advisable load: 30 lbs

Who is the Exos Pro 55 For?

If you already personal the heavier Osprey Exos 58, switching to the Exos Pro 55 is a simple method to shave near 11.8 ouncesof pack weight whereas retaining the backpack really feel and a lot of the options you’ve grown used to. The Exos Pro 55 can be a superb possibility for individuals who desire a lighter-weight ventilated backpack however don’t need to surrender the comfort of a prime lid pocket or the exterior attachment options discovered on extra standard multi-day backpacks. While you may swap to a extra minimalist roll-top backpack just like the ventilated Zpacks Arc Haul Ultra 60, doing so can require a reasonably large change in the way you pack and work together together with your backpack in the course of the day. Whichever manner you select to go, Osprey and Zpacks are nonetheless the one pack producers to supply ultralight, ventilated, and adjustable-length backpacks.

How is the Exos Pro 55 completely different than the Exos 58?

The Exos Pro 55:

1. Is 11.8 ounceslighter weight than the Exos 58 (might range relying on sizing).
2. Does not have a second pocket beneath the highest lid.
3. Does not have separate sleeping pad straps on the entrance of the pack.
4. The entrance stretch pocket has material loops alongside the perimeters that can be utilized to hold gear.
5. The entrance stretch pocket has much less mesh and extra strong material for higher sturdiness.
6. The left-hand hip belt pocket is open and never zippered.
7. The adjustable torso size is secured utilizing small dowels as an alternative of bigger plastic discs.
8. There is a silicone print on the base of the suspended mesh to forestall slippage.
9. The sternum strap solely has three positions as an alternative of a sliding rail adjustment.
10. The shoulder straps are much less padded.
11. The shoulder straps solely have 1 hydration hose keeper, not two.
12. There’s no stow-on-the-go trekking pole holder.
13. Uses thinner (200d) material in high-wear areas.

Backpack Organization and Storage

The Osprey Exos Pro 55 could be very completely different from most ultralight backpacks as a result of it’s configured with a floating prime lid as an alternative of a dry-bag type roll prime. With a single massive prime zippered pocket (with key fob), the floating lid allows you to sandwich further gear between the lid and the highest of the pack’s essential compartment so you may carry further technical tools or provides that gained’t match inside your pack. Top lids are an excellent characteristic, particularly when that you must carry cumbersome gear like bear canisters, rope coils, foam pads, or tent our bodies that gained’t match into the primary compartment of your pack. The prime pocket additionally gives helpful entry to hats, gloves, snacks, and navigation gear and is indispensable for cold-weather use.

If you don’t want the highest lid on the Exos Pro 55, you may take away it to save lots of gear weight. This reduces the load of a small/medium Exos Pro 55 by 2.6 ounces bringing it all the way down to a decent 30.6 oz (1 lb 14.6 oz).

There’s a nylon flap beneath the highest lid that’s completely hooked up to the pack, what Osprey calls a FlapJacket, that covers the drawstring opening of the primary compartment. When you take away the highest lid, the FlapJacket is used to guard the primary compartment from the rain in its stead. The rear of the FlapJacket clips into the identical rear straps and buckles utilized by the highest lid so that you’re not left with any further straps or buckles to get in the best way. When it’s not wanted you may stuff it into the primary compartment or into the interior hydration pocket.

While the Exos Pro 55 additionally has good open storage within the type of facet and entrance pockets, the primary compartment is the place the majority of this pack’s capability is. With over 3350 cubic inches of room, you may put a ton of drugs and meals inside. Being a mainstream backpack producer, Osprey computes the quantity of their packs utilizing trade norms and solely counts lined and zippered storage once they calculate backpack quantity. If you might be evaluating the quantity of the Exos Pro 55 with a pack from a cottage backpack maker, bear in mind that they usually add in open and closed pocket volumes so the Exos Pro 55 will really feel fairly a bit bigger and maintain significantly extra gear.

While the primary compartment curves inward to accommodate the form of the ventilated body close to its base, the primary compartment is so massive that the pack remains to be simple to pack. Still, as a result of it’s ventilated, you’ll need to place the heaviest gadgets as near your again and hips as doable. With the exception of a hydration pocket, dangle loop, and prime compression strap, there’s nothing contained in the Exos Pro 55 essential compartment like a sleeping bag compartment to interrupt up the seemingly cavernous house. Still, it’s simple to see inside the primary compartment as a result of calmly coloured material panels assist channel gentle to the pack’s inside. I’d nonetheless suggest packing the Exos Pro 55 with a pack liner for moisture/rain safety (See Five Ultralight Pack Liners Compared.)

Osprey included hipbelt pockets on the Exos Pro 55 however they’re barely completely different than these on the present Exos 58. The left-hand pocket is now open on prime and doesn’t have a zipper. I believed I’d hate that, but it surely’s really fairly helpful for stuffing trash into. The right-hand pocket remains to be zippered and enormous sufficient to suit an iPhone X into together with some snack bars.

But the pockets are sewn onto the hipbelt in such a manner that the again of the pocket has to have the ability to curve when it wraps round your hips…which is an efficient method to break a SmartPhone display. I’d advise in opposition to placing something equally outsized and rigid into them.

This is the results of the truth that Osprey retains the hipbelt wings on the Exos Pro 55 and Exos 58 brief, in order that they wrap across the again and sides of your iliac crest (hipbone) however don’t lengthen extra ahead to the entrance like different backpacks. They nonetheless present efficient load-to-hip weight switch, however I personally want longer hipbelts as a result of it means the hipbelt pockets are positioned in entrance of my torso and never alongside the perimeters or again of my hips. You do get used to the shorter hipbelt shortly on the Exos Pro 55 and Exos 58, however it’s a completely different strategy to hipbelt size and pocket placement than on backpacks from different producers.

In addition to the primary compartment, the Exos Pro 55 has two stretch-side mesh pockets that can be utilized to retailer water bottles. The mesh will not be robust sufficient for off-trail journey and I’d suggest you keep on trails with this pack as a way to maintain the pockets from tearing. Each pocket is bolstered with strong material on the underside for higher sturdiness and has a holster-style opening lower in entrance, which helps you to place bottles sideways so you may pull them out and substitute them when on the transfer.

You can even pack a tall bottle and screwed-on filter within the facet pockets, however they aren’t reachable when sporting the pack and tall bottles fall out of the holster pockets should you attempt to relaxation them there.

There can be a big stretch stuff-it pocket on the entrance of the pack which is helpful for carrying gadgets that you really want quick access to, with out requiring that you just cease and open your backpack. I can’t reside with no stretch pocket like this and use it to stuff gentle layers or snacks that I would like simply accessible in the course of the day. It’s additionally a superb place to stash a moist rainfly, so you may simply pull it out to dry if you cease to admire a view.

Backpack Frame and Suspension

The Osprey Exos Pro 55 is a ventilated suspended mesh-style backpack. Breathable mesh is suspended in entrance of the again panel making a ventilated house behind your again that’s designed to evaporate sweat earlier than it might soak your shirt. The mesh is tightly stretched throughout the 360-degree aluminum body which additionally serves to anchor the hip belt and cargo lifters. The aluminum body on the Exos Pro 55 is the key sauce that “makes” this pack. It’s tremendous light-weight and stiff, offering nice load switch to the hips, so you may load up this pack and nonetheless get a really snug carry. The carry is definitely fairly superb, even with a full load.

This new Exos Pro 55 additionally has an adjustable torso size with 4″ of adjustability that could be very light-weight and easy to make use of. This is a big profit for brand spanking new backpackers who’ve much less expertise sizing and becoming a brand new backpack. You lengthen or shorten the torso size, the gap between your hip bones and your C7 vertebra, by transferring the shoulder strap harness up or down because the place of the hip belt is mounted. This is completed utilizing a easy dowel and ladder system which slides up and down alongside the observe on the again of the backpack.

The shoulder straps and hipbelt are each lined with a stretchy mesh material that’s gentle and helps wick moisture to forestall rubbing and chafing. The shoulder straps are calmly padded and have one elastic hydration hose keeper strap on the entrance. However, whereas the shoulder straps are snug, you’ll be considerably challenged to connect accent pockets to them, one thing that’s more and more common with backpackers and day hikers alike. The identical may be stated for the calmly padded hip belt.

Unlike the Exos 58, the sternum strap on the Exos Pro 55 can solely be positioned at three areas. To alter it, that you must push the plastic buckles connecting the sternum strap to the shoulder straps by small twine loops to reposition them larger or decrease. It takes a bit endurance to do that but it surely’s not troublesome and makes for a really safe anchor.

Sizing

The Exos Pro 55 is available in two sizes S/M and L/XL by way of torso size, whereas the hip belt size is almost an identical throughout each sizes (28″-50″ vs 30″-50″), as an alternative of radically completely different, making it a lot simpler to get a hipbelt that matches you no matter your torso dimension.

External Attachment Points and Compression System

The Osprey Exos Pro 55 has two compression straps on either side of the pack. The prime strap is anchored on on the prime nook of the entrance stretch pocket and runs to the body slightly below the entrance load lifter, whereas the underside strap is configured as a Z crisscrossing over the facet water bottle pocket earlier than attaching to the again of the hip belt pocket  I’m not an enormous fan of the Z-style threading sample as a result of I believe it makes it troublesome to strap cumbersome gear like snowshoes or a folding pad to the facet of a pack. I discover two horizontal-side compression straps to be optimum as an alternative.

But one factor that’s lacking from Exos Pro 55, however is offered on the Exos 58, is a pair of sleeping bag straps for attaching a folding foam pad, like a NEMO Switchback or a Thermarest Zlite pad to the underside of the pack under the entrance stretch pocket. This could be very troublesome to do with the decrease Z-Style facet compression straps as a result of they’re not lengthy sufficient to simply match over considered one of these folding pads. You can do it, but it surely requires lots of effort and makes it very troublesome to place something into the entrance stretch pocket as a result of the pad is tightly compressed in opposition to the pack. I’d suggest rigging up your individual elastic twine loops for attaching a pad to the gear loops working alongside the entrance stretch pocket as an alternative.

You can also’t thread the facet compression strap by the facet water bottle pocket on the Exos Pro 55 and it might solely run on the surface of the mesh pocket. This is as a result of the hipbelt pocket is the anchor for the underside facet compression strap…which is a screwy method to design it as a result of that compression strap will pull the hip belt off your hip if that you must tighten it. These capabilities are greatest decoupled.

But don’t let the Z-style straps (that are detachable by design) deter you from rigging up two horizontal compression straps as an alternative. One of the nice issues concerning the Exos Pro 55 is the distribution of drugs loops across the perimeter pockets, the pack bag seams, and even the highest lid, making it simple to rig up your individual customized compression system with an additional twine lock and a few guyline or a bit of webbing. If I used the Exos Pro 55 commonly, I’d in all probability take away the facet compression straps off and substitute them with my very own twine and cordlocks.

Likes

• Lightweight and high-capacity (55 L)
• Dynamic body that makes hundreds really feel lighter
• Large bear canister matches horizontally
• A light-weight perimeter body gives nice load switch and management
• Lightly coloured material strips enhance essential compartment visibility
• Lots of exterior attachment factors throughout the pack

Dislikes

• Difficult to connect accent pockets to the shoulder straps or hipbelt pockets.
• Difficult to drag tall gadgets out of facet pockets whereas sporting the pack.
• Z-style facet compression straps are awkward to make use of with cumbersome gear.
• No sleeping pad straps.

Comparable Ventilated (Suspended Mesh) Backpacks

There aren’t many light-weight (sub 3 pound) ventilated backpacks out there at this time, with or with out adjustable torso lengths.

Zpacks additionally has a number of fashions which can be very aggressive with the Exos Pro 55 together with the Zpacks Blast 55 (See our Zpacks Blast 55 Review) and the Zpacks Arc Haul Ultra 60 (See our Zpacks Arc Haul Ultra 60 Review.) While each of those packs are a lot lighter than the Exos Pro 55, they’re additionally rather more costly. On the opposite hand, in order for you a ventilated backpack with an adjustable torso size that’s arrange like an ultralight roll-top pack, they’re the one sport on the town.

Recommendation

The Osprey Packs Exos Pro 55 Backpack is a top-loading backpack with an adjustable torso size that’s simple to suit and configure for a lot of completely different sorts of climbing and backpacking journeys. Weighing simply 2 kilos 1.2 ounces, it boasts a bolstered perimeter-style aluminum body and ventilated suspension that gives wonderful consolation and management for hundreds as much as 30 kilos. If you need a big however ultralight (55L) hydration-compatible backpack with an actual body and a prime lid, the Exos 55 Pro is a good alternative that’s designed for multi-day backpacking, thru-hiking, and part climbing.

The factor that I like much less about this pack is the best way it forces you to pack a sure manner in terms of carrying water bottles, including accent pockets, or strapping gear to the surface of the backpack. I want extra flexibility on this regard, however that’s my private choice. Despite that, I might see being completely joyful utilizing an Exos Pro 55 for a long-distance or section-hiking backpacking journey, significantly in sizzling and humid climate the place a ventilated suspended mesh body is a big win.

Disclosure: The creator owns this backpack.

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