Customer Reviews Osprey Aether AG 85

I bought this pack with the intention of using it professionally as a guide and personally as a backpacker. Pros: Super durable /// Hauls everything /// very comfortable & adjustable /// great pocket organization /// THE DAYPACK (more on this later). ______ Cons: It can be lumbering and big, but it's 85 liters. _________THE DAYPACK: I use the daypack almost every day when I'm not on the trail as a gym bag, beer shuttler, quick grocery run hauler, etc. My style of backpacking is usually to hike in somewhere deep and then chill there for several nights at a time, exploring in the day without a heavy pack on my back. The daypack is perfect to store extra snacks, water, rain layer, fleece, headlamp and whatever else you want to bring with you. It has a pocket to slip in a hydration bladder. OVERALL: the pack is my cup of tea, I've used it for all 4 seasons and I never worry about its durability. It hauls big and small loads alike and the added daypack makes it super attractive in my book. A lot of folks' style is going to UL which is great, but I still like to bring a few luxuries into the backcountry like a chair for back support, a book to read, or even a hammock- this allows me to do that.

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Used this summer for 8 days on the Pacific Crest Trail, about 65 miles from Horseshoe meadows to Onion Valley, including summit of Whitney with the removable day pack. Very easy to load. Just remember to go smaller on the hip belt when doing extended hikes as you will want most of the weight supported on your hips when you loose weight. Hip belt still molds to your body unlike some of the smaller AG series like the Atmos. It is now my go to pack for winter trips. Can strap a winter tent to outside vertically and a foam pad on bottom. Water bladder sleeves on inside and outside of pack. Seperate sleeping bag compartment is nice. Use of Osprey rolltop waterproof pack liner and waterproof compression bag on sleeping bag make it impregnable gear protector to wet weather or creek immersions. Removable top pack makes it great for base camp trips like from Crab tree Meadows to Summit of Whitney. Love the external compression straps. This pack will easily hold a bear canister horizontally. This is my second Aether. Also get the grab bag and the alpine pocket. Also Osprey Rain cover for complete system. New hip pockets are handy. By the way I am 65 years old. Many multi day trips in the Rockies, Sierra's and the Ozarks.

Great pack.. One thing not mentioned in features is the ability to attach a Daylite or Daylite Plus pack. The Daylite attachment loops are sewn in, beneath the "straight jacket" compression straps & let you add up to 20L of additional storage. A few more zippered pockets could be useful, but the Daylite attachment option is a good alternative.

Use this pack frequently for wilderness bow hunting trips of 4-10 days in colorado and montana. Carry about 50lbs in, and 90-130lbs out for 4-9miles. Never fails. Thrown a few threads but great condition over the last 5 years of use.

+ Very comfortable, even though I had the honours of carrying the tent and all rubbish so I was on 27kg if you include the 3 litres of water I would typically carry. + Very large rain cover - big enough to go over anything extra on the outside of the pack too. The cover is stored in the lid. + Great build quality. We had to lower the bags twice and all scrapes and bashings have not shown up. The buckle never popped on the waist band either. + The lid has a HUGE storage area (under the rain cover) and I was very impressed. Also, with two clips and rethreading one piece of tape one can remove it entirely. There is then a strap which converts it into a "moon bag" of sorts. I removed mine each night and kept it as a "grab bag" in case we had to run away in the night as we had security issues. + Mesh external pocket on the outside of the bag is handy for storing jackets and whatever else. + The j-zip is handy for gaining access into the bag too. + A pocket per side on the hip belt is big enough for a cell phone, pepper spray, compass, that sort of stuff. Decent size. + Light weight. - The side pockets are a joke. You can barely squeeze anything into them. They should have allowed more material there. And I'm not sure why they have that dual hole system. I'd rather have had a deep single pocket either side. Would work for small water bottles, very small ones... I used them to shove in gaiters when not in use. Possibly the only feature I'm not impressed with. - There is an external hydration pocket between your back and the bag. Looks impressive and neat and clever. However once loaded I think you could maybe fit a litre in there. I could be wrong. I certainly had zero chance of getting the three litre in. One could say put in the bladder then load the bag, however filling up then becomes a pain. I will get a one litre and try it in the future, so perhaps it's an awesome feature and it's just me. Rate it 5 stars though!

Great for backpacking

I bought this pack to replace a Deuter that I had for years. The pack was very comfortable with lots of room, the mesh pocket on the front is great. This was much more comfortable than my previous pack and even with a heavy load you don't feel the weight. The front opening is not great as you have to undo too many straps to access it, and the flap opening is diagonal meaning you don't have full access to the pack. I wish Osprey's would include a built in rain cover like Deuter packs have. The chest strap also broke the very first time I put it on, at the start of a multi-day hike. I had to improvise with other random straps I had with me. With a few tweaks this would be an absolutely awesome pack.

I bought this pack to replace a 15 year old Alpine Lowe that was no longer comfortable on me. This pack has all the room needed for expedition style backpacking. The materials appear durable, the stitching looks strong, it should last a long time. I found the 85l holds as much as the old AL 90l, and much more comfortably. I can fit a 3 person 3 season tent, sleeping bag, pad, clothes, food, pot, stove all inside the pack with a full 3l water bladder. I like that the water bottle pockets can be accessed horizontally as well as vertically, I could fit and easily reach both a wildlife deterrent horn and bear spray in either side while wearing the pack loaded. The removable/convertible lid and large hip pockets are great features. I'd like to see a more compartments though, lose some main pack interior volume and add two 5 - 8 litre side pockets, also I think that a pack that costs this much should have an integrated rain cover.

I work in the outdoor behavioral health industry and use the pack 6 months out of the year consistently, hiking any where from 1-16 miles a day on shift with a load of 40-80 lbs. -Fits larger than previous Aether model Pro: -I found that use as one main compartment made it easy to load all necessary items plus more (plenty or nooks and crannies to pack other items.) -The camelbak compatibility works well. The -Top loader turns into a little back pack for day hikes. Decent suspension. Con: -When putting on the pack a hip strap will often get between your lumbar and the pack jabbing you with the buckle = painful -If you don't have drom/camelbak behind the anti gravity mesh, the bottom rail of the pack frame presses on your lower back while hiking with a heavy load. -the thin straps on the bottom of the pack are too short to wrap around more than a foam sleeping pad (and maybe that is all you need them to do) -However; the buckles on the bottom strap are tiny and easily break. I think they would last longer if the same size as most of the buckles on the pack Bottom line: Its a decent pack, its lasted 1.5 years in my line of work, which I understand is unique and trashes gear. Im excited to see the next rendition of this pack, I imagine it is difficult to walk the tightrope of lightweight vs. durability.