Worked Really Well for Me
Bought the 40L travel backpack to use on a recent trip to Europe. The 40L accommodated everything I wanted to take with me without issue. I’ve traveled a lot over the years for both business and pleasure and I’ve learned how to travel light, so the 40L was plenty of space for me. I make use of compression packing cubes to keep everything organized and I’ve simply just learned to not overpack. Overall, the pack feels very well made from quality materials, so I believe it should last being subjected to the type of robust traveling I do. Zippers seem sturdy and all seams are well sewn. The handles are robust and well cushioned. I had no problem carrying the pack by hand. I also like the simplicity of the bag. One big packing compartment and a zippered mesh compartment. No interior dividers or extra zippered pockets means more packing space for the things I want to carry. Again, I use packing cubes and drawstring bags to keep everything organized. Used it in both duffle bag mode and backpack mode. I like that I can hide the shoulder straps behind the zippered cover for boarding planes and trains. It made getting the travel pack through the aisles and up into the overhead bins easier. I had no problems fitting it into the overhead bins and the airlines didn’t flag me for having too big of a carry-on or a “backpack”. The handles at the top of the bag and on the side helped with getting it out of the overhead compartment and off the plane. It was also comfortable when I used it as a backpack. The fully adjustable strap system with hip belt allows you to find a fit that is comfortable for your body. Using the compression straps on the back to hold my jacket in place when not in use is also a plus. And on the 40L you get the accessible, top pocket to hold smaller items, which I like as it’s nice to have a pocket for quick access to certain smaller things. Note, the 55L version does not have this top pocket/compartment as Osprey assumes you will be using the included 15L travel daypack as part of your travel system. There’s a back pocket underneath the compression straps that’s deep enough for a light sweater, water bottle, snacks, etc. A few things to note on the design. First would be to add more, softer padding to the laptop sleeve behind the shoulder straps. I feel like the padding for the laptop sleeve is a bit “stiff”. My laptop survived the trip with no problems, but I didn’t bang the backpack around very much. Also, the laptop sleeve extends inside the main compartment of the bag and is held in place on each corner by a hook and loop system. This allows the laptop sleeve to be lifted up, maybe so you can place something under the sleeve such as papers. I’m not entirely sure why Osprey designed the laptop sleeve this way, but that’s the design. So, you will be packing items directly on top of the laptop sleeve in the main compartment. This was not a deal breaker for me, but the user should be aware of this system. You also access the laptop compartment from the side of the bag instead of the top. Not an issue for me but for some users they may not like that system. I had no problem fitting my iPad Air and 14” PC in the computer sleeve. The shape of the travel pack is more oval or teardrop than square with the oval being slightly bigger at the base of the bag. Some people may prefer a square packing compartment over this design but I had no packing issues. Just make a mental note of it. The straps have excessive length and dangle. I’m assuming this is to accommodate all body sizes and clothing bulk. It’d be great if Osprey provided strap retainers to make the excess strap lengths more organized, but they don’t. I ended up 3D printing simple strap organizers which did the trick of eliminating the dangling issue. Fortunately, if you don’t have an 3D printer, Amazon sells strap retainers, so a purchaser should consider getting some if dangling straps bother them. You say you can’t decide between the 40L and 55L? Let me give you some clarity to help. The 55L Farpoint main pack is exactly the same packing size as the 40L. In order to get the additional 15L in packing space, Osprey added a 15L, detachable travel daypack that sits on top of the main pack. Yes, the 15L travel daypack is a nice feature. It gives you a detachable, 15L smaller backpack that you can use separately from the travel backpack for when you’re touring around a city. Some people might like the 15L travel daypack addition, but not me. I chose to go in a different direction and use the Osprey 13L Daylite pack instead. The 13L Osprey Daylite pack incorporates/attaches well with/to my 40L Farpoint and I prefer it over the 15L travel daypack for many reasons that are too long for this review. Overall, for the price (I bought mine when it was on sale), this is a solid travel backpack. It has a good cost to quality to usefulness ratio. Yes there are other, more expensive travel backpacks out there that are geared towards world travel adventures - but this one will be more than sufficient for the average, on-the-go traveler who goes on a few trips each year. Read more
