Award-winning packs weigh less but without sacrificing comfort, features or load-carrying punch.
Here's a sneak preview of a new for 2009 Osprey Exos pack
that's just landed a Silver medal in the OutDoor Industry Awards
2008 at the recent Friedrichshafen trade show.
The Exos will be landing in the UK early in 2009 and is a
lightweight rucksac, that doesn't compromise on ventilation and
features to save weight. The Exos 58, for example, tips the scales at
just 990 grammes, but like the other two packs in the range, uses a
6061-T6 aluminium frame for stabilty with heavy loads and die-cut
Biostretch EVA foam for added comfort and ventilation on hipbelt and
harness plus a new, ventilating back system for comfort.
One of the key features of the pack is apparently that while the back system is suspended with an air gap, that gap is significantly smaller than on comparable designs, which should make the pack overall more stable by putting the overall centre of gravity closer to the wearer.
Osprey Exos 46 - 857 grammes
The pockets on the packs are made from mesh to minimise weight and
components like buckles and zip-pulls have been carefully selected, -
says Osprey - to be the lightest on the market. Pack fabric is
super-lightweight as well. The pack's other features include the
Osprey 'Stow on the Go' trekking pole storage system first seen this
year on the Kestrel.
The jury for the awards included UK climber Alan Hinkes and
commented:
'The sophisticated structural design provides excellent wearing
comfort. Combining a newly developed, superlight air venting back
panel with the lightest components on the market, the new Osprey Exos
Series minimises weight, yet carries and ventilates superbly. The
Exos is a truly innovative product in the superlight pack world.'
Grammes Per Litre
To put it into some sort of perspective, Osprey's produced a table
showing the ration between pack weight and capacity. According to
their figures, the Exos 58 weighs in at 17 grammes per litre of
capacity, compared to 30 gramms per litre for their own Atmos 50.
Soomething like a GoLite Jam 2 would score just over 12-grammes
per litre on the same basic, but then that's a minimalist, frameless
pack with no ventilation and definite load-carrying limitations.
Something closer in function, like a Berghaus Freeflow IV 50 manages
33 grammes per liter, almost twice the weight / capacity ratio of the
Exos.
Sounds interesting. The Achilles heel of lightweight packs has
tended to be an inability to comfortably carry heavier loads combined
with a certain Spartan minimalism - only time will tell if Osprey has
the problem licked...
More information on the current Osprey pack range at www.ospreypacks.com.
