Ok i'm cynical but yet another feature on Osprey rucksacks. We've had breaking news, the competition, competition winners, winners verdicts, and now another overview. oh yeah and annoying banner in the forum. I think that maybe somebody on here is being bunged a wee do us a favour and we'll send you to moab to test one for us( ). When you consider how many rucksacks are out there it is abit Osprey tastic on here. And no I'm not bitter because I did'nt win one I never entered
Posted: 24/01/2009 at 19:04
Yes I have to agree that we've been absolutely bombarded with information about this pack on OM.So I would have to pose the question of how much have Osprey actually paid to OM for all of this substantial publicity?If we believe all of the hype about this new product,then this is the sack to purchase and we can forget about all of the rest.I have to admit that like many members on here,I am a complete gear addict and I find that all of the publicity about a Sack such as this makes me really want to own one.But is it really that good and are there not lots of sacks out there on the market which perform equally well and are considerably cheaper?The other product to receive lots of publicity is the Thermarest Neo Air mattress which I understand is available around April time.It seems to get rave reviews but again is it that vastly superior to all of the other mattresses on the market or are we merely being brainwashed into thinking that this is the only one to own.Unfortunately,these objects of desire do not come cheap-£130 for the Osprey Rucksack and £100 for the regular size Thermarest.We are being asked to stump up large amounts of cash just to own the latest state of the art gear.Whatever happened to the so called Credit Crunch?
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 17:14
You're right MCN - it is a bit suspicious - not very stealthy advertising which I'm sure we will all rise above. My only question is - When can I buy one? Just kidding
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 17:35
Not very stealthy advertising possibly, but a very clever strategy in getting OMers to try out a product Osprey were clearly very confident about. Osprey are very inter-active on this forum. What is there to stop any other company from doing the same? My only gripe about the thing was that none of the testers was a woman. If it's a unisex design, we should have had full evaluations by men and women. However, to suggest someone took a bung, even with some winkies, is a bit off in my book. Unless of course, you've got the proof?
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 17:46
Well there aint many other companies who get so much coverage from one product but what do I know........
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 19:31
there aren't may other companies who actually get off their arses and engage in debate on here either therefore raising their profile for being in touch with their customers and willing to debate the pros and cons of their products. paramo/nikwax, furtech and osprey are such companies. are there any other manufacturers whom i've overlooked? (oh yes, julie greengrass when she was at montane) we rip into event, goretex and the like. nada from everyone. we are curious about paramo and the head honcho pops along to explain everything.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 19:40
there aren't may other companies who actually get off their arses and engage in debate on here either therefore raising their profile for being in touch with their customers and willing to debate the pros and cons of their products. paramo/nikwax, furtech and osprey are such companies. are there any other manufacturers whom i've overlooked? (oh yes, julie greengrass when she was at montane) we rip into event, goretex and the like. nada from everyone. we are curious about paramo and the head honcho pops along to explain everything.
Osprey is the only one to have their own permanent thread though.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 19:48
then everyone will know when their product doesn't live up to expectation. it's happened before... they're either daft or proud of their product. mm! will they have a deathwish and introduce an ad that screws the site up like some other brands...
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 19:53
I'm sure alot of companies would bung 5 wot evers if they got this much advertising from it...
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 19:54
then perhaps they should.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 20:04
would they get the coverage though.. without the free trip to moab for the editor..?
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 20:15
lol. i couldn't comment...
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 20:43
I've not been involved in the Osprey competition or reviews, but I am 100% certain of one thing. Jon does NOT review ANY product favourably in return for and trip,payment or other freebie, and to imply he does is offensive. The same applies to all reviews from the OM team.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 20:43
have you checked his sun tan lately... ?
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 20:46
is that a free beer on your hand there dave? runs away.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 20:53
I've not been involved in the Osprey competition or reviews, but I am 100% certain of one thing. Jon does NOT review ANY product favourably in return for and trip,payment or other freebie, and to imply he does is offensive. The same applies to all reviews from the OM team.
Have the OM team reviewed the Exos? I thought they gave avid OM members the opportunity to review it and report back.
I'd be disappointed if Osprey had not had to shell out a few notes for the coverage.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 20:54
Lets be honest here. I don't for one minute think there has been any 'shady' goings on. It's just a very clever marketing 'trick'. Martin from Osprey pops on to the thread every so often to keep the thread current. In fact, i think OM have probably been suckered by this clever way to get free advertising. I'm just surprised that a closed thread wasn't set up. ie, get the sacks, first report, report after use, finished. Not an interactive thread as has developed. I'll be very surprised if another manufacturer gets away with this again. Unless Osprey have paid for all this advertising, and it isn't free.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 21:07
Of course they paid for it. And well- Moab or not its still pretty biased . it is a commercial website afterall and survives on advertsing . It just happens to be abit heavy in Ospreys favour thats all. And free holidays..
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 21:25
Personally I think it's all been very positive and helpful. I wish other manufacturers would take a leaf out of Osprey's book and communicate with their customers in the same open and receptive way. They took quite a risk with the evaluations: what if the testers had ripped the pack to shreds and panned it -- that would have been a serious backfire! The fact that the thread was totally open was great. I'm struggling to see how you manage to come up with such a negative spin on this mcn...
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 22:01
 Me too, I wish more outfits would give out brand new free gear to us all here!
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 22:02
Personally I think it's all been very positive and helpful. I wish other manufacturers would take a leaf out of Osprey's book and communicate with their customers in the same open and receptive way. They took quite a risk with the evaluations: what if the testers had ripped the pack to shreds and panned it -- that would have been a serious backfire! The fact that the thread was totally open was great. I'm struggling to see how you manage to come up with such a negative spin on this mcn...
Who chose the 'winners'? Was it totally open? The questions were loaded. If you didn't tick the boxes Osprey wanted, you probably wouldn't have got one. If you put 'ventilated back' at the bottom of the list, you had no chance of 'winning'.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 22:08
had the same problem with a competition. whio wants a milkshake. those that ticked lactose intolerant didn't get one.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 22:35
LOL Parky! An open 'selection' would have been a straight draw of names.
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 22:39
Its not a negative spin its just getting sick of the monopoly advertising. Osprey this and Osprey that. look at the first 2 products on the home page reviews for instance. The products are being very heavily pushed on here thats all . And yes they took abit of a chance handing out rucksacks but then again these things cost £130 so they should bloody work!
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 22:44
Its not a negative spin its just getting sick of the monopoly advertising. Osprey this and Osprey that. look at the first 2 products on the home page reviews for instance.
And if you look below that you'll see two consecutive Montane products...... have you ever thought it may just be a matter of timing? OK it may be that Osprey have timed the end of the evaluation to coincide with the release of a new model that gets reviewed, but 2 review items in the latest 10 is hardly"monopoly advertising" or "heavily pushed" is it?
Posted: 25/01/2009 at 23:53
ooh. montane reviews. i must go and look.
Posted: 26/01/2009 at 08:48
Hello All, I wanted to write a few words that address the above issues. Naturally Osprey paid to use OM as a forum for the evaluation – in the end outdoorsmagic is funded by advertising not user subscriptions. The 5 evaluators were picked by merit. i.e. If they are active on the site and we liked their 15 word answer. Osprey did not pay for the positive results of the evaluation, everyone had an independent voice. As rightly stated above they could have found that the Exos wasn't a great pack. Osprey have not provided any free holidays to any staff or members of outdoors magic. Osprey did not pay for the the OutDoor Innovation award for the Exos. Other publications have also given the Exos a very positive review – similarly they are independent reviews. Osprey has already had a good amount of publicity from the Exos series, but only because it’s an innovative product that is worth writing about. I think that to criticise Osprey and Outdoorsmagic for being pro-active in promoting a new innovative product is a little harsh. Possibly as harsh as writing to MP3 magazine asking them to stop mentioning Apple?..... Best Regards Rob Osprey
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 11:14
If they were active on the site? Some of the 'winners' hadn't posted for years! Maybe if some of the regulars on here had recognised a 'winner', it wouldn't have looked so 'iffy'. So the 'profile' questions played no part in selecting a 'winner'? I know how these things work Rob! The 'select in order of importance' questions were designed to select 'winners' who were predisposed to the Osprey style of backpack. I couldn't care less who actually 'won', but a bit more honesty on how the 'winners' were selected would have been appreciated. I actually think you have played a blinder with this!
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 11:30
The reason we had questions about the make-up of a pack was so we could get some really useful information for future osprey pack design. It wasn't to load the evaluators in our favour. We didn't take the pack questions into account when selecting the 5 winners. Regards Rob Osprey
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 12:53
OK so we've had all of the evaluation results and all of the numerous comments about this supposedly great new pack.What I would like to know now is where can I get to see one of these Rucksacks in the flesh?I live in Staffordshire and have recently visited Cotswold Outdoor in both Birmingham & Betws Y Coed plus Ellis Brigham in Manchester and Snow and Rock in Birmingham.None of these outlets have them in stock.I am aware that someone has recently purchased one from the Ellis Brigham Covent Garden store but the return rail fare of £83.50 makes this a little prohibitive for me!Rob from Osprey please let me know.
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 13:21
Hi Trentham, The Exos is so new that it is only just working it's way through the distribution systems of our customers. I just checked with Cotswold - the Exos should be in the Betws Y Coed store by this weekend. But if you are making a special visit please call them before hand just to check. Regards Rob
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 13:26
So were you 'confused' when you said 'being active on the site' was one of the things used to choose a 'winner', Rob?
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 13:28
We didn't select the 5 most prolific posters. It was only part of the process, not the pivotal point. Regards Rob Osprey
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 13:31
Thanks to Rob from Osprey for his very prompt reply(only 5 mins after my posting)Now that's what you call Service!
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 13:35
Im not getting a Christmas card from you this year Rob, am i?
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 13:58
you'll have to send one to yourself again mike.
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 18:19
you'll have to send one to yourself again mike. Even i wouldn't send one to me Parky!
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 18:27
lol
Posted: 27/01/2009 at 18:48
By the looks of his comments I think Mike fae Dundee maybe didn't receive enough cards last Christmas  . He seems a bit grumpy : ( As one of the 5 evaluators, I think some of the harsh comments aimed at Osprey and their marketing strategy are a bit out of line. I think Rob from Osprey is correct in stating that the 5 evaluators were picked purely by the words in the competition, if it had been the 5 most prolific posters, then the same 5 computer geeky people (who probably post here more than they go hillwalking) would win all of the prizes on all of these outdoor websites! And maybe unhappy Mike fae Dundee would have won all 5 Exos packs! What would we all have thought then?! [Only joking Mike - I'd be happy to lend you my Exos if I lived anywhere near you  ]. Yes - I am not and never have been a prolific poster on Outdoors Magic, but as I wrote in an early post on the Exos forum, I prefer to read other people's views and opinions rather than constantly write my own for others to read. I do agree with Kate's view that maybe one of the evaluators should have been female to give a more balanced view for both sexes. I guess most of the evaluators have wives or girlfriends and were able to let HQ try the pack out for themselves. Perhaps as the sample Exos packs are a M/L back length, they would only have fitted the taller females anyway and would have swamped those of a more petite stature, such as my wife. The evaluators have no obligation to post positive comments on the pack in use, and have no previous contact with Osprey. This is my first ever Osprey pack and all of the positive comments I have made are based purely on the merit of the pack's design, features and performance. I think Osprey design team have done a great job, and obviously Rob, Martin and the rest of the Osprey Marketing team have done a good job of publicising this award winning rucksack. They took a risk with this evaluation period and it has paid off. Good on them. Richard
Posted: 29/01/2009 at 14:38
Maybe when you have your tongue surgically removed from Robs posterior, you will re-read his posts. According to Rob, the 'winners' were chosen because "they were active on the site". What makes you say Rob is correct? Inside info? BTW, were you the 'winner' that had their pack hand delivered by Rob, their neighbour? Or the one that said they enter competitions as a hobby, and are very succesfull? I'm sure your report will influence many potential buyers. Vast experience likes yours doesn't come cheap. I revel in my happy grumpiness.
Posted: 29/01/2009 at 14:58
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