Osprey - Stratos 34 Pack - Men's

Used this for a 22 miler on Mount whitney. Comfortable and plenty of room

I am a class of 2017 Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker. I have more than 3000 miles on the trails all over this country. This pack is awesome. Half the price of the Zpack arc haul zip I used but twice the quality. Also when my strap broke , Zpacks would not help me out but I heard from everyone on the trail that osprey helped everyone

I have an older Stratos 24 and needed something bigger so I bought the S/M Stratos 34. It didn't seem much bigger so I tested it. I stuffed towels in them and each held virtually the same amount. Returning it. I do like the design, for long day hiking, and will have a hard time finding an alternative.

I bought this to replace my daily carry pack. As a techy type guy I don't carry a purse but use a pack to carry all my stuff. I am 6' 2" and 245lbs. When I started putting my stuff in this pack I quickly became aware that it is not very big at all. For a guy my size my XL raincoat inside its stuff sack took 1/4 of the main compartments space, my flannel sleeping bag (75degree rating) has the sleeping bag compartment straining the seams so I decided to see if I could at least get my size 12 Soloman running shoes in the main compartment. Nope not even close.... and every outside pocket actually takes away from your main compartment space as the pocket is on the inside of the pack not the outside. I wasn't thinking about the AG's frame and that is my fault so I won't be hauling it every day as it doesn't stow well under bus seats. The quality of manufacture is there and top notch. Zippers all zip and don't snag which is good. But a side by side comparison to my Kelty Redwing 32 which I used for my daily use bag the last year can hold over twice as much stuff as this bag so I don't know how they call this a 34 liter bag because you are not getting that much stuff in this pack. I guess if you count each pocket and the main compartment it equals that much room but again with the pockets taking up interior main compartment space you don't actually have that much room and if you are person that wears large or god forbid extra large clothes don't even bother with this pack for use as a day pack.

My main goal with buying this was a bag to carry all my current climbing gear and also be able to do some basic overnight trips or lightweight summer backpacking. I compared this to the Gregory Zulu 30 and Dueter ACT Trail 30, ended up going with the Osprey due to better in-store comfort, brand loyalty, and I was able to get one for cheaper than the other two. So far I've had the pack a week so my review is mainly going to be more of an initial thought.