>>2373257Osprey makes packs that are feature heavy (also literally heavy). I do t care for compartmentalization, and most of their packs are heavily compartmentalized. The exception is the Exos, which is really remarkable in that it bridges the gap between ultralight and a more rugged, traditional pack. There may be other similar models by Osprey, but the Exos first came out in like 2008.
Gregory is in the same boat. A lot of their packs are too compartmentalized rather than being simple and streamlined, they use a similar suspension on a lot of their packs, but they have at least one model, the Focal (it used to be called something else), that’s an exception and definelty worth looking at.
Most Osprey packs, a few Gregory’s, the Zpacks Arc series, and I think at least one model by Mountain Gear are using a trapeze-style suspension. There are probably others that I don’t know about. The entire pack rides slightly off of the wearers back, creating an air gap and reducing pressure points. It really is a vast improvement over typical designs.
/Out/ists will shill hard against Osprey, going so far as to use 4 year old pictures they found on Reddit of broken YKK zippers (which are ubiquitous among all brands of packs) as proof of poor quality. Stick around and you’ll see the same 3 or 4 picks of torn Osprey packs being circulated. I don’t have any brand loyalty but the arguments against them are pretty weak.
