This is the very latest 2021 model Osprey Talon. A pack that has been on the market for a long time. The model has been refreshed for 2021, and the bag I am reviewing is the 22 litre variant. In red, it looks small and compact. Inside it’s….small and compact, but big enough for most things you will need for a day hike. Hitting the scales at 0.9KG it is lightweight, however there are larger lighter bags should you want that.
Another bag, and another review. What is different? Why should you spend over £100 on this pack?
The Osprey Talon is well built and gives you a sense of reliability and confidence.
Build.
The build of the pack is good. It’s lightweight, but still has a reliable weight. The Levity I reviewed was unnaturally light, and I was constantly worried if it was up to the task. The Osprey Talon gives you no such problems. Heading over moors and through brambles in sun and rain it gave me no issues. I did notice a thread out of place-but honestly….who cares.
The rear of the pack uses Ospreys’ AIRSCAPE, which in all my useage I haven’t had a sweaty back. It does ride T-shirts up, but who doesn’t that happen to?
Size.
The Osprey Talon I chose was the 22L version, they do lots of sizes. 11L junior, 11l, 22 (obviously), 26,30,33,44,55, and a 6. Plenty to choose from, however if I wanted a larger pack I think I would go for one of Osprey’s renowned larger packs-Atmos, Aether etc. Designed for the size. Anyway back to the 22. It’s a good size, large enough. It has a mildly elastic pocket on the very front, two decent water bottle pockets, the main compartment and a small soft pocket at the top right at the back. I use a large 1L Nalgene bottle, and this fits in this pack brilliantly. Possibly the best of all the packs I’ve tried. It feels secure even when the bottle is full. There is the standard difficulty to remove it when walking, so you need to swing it off one arm, and take the bottle. This is most certainly a first world problem and I guess as it comes with the hydration slip you could use a reservoir and go totally hands free.
The main pocket is large enough for a day of hiking, drone, coat, food etc. The top pocket is ideal for masks, key, wallet, sunglasses-but isn’t the same ‘soft’ material that some osprey bags used to protect phones and glasses. I do find the small pocket-when loaded-eats massively into the main pocket and therefore limits its usefulness and load ability. It in effect creates a bottleneck to the main pocket. It’s not a problem really, just a minor niggle. The waist belt has two good sized zip pockets, that easily take a good sized knife, and hand sanitiser…. Or whatever else you might want to pop in there. The very front-external, mildly flexible-pocket is excellent. Wedge a jacket in there, a pair of trainers-It’s great, it has a buckle so you are able to secure the load.
Conclusion.
So, a new pack… Similar to, but different to, its predecessors. Comes in a multitude of sizes, Ospreys widest choices. The 22L is great, a day walk, you can get in the essentials-it forces you to save weight and space and bring only the necessities . Well built, incredibly waterproof-despite having no rain-clover, durable and reliable. It’s rip-stop outer gives you confidence even in bramble bushes.. So good in fact-that my friend below-replaced his vintage Talon with a 22L 2021 model.
Excellent .
