Osprey Stratos 34 Review

The Osprey Stratos family of backpacks are fully rigid, well ventilated, and designed for organized, avid users. On your back, on foot, very few packs are more comfortable. If you are not walking, however, the rigid frame can get in the way, and the numerous zippered pockets add unnecessary weight if you don't need that level of organization.

Performance Comparison

Overall, the Stratos is right at the top of the heap, but it's not that versatile. This is a “no holds barred” hiker's backpack that keeps items large and small in separate, easy to access compartments while maintaining an extremely comfortable fit. In that context, it wins our Top Pick as a panel loader for day-hiking.

Comfort

The Stratos really excels in terms of comfort. Osprey invests a great deal in the shape and materials of their packs and all else equal, they make comfortable ones. You can count on it. When that pack is optimized for walking, as the Stratos 34 is, you can expect ergonomic weight distribution, stable load management, comfortable fabrics against your body, and prodigious venting.

It is this pack's venting that sets it apart from other rigid frame, full-suspension packs. The Stratos 34 (and the other sizes in this model lineup) features a rigid, suspended back panel that leaves a generous air space behind the wearer's back. This is by far the best solution to manage perspiration. During long, hard days, we never got the terrible feeling of putting on a wet, freezing backpack that we get with other, less ventilated packs.

Other smaller packs also have a mesh and suspended back panel, but the superstructures on lighter packs tend to be more flexible. You will notice more airflow on the Stratos than most packs. The rigidity of the Stratos structure also lends greater support to your load when the pack is less full. Paradoxically, a full backpack takes on more rigidity, just from the contents, than a less-loaded backpack. The Stratos suspension characteristics are basically the same whether it is stuffed full or if it is holding just a water bottle and jacket.

The mesh fabrics that contact your body on the Stratos are soft and slightly rough. While this roughness irritated our bare skin slightly, it helped the pack stay put during dynamic activities, which led to an overall more comfortable carry. As compared to the unstructured, simple, and ultralight packs, the Stratos is like a luxury piece of furniture.

In our standardized calisthenics testing, the Stratos 34 restricted our range of motion more than most other packs we tested. While this is fine for hiking, which requires little dynamic movement, it makes biking or scrambling cumbersome. On the other hand, this pack didn't slip a bit during use, which kept the weight squarely on our hips all day.

Versatility

As we've said, the Stratos 34 is a purpose-built hiker's pack. It keeps your water bladder, rain jacket, trekking poles, and first aid kit contained. It has sufficient external attachment points for activities like snowshoeing, but we preferred more traditional and larger compression straps for most winter activities.

You probably won't like it for commuting or use as a carry on for flying due to its bulk. Again, it is the rigid frame that defines this pack, and its performance in this metric. The large profile, even when unloaded, inhibits use outside of day hiking. This is ok. Purpose-built equipment isn't meant to be versatile.

Ease of Use

The plethora of pockets and straps are tailored to exactly the demands of day hiking. There is a pocket for everything. For those of you who like everything in its pocket, this is great. Even the main compartment is divided in two, with a permanent panel separating the lower one-fourth of the pack (although this can be unhooked from the back panel to allow for big items in the main compartment). This lower compartment is nice for stowing wet rain gear or the trunks or swimsuit you carry for that alpine lake dip. The side water bottle compartments hold the largest of hiking water bottles.

The hip belt pockets on the Stratos are very large, but even fully stuffed, they don't get in the way. We like them for carrying sunscreen, snacks, and light gloves or hats. These items moved around a bit in the relatively uncompressible larger, outer zip pocket, which also Velcros closed at its top. This pocket is ideal for storing a shovel for winter hikes, or bulky layers that get in the way in the main compartment. To round out the list of handy features, we loved the front-side pole carry loops on the Stratos 34. They are burly and secure, and can easily hold heavy poles with snow baskets. They changed the way we view poles on day hikes, allowing us to very easily store and deploy our poles to optimize our walking style for the terrain.

We look for a carefully chosen set of pockets, zippers that don't snag, and main pouches that aren't obscured by straps. Hiking specific features like trekking pole holders and hydration system compatibility round out the list of things that make a dedicated hiking pack useful.

Weight

This is a heavy backpack. At 51 ounces and only 29 liters of volume (weight-to-volume ratio of 1.8 ounces per liter), it's one of the heaviest packs we tested for the volume. We have used and tested packs for multi-week trips that weigh less. The extra material that results in that weight, though, delivers that aforementioned comfort and venting.

It is the rigid structure that most contributes to the greater weight. For dedicated day packing, where your loads aren't necessarily large, the weight of the pack itself may not be a big deal. This is a personal choice, but we know that committed day hikers will dig the comfort and durability of the Stratos. Some of the weight, also, is attributed to the organizational and usability features of the Osprey Stratos. You can't have all those organizational pockets without some weight penalty.

Durability

Between the solid initial construction and Osprey's warranty and repair policy, the Stratos 34 will last you as long as you want it to. We experienced no sense of premature degradation with this backpack. While we try to put a pack through the ringer in our multi-month test period, a bag like this really won't show any wear for years of normal use.

Each component of the Stratos 34 is designed to last, but it must be noted that there are many things that could fail. The buckles, straps, frame components, zippers, and fabrics are robust, but still prone to failure. More layers and doodads leave more room for failure. Simpler packs, all else equal, might experience fewer durability issues. Compared to top-loaders, panel-loaders tend to fair more poorly in dusty and sandy environments where sand can clog up zippers. However, the big toothed zippers and solid warranty on this pack make this a minor concern.

In our hose testing, the included rain cover shed rain exactly as designed. We didn't like it as much as rain covers that attach to the hip belt as well as the back of the pack. Without the rain cover, the Stratos still didn't let in much water due to the large flaps over the zippers.

Should You Buy the Osprey Stratos 24?

There are a few ways to look at the value of this backpack. For its narrow applications, it could be seen as expensive. Who wants to pay this much for such a specific piece of equipment? Or, you could see the expense as a cost of dedication to an activity like day hiking. The good news is that the performance should meet or exceed expectations, the pack's construction and materials will last for years of even very frequent hiking, and Osprey offers excellent warranty and repair services. So if you came here because you like to dial in your hiking kit and need a pack for weekend after weekend on all kinds of trails, this is the pack for you.

What Other Daypacks Should You Consider?

If you came here for an all-around daypack, this isn't the product for you. Instead, we suggest checking out the REI Co-op Traverse 32, our overall favorite heavy-duty daypack. If the price tags on both of these packs is alarming, consider the more value-minded REI Co-op Flash 22. At that size, you should also consider the Osprey Talon 22, which is our favorite lightweight daypack.