Review: Osprey WAYPOINT 80 Travel Pack

[wp-review id=”6651″]

Two weeks in Spain and we took mostly public transportation while there. We tested it on environments like getting on trains, bus stations, train stations, hotel to hotel and using a taxis.

We traveled around mostly city terrain. Barcelona, Seville, Cordova, mostly pavement or cobblestone. The cobblestone is all uneven so the bag has to be able to move with your body and not throw you off balance and thrown an ankle.  The WAYPOINT 80 forms to your body well surprisingly.  Besides backpacking around the city, I also took it on a bike packing trip and rode 40 miles on a mountain bike and it formed to my body well. A lot of bags that I’ve owned haven’t held to my hips as well, but this one fit to my back perfectly.

It has a barrier between your back and the bag so your back gets all sweaty. In Spain, the temperature was 70s and 80s – a bit warmer but I never had too many problems thankfully.

Functionality ★★★★ (4)
The main compartment is spacious enough to fit two weeks worth of clothes, an extra pair of shoes and computer equipment for an international trip specifically. There are two side compartments that are accessible from the main compartment. There’s also a detachable day pack that has a sleeve for a 15 inch laptop.

Perhaps one of my favorite parts of the bag is the Adjustable Harness system that allows you to adjust the location of the bag along your back. I’m 6’4 so I ended up moving the shoulder harness toward the top part of the pack, which is nice because a lot of bags aren’t made to adjust for taller folks. The ErgoPull Hip Belt was also comfortable so I didn’t really notice it, which is probably a good thing.

The downside is the bag does not have a water bottle holder on the main bag or the daypack so I ended up using a carabiner to clip to the bag. Not the end of the world but a little annoying as well. Overall, the backpack is fantastic and holds a lot of stuff.

Design and Aesthetics ★★★ (3.5)
As for design, the bag goes together really well. The Day pack sits down on the main pack and straps down. It looks good and keeps from moving around and having extra stuff that’s intuitive. It’s user friendly, simple, didn’t take a whole lot of time to figure out despite having some seemingly complicated features. Again, the lack of water bottle holder for a bag meant for travelers, I’d consider a design flaw for sure. Also the green kind of made me look like a big turtle.

Durability ★★★★★ (5)
I had absolutely no problems. It was tossed on luggage compartments, planes, taxis, dragged around on the street on cobblestone, pavement and held up to everything. The zippers were a real heavy zipper and didn’t ever feel like they were going to rip. There wasn’t any part of that bag that seemed to be over stressed even after being thrown around by luggage handlers and students while traveling and on my bike. The nylon canvas material held wicked water, which was a nice surprise. Didn’t have any problems with water leaking in and it seemed to be a pretty easy material to clean as well.

Value ★★★★★ (5)
Because Osprey has an unlimited lifetime warranty, to me, paying a little more for a bag while trekking or backpacking internationally (or domestically) is worth it. Bags have a potential to get destroyed and the fact that they’re willing to take on all your risks is impressive. Especially for packs that are meant to be in harsh environments.

At $280, I think it’s worth the price even without the water bottle holder. I was immensely happy with the pack and will continue to use it. It’ll be going to New Zealand next!

By Todd Goehner