Capable of hauling heavier loads with an interchangeable and custom fit suspension sys-tem, the Osprey
Aether 70 is a great option for week long backpacking adventures.
Let’s take a look at some of its features.
Starting with the suspension system, I will turn the pack around and take a look at what
we have got going on here.
We are using Osprey’s Isoform Suspension System.
It is a well padded, well ventilated suspension system that offers a lot of customization.
So the shoulder straps or the harness and the hip belt can both be completely removed
from this pack and you can pick the parts that you want to use.
So if you have different sizing go-ing on, you know, if you need a larger hip belt or
a smaller hip belt you can certainly do that with this suspension system.
So you have got really cool, interchangeable pieces here.
The parts on the Isoform Suspension System are very well padded and breathable.
You have got nice spacer mesh on the back here and the mesh throughout the back panel
so you have got really good breathability and there is kind of a foam ridged paneling
there to provide some extra air flow.
So it is Osprey’s Airscape Suspension System with the Isoform components, very nice pieces
there.
And you can swap them out so you can get different component sizes depending on your shape, so
nice system overall in the suspen-sion system of the Aether 70.
Turning the pack back around we have got a few different ways to access the contents
of this backpack.
It is a traditional top loading or hooded backpack, so you have got the top hood here
that opens up to allow you to access this through a nice big spindrift collar at the
top.
It opens up with this draw cord here and you can access all the items atop very easily.
And it does extend a little bit higher, so if you need to over pack the bag you can certainly
do so, but if you just pack it relatively tight, you can cinch that spindrift collar
down and have a nice easy pack size.
There is another access point, actually, on the front of this backpack.
So if I do away with these compression straps here we have a nice J shaped zipper on the
front of the back-pack.
So you have got access from the front without ever having to take that hood off.
So you can easily get into all of the contents of the bag all the way down to that sleeping
bag compartment directly from the front of the pack.
So if you don’t like to keep on access-ing things from the top, you can lay the pack
down and access it from this J shaped zip-per, a nice addition there.
It makes it a lot more easy to access your contents.
We do also have a sleeping bag compartment at the bottom of the backpack.
So down towards the bottom we have got these, you know, sleeping pad straps there that you
can snap away.
And you have a nice, sizable sleeping bag compartment down at the bottom.
So you can stow your sleeping bag there or any other items that you may want to keep
quick access to.
And there is a divider for the main pack bag and the sleeping bag com-partment and you
can drop that or kind of remove the straps and allow for one continu-ous bag rather than
two separated compartments.
So you have got a really nice system down in the sleeping bag compartment of the backpack.
Taking a look at some of the other pockets on the backpack, we have got two stretch mesh
pockets on the sides.
So they are kind of oversized pockets on either side of the pack.
There is a nice water bottle pocket there.
And the cool thing about these pockets is you can actually put the water bottle in traditionally
like I have it here, or you can have it in the angled portion to make it a little easier
to access while you are actually carrying the bag.
So it is kind of angled so you can just reach bag, grab the bottle, take a drink and stow
it back away in here without awkwardly having to reach into the backpack.
So nice system with the pockets there.
And we do have some inside out compression with those pockets.
So you can see here I have got the compression strap kind of routed underneath the pocket.
It makes it nice and streamlined and simple, but if I spin it to the other side, I have
got the compression on the outside.
So my trekking poles here are nice lashed down with that inside out compression on the
outside of that pocket, so really nice stretch mesh pockets with inside out compres-sion.
We do have two hip belt pockets, simple zippered hip belt pockets down on either side.
So you have got a really nice system there.
It provides some weather resistance on those pockets, not waterproof, but they will protect
your gear.
On the hood we do have kind of just one big pocket.
On the back here we have got a nice zippered pocket, so you can easily store some things
in there: books, maps.
I have got a water filter in there.
You have got really easy access to lots of items on the hood of the backpack.
And a neat feature about that is that it will completely remove and it also acts as a lumbar
pack.
So under this kind of grey panel on the underside you have actually got straps that have a buckle
in them and you can remove that hood and use it as a lumbar pack or day hikes if you set
up base camp and you just want to go explore some peaks or make a summit bit.
You have got a nice detachable daypack there, so nice benefit.
On the front we have a stretchy mesh pocket.
So it is kind of just a shove it pocket.
You have got a clip at the top here that clips down, but nice sizable stretchy pocket.
I have just got a rain shell in there.
It extends the front portion of the backpack.
It has got nice easy access pocket on the front of the bag.
Some of the other features on this bag include a hydration compatible system.
So back around to the back side, we have got this little H20 tab here and a buckle.
So there is ac-tually a compartment separated.
It is like a sleeve here with a clip at the top to hang your hydration bag.
You can slide that in there and route the hose down along one of the shoulder straps.
So hydration is not included.
You know you have got to buy the actual bladder separately.
But it is compatible with this backpack.
Durable haul loop there for carrying the bag so that is a nice sturdy handle.
Around to the front we have got a few other things going on.
You have got two tool loops and bungee tie offs so you can put some ice tools, ice axes,
trekking poles, whichever you want to stow there.
You have got removable sleeping pad straps at the bottom that dou-ble as compression
straps.
So you can lash your sleeping pad down here and if you choose not to use that, you can
just remove that strap there, keep it a little more streamlined.
We do have some nice compression on the front here as well.
So you have got a really nice kind of straight jacket compression style to really cinch down
the gear if you need to.
And for those times when you are carrying a smaller load, you kind of got some curious
little clips on the top here and on the bottom down here.
Those compression straps can actually extend all the way around and clip into those to
cinch down a smaller capacity load if you are not carrying all your gear with you.
So it is a nice additional feature with the compression and the compressibility of this
backpack.
And there you have it.
It is the Osprey Aether 70.
It is a great option with customizable components for those week long backpacking adventures.