In the now-infamous ultralight pack thread, I said I was contemplating adding the Osprey Exos 58 to my gear pile. I pulled the trigger yesterday (keeping alive my string of never advancing beyond Step 3 of my 12-Step Plan.)

Anyhow, among other first impressions:

1) Between the main pack and the shove-it pocket are two side-by-side, vertical zipper-access pockets (drastically scaled down versions of the old Dana Terraplane pockets.) I found they are perfectly sized to put my solo tent fly and poles in one side, and inner tent in the other - freeing up considerable space inside the pack, and saving a few ounces in stuff sacks. It also separates a potentially very wet fly from a not-so-wet inner tent.

2) I'm not sure this really qualifies as an internal-frame pack. There's no frame sheet that I can find, and the frame is very light, thin aluminum tubes that form a rectangle, with a mesh panel stretched drum-tight across the back. Except for diameters, and the fact that this frame flexes, it impresses me as being an external-frame design. And you know what? That's fine! From my limited opportunity so far to load it and carry it around (with about 20 pounds), it seems to combine the best features of both internal and external design: the frame flexes with you, the frame more or less conforms to the shape of your back, yet it holds the bag itself away from your back, and supports a reasonably heavy load (relative to the small diameter of the tubing used for the frame.)

3) I think I'm going to like the unstiffened hip belt. Yes, it will be a limiting factor in terms of weight transfer. But, it's broad and can be snugged down without undulty restricting hip movement. I had a similar belt on an Arcteryx Khamsin 38 a number of years ago and found that, contrary to the apparent flimsiness, it really worked very well on the 25 pound load I was carrying then.

4) Given the light-duty hipbelt and shoulder straps, I'm a little skeptical of the Osprey claims of a 35 pound load being in the "comfortable" range - my uninformed guess would put it at 30. However, I am basing this clearly on having no hard facts whatsoever to back me up, and I am very willing to be proven wrong.

5) This pack has lots of bells and whistles (including Osprey's signature whistle on the sternum strap buckle.) I suspect that, if I were to take knife and scissors to it, I could easily cut off 4 to 8 ounces of unnecessary straps, toggles, cords, and other gee-whiz features. I probably won't (in the past, I haven't needed a feature until just after I cut it off.) However, I may make use of the option to remove the lid when I'm not carrying a very large load - that should save 8 ounces or more.

This is clearly a lightweight pack for lightweight loads, and performance may degrade quickly when loads exceed 30 pounds. Within those parameters (which I fit), it seems to have the potential to be a really good pack. I haven't had a chance to load it up and take a walk outdoors yet, but from what I've seen so far, this pack may become my first choice for trips of up to 4 days (where my loads typically don't exceed 25 pounds and are sometimes below 20 in hot weather.)

Anyone else have one of these? It's a new release, so any first impressions on this pack would be very informative to me - particularly if you've actually had it on a trip. (I'll find out if theory gets within shouting distance of practice weekend after next, when I've scheduled an inaugural trip for the pack.)