Bluefish, the Atmos AG has really has been tugging at me. It fits WAY too good: I shopped around with 25 lbs inside and it really did feel a lot lighter than that. Glad to hear that the curvature is not an issue. And the whole idea of carrying extra, unforeseen gear is exactly what I want to prepare myself for.

I've got a couple more questions about it:

How do the straps 'behave' when the pack is on and compressed? Are they dangling everywhere? Does the pack have strap tidies? Flapping straps drive me nuts because I get them snagged, brush against them and think they are bugs (seriously), they look raggedy, etc. The bag is so adjustable that I'd rather not cut the straps too much- it would make a great hand-me-down or loaner bag for other people.

On long hikes does the back panel breathe perfectly? As in no back sweat (beyond what the rest of your body is sweating)?

If you were tasked with making your Atmos identifiable among a stack of other Atmos packs, could you do it? Would you be able to mod personal touches (functional ones) onto the pack? I've always felt that Osprey packs were a bit too busy to mod easily... what do you think?

Thanks for your feedback so far, much appreciated!