Osprey Variant 52 Pack : Perfect for the Long Haul

As a gear tester, you get hit every once in a while with a product that's so well built and so well designed that you expect you'll be using it for the next 20 years. Osprey's Variant 52 Pack is such a product.

This brand new climbing-inspired alpine pack is so loaded with features I don't even know where to begin. What's cool about all the bells and whistles is that they're actually useful, not merely gimmicky. They make my life in the outdoors easier and more enjoyable. That's truly the case with everything from the bag's hauling loops and detachable lid to its zipper pulls. (Yes, I can categorically state that the Variant's zipper pulls are the coolest ones I've ever seen on any product in any industry).

The Variant is specifically designed for alpine climbing, but like any good outdoor product, its middle name is versatility. Thanks to its 35 to 50 pound carrying capacity, can be used for day hiking, trekking, adventure travel, or lightweight backpacking. I ran my new pack through its paces on a series of day hikes and alpine climbs in Rocky Mountain National Park, where I decided that the Variant will be my new pack of choice for almost everything but multi-day camping trips. It carries well, it's light, and I feel extremely in control when I'm hiking off trail and through rugged terrain.

The Variant 52 has a lot of space to work with. On big mountain days, I've been able to load it up with a rope, a light rack of climbing gear, emergency supplies, extra clothes, food and water, and I've had room to spare. I've also been able to fill it up with a typical rack, food, and then a bunch of enormous off-width cams for cragging days at Lumpy Ridge, where I can hit up nasty wide-cracks that require specialized gear.

I guesstimate that the pack can hold another 10 liters or so thanks to the extendable spindrift collar, but I haven't had to use it yet. To have this much useable space in a burly 3.75 pound bag is fantastic. On top of its big main compartment, the bag has a removable lid with an extra map pocket, ski pockets, a compression pocket, and a hydration pocket inside. So if you can't fit everything you want in the bag, you can probably figure out a way to get a ton of stuff attached in the right spot so that your gear is protected and the pack still carries well.

On the trail, the Variant is super stable. It's the perfect combination of height and width, so the weight on my hips and back is never enough to throw me off balance. There's a pretty sweet hip belt that takes a lot of weight, and the the back panel has a series of grooves on it for ventilation. It's really comfortable. It's also the first crag and alpine pack I've had that uses a true framesheet and aluminum suspension, which is nice. It truly distributes the weight off of my shoulders and onto my hips. Hiking up to 12,000 feet with 40 pounds of gear on my back has never felt so comfortable. 

While climbing, the pack is amazing. I did a few alpine routes lately, and I was able to strip it down to a bare-bones summit pack when I removed the hip belt, suspension and lid. It's nice to be able to turn a capable carrying machine into a super lightweight bag for food, water, a spare rope and storm supplies.

I also liked being able to use the haul loops at the belays to hold the pack properly. So many times I've unweighted a heavy pack at a belay and have had to struggle with it while I'm tying it in. My old pack, for instance, had one super puny haul loop at the top, which I'd have to augment with loops of webbing tied around the shoulder straps. The end result was a super annoying tangle, and the bag would wind up hanging backwards on the belay and I'd have a hard time accessing its contents. I was thrilled with being able to clip karabiners into the Variant's haul loops (which, by the way, are enormous) and have a nice, tidy pack system hanging next to me on the belays. I haven't yet had to haul the pack, but I feel confident it'll perform well when the time arises. The Variant is made of a very thick nylon with wear patches at strategic points.

Actually, everything is built into the pack with ergonomics in mind. The quick-releases are built to be glove friendly (I tried them out and they work great) and the hip belt gets tightened by pulling the hip straps forward instead of backwards. I know that I'm a lot stronger that way, and I can consequently get things dialed in better.

Come winter, I'll be psyched with its winter-specific features. The spin-drift collar will keep snow out, and the side compression straps will hold my skis perfectly for some nice backcountry approaches. It's also got a crampon shield compression pocket and very well thought-out straps to hold my ice tools. Finally, the pack is well prepared from a safety standpoint. There's a whistle on the sternum strap, and there's some nice reflective patches for the long walk back to the car. 

Back to those zipper pulls. They're not flimsy little tabs and they're not annoying pieces of cord that invariably will become untied and fall off. Instead, they're big fat reinforced loops of cord with a piece of material that holds the loop open. Point is, you can stick your finger -- or a gloved finger, if it's winter time -- right into the pull and open up the bag. So I'll never have to take off my gloves in a freezing windstorm to get something out of my bag. I absolutely love that.

Bottom Line : Alpine climbing pack that's built to do everything extremely well in all conditions. N.W. (Sept '08) 

Price : $199

Buy Online: , ,

Manufacturer's Site:  www.ospreypacks.com

Share on Facebook 

Plan a Paddle or Hike:

Check out our online store for this and other items reviewed on FitnessTravelGear.

Sign up Now for Email Updates on Gear Sales