Osprey women’s Ariel 65 rucksack
WHEN IT COMES TO serious multi-day treks or mountaineering expeditions you need a serious pack to handle the load – and one that will not break your back in the process.
The Osprey women’s Ariel 65 pack is up for that job. The pack is light but tough, and has many great bells and whistles features fit covering just about any purpose.
There are not so many companies out there that produce great women-specific gear, but Osprey is one of them. The Colorado-based brand has been around for 40 years, the brand has only in more recent times gained traction in the Australian market. It’s known for producing gear with attention to detail and great design and functionality. And for making great women-specific products.
The women’s fit of the Ariel 65 means the chest strap fits where it should, and the shoulder straps curve nice and snugly. The back length, also designed for women, is also adjustable via a Velcro system.
The ‘space mesh’ harness is light and comfortable and you feel like you can carry heavy loads without too much trouble. The isoform hipbelt fits snugly, and you can take this technology even further, by having an authorised Osprey pack fitter (see the Osprey website for local dealers) heat-mould your harness to your own body shape. The hipbelt is removable for this purpose.
The hipbelt straps tighten by pulling forward, giving you more leverage for a perfect fit to keep the bulk of your weight on your hips. And all the harness straps are easily adjusted as your body and the load changes throughout your trip.
As with most packs these days, the Ariel has a pocket for a hydration bladder and the loops to fasten the tube. The pack is ultra-versatile and adjustable, with a strap for everything, including loops for adding an extra day pack for those long-haul trips, and loops for ice-axe storage on mountaineering treks.
Multiple access points allow you to get to the gear you need quickly and easily. You can either go through the top, unzip just under the stretchy mesh pocket to get that middle-pack gear, or grab your bottom-dwelling stuff from the foot zip. There’s also an adjustable internal divider in case you want to separate your things like sleeping bags and mats from the rest.
The top of the pack also double as a small lumbar pack. And to demonstrate Osprey’s commitment to details and design, the buckles for the top lumbar pack can be used as a back-up in case your main hipbelt ones break.
Pockets also abound in this pack – there are two top pockets for your maps, guides and personal valuables, as well as the main stretchy mesh pocket and a pocket on either side for water bottles. Not to mention the handy pockets on the hipbelt for super-accessibility.
Extra little bells and whistles include loops on the bottom of the pack and the shoulder straps to store poles on the go, as well as a nifty rain-cover. And the icing on the cake? An ‘All mighty Guarantee’ where Osprey will repair any pack, over any era, for damage or defects, for free.
Osprey Women’s Ariel 65L details
Weight: (sm) 2.19kg
Colours: vermillion red or deep sea blue
$260 from www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/au
Find the owner’s pdf manual HERE
