It’s great Osprey have sent this particular model over for me to review, as it is presented as a fast and light pack for multi sport activities such as hiking and running and sports which combine these activities such as thru hiking ,and as I hike, trail run and mountaineer I’m going to test it in most of these situations. Being the wrong time of year for snow I’ll have to leave out using it for winter mountains however. I’m interested how this will pan out as I notice this has a very similar design to another favourite bag I own which is the Montane Trailblazer.
Ospreys website describes the pack as “Light-and-fast, multi-sport versatility: the all-new Talon Velocity 20 ups the ante on speed and efficiency for your pursuits, be it PR-setting, bagging peaks or linking quick laps on the snow. With a running-vest-inspired harness, flexible backpanel and lightweight design, it provides access to the essentials without skipping a beat. A certified bluesign® product.” and you know what for the kind of adventurer I am that sounds like I might like this bag. I decided to really put the bag through it’s paces taking it trail running, scrambling, hiking and international travel / high altitude in the following areas.
Trail Running / Hiking Test: Black Mountains – Waun Fach loop
I took the pack on a great little route here with plenty of rock and uneven sections on ascent to get a feel for the comfort. Far from being just a short day out this was a six mile trail run and a six mile hike.
Hiking Test: The Berwyn Mountain Range
The Berwyn Range is pretty rugged and not so well known, with a varied terrain of peat upland, gravelled trails and rough trails, a great place to test this pack out. For this test I loaded my bag up with all my gear for hiking and looking purely at the packs performance in that respect.
Hiking/ Scrambling Test: Kinder Downfall Area
At the moment we are training for hiking in Morocco so this a big hike with a great opportunity to throw a scramble in too. And how does it feel to scramble in this pack? Well, it’s pretty low profile and as we have already mentioned which is useful in…tight spaces. We head up a grade 2 which is a great test of how the pack performs on a scramble.
Travel/High Altitude Test: Jebel Toubkhal
Finally I decided to give this pack a real kicking and use it as my daypack for heading up North Africas highest peak: Jebel Toubkhal. I managed to get everything in this bag and this is for a two day summit and return. This was a good choice of day pack for this peak and no doubt as a summit pack for anything else.
Breakdown
Construction Quality: For a start the main part of the bag is made from bluesign® approved 100% recycled high tenacity 100d x200d (that’s very strong and durable yarn) nylon with a PFAS free DWR treatment. Not only is this very environmentally friendly but also really solid fabric . Really handy on a scramble as in the case of our scramble we are on Gritstone.
Weight: The weight of Osprey bags is usually very light and the Talon Velocity 20 is no exception coming in about about 875g which is very good for a multisport bag and for those who want to go fast and light. The Montane Trailblazer 25 is the closest to this pack which comes in at 850g so there’s not a lot in it (Though you do get an extra 5l with the Montane)
Comfort And Fit: The fit is very comfortable with the race vest style chest harness, the elastic straps secure the bag while still allowing freedom of movement. I really like this fit as it’s snug without being uncomfortable. Not only was this good for running but it also moved well with my body for all the other activities.
Product Features: There are a load of product features on Osprey rucksacks and the Talon Velocity 20 is no exception. In general I think the majority of the features are great however there are a few niggles which is my scoring reason. The dual access pockets are fiddly and the hydraulics hydration pack specific attachment could be made more universal, though I can totally understand WHY Osprey want to encourage people sticking with their products this could put some people off.
Performance And Usage: This is a great multisport pack it’s well designed for a wide range of activities it performed well across all of the activities I used this for. As a side note here while using this for travelling for airports if you keep the bag packed no further than as high as the back plate, this will fit quite comfortably on an EasyJet flight. As long as you don’t overstuff the side pockets and front mesh it fits well within the size limits.
There’s lots of hydration options with this rucksack including soft flask compatible pockets giving me the option of taking a small soft flask instead of a heavier hydration pack if I want which is useful for me while trail running and the elastic soft flask retainers are a good feature too.
While we are still on the subject the external hydration sleeve is handy to have for longer runs and hikes and being external it saves pack room. The hydra clip for the hydration bladder is however geared towards the Osprey Hydraulics bladders, which are great but it would be good to have an option for those who want to use a different brand. These hydration bladders are not cheap and some may not want to spend another £50 for a hydration bladder that’s properly compatible after already spending anything up to £150 on a pack.
The pack also has dual-access stretch side pockets which on the hiking tests I used 2x 1000ml Nalgene Triton bottles. The pockets hold your bottles perfectly in place however I really struggled getting the bottles back in without having to remove the pack which makes the fast initial ‘dual’ access not as useful as it could be on the go. I also tested these with, 500ml bottles and standard shaped bottles. It was just as difficult trying to access and replace the bottles regardless of the size and shape which was frustrating as it could be a great feature. It was one of the very few things I don’t get on with on this bag! Maybe someone with short bendy arms and small hands can work this but I can’t. Don’t get me wrong here I love the concept of these and I really think these could work and maybe do for some however they just don’t for me.
The low profile stow on the go pole holder is a great feature on osprey packs enabling you to store your walking or running poles really quickly, a feature that really comes into it’s own when running. That it’s low profile means it’s out of the way and I did find it kept my poles out of the way when we were scrambling and running.
Left side stretch stash hip belt pocket is great for me it makes a great quick access area to grab snacks from when moving quickly, if I’m doing an ultra distance having loads of room for quick access food or energy gels is a must!
Right side zippered hipbelt pocket: Really useful for putting items in you just cant risk losing yet you still need to get to quickly.
Large zippered phone pocket This is really useful as I have a absolutely huge outdoor phone in the form of the Blackview BV8900. This just about fits so if you do have a large phone bear that in mine. I do take a hell of a lot of pictures too so it’s good to have secure storage with fast access for when it needs to come out which is constantly in my case.
The Stretch-mesh front shove-it pocket is a great feature which you can keep a map and your navigation stuff in, a fast stash of a layer if the weather is changeable, or can be used for stowing a helmet for climbing / mountaineering. I like the way this is integrated with the pack and it seems like a great evolution from the helmet holder that I’ve had previously built into the mutant 38 climbing pack.
Top cinch closure: Something found on lots of rucksacks these days, great however and allows compression of the bag when you have stuffed the hell out of it
Chest strap emergency whistle: thankfully I have only ever had to use this once however, in a rescue situation (on a different Osprey bag) and it was more than loud enough to be heard which is why I’m still here now!
Dual SR-buckled side compression straps: A feature on a number of the Osprey bags I already own, really useful in this case squishing the pack down to get through airport baggage size checks and for getting everything in your rucksack nice and secure for when you are running / hiking / mountaineering.
Dual low-profile pole/axe attachments: Always a handy feature for a multisport bag however not something I have had the chance to test out being as it’s currently summer.
Running Vest inspired harness: This is low profile as it can be and it holds the bag really close to the body making it ideal for faster paced activities, while scrambling this kept the bag in place while still giving good freedom of movement and while running kept pack movement to a minimum while still be very comfortable.
Summary
It’s a joy to use bar a few niggles such as the hydration clip and the fiddly dual access side pockets I guess that makes it emotional baggage😆if you are a multi activity user like myself this is a great pack! And for that reason it’s earnt itself a:
4.6/5
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