Osprey Variant 37 Review

My name is Mike Lewis. I am guide with Colorado Mountain School in Boulder, Colorado and I am going to give a review on my Osprey Pack.

In general, I really like this pack. It’s a 37 liter Variant backpack and has lots of features. You can use it for ice climbing, skiing, weekend backpacking trip, if you know how to pack light… and also as a cragging pack.

I wouldn’t say this is most durable pack I have ever had but for being a lightweight pack, it holds up pretty well.

So I’ll share some of the features I like and don’t like about it. One, the brain is pretty big. For a 37 Liter pack, I don’t really need that large of a brain, or lid. Sometimes this pack feels a little too big to me (because of the large brain), but sometimes I do fill it up, so it’s nice to have a large brain for when I do fill the backpack up.

There is a shove-it pouch here, so you can loosen things up and you can put a shovel in here. But larger shovels for backcountry skiing don’t work too well with this pack’s shove-it pouch. But I’ll usually just stick a couple two liter larger bottles in there. But you can put jackets, or whatever you want to put in the shove-it pouch.

We have ice tool storage here in the bottom of the pack. You just put your ice axe head into the pouch, clip the strap over it to secure it in and then cinch it tight at the top. I like that system there.

One fault I have seen with this is that the buckle that secures your ice axe head in gets popped up pretty easily.

If I put my pack down or I am scrambling through something to get to a climb and then it just pops open, it renders the ice axe protection worthless.

The bottom of the pack is a vulnerable place to have such fragile buckles, so I would like to see them make a change about that.

You have ski loops here on the side of the pack, which I really like. But I think the pouch is a little too big. I think they could have made it a little tighter.

These other side straps are fine. I definitely use it a lot for hauling rope to a climb. I’ll lay a rope over my pack, let it fall to the side, clip the top strap on, tighten it down and then clip it on the sides.

This thing, the top roll out that’s secured by velcro, I never really had to use for. So it’s supposed to be like that, layered down on top. And then when you open your pack’s lid up, there it is. I don’t even know what it’s for, to be honest. Never had a use for it! I think it has something to do with snow. To prevent snow from getting in there. I just don’t know. But I guess that’s my own ignorance.

What else… You got some haul loops up here and I definitely use those. You have two haul loops on the front of the pack and one on the back at the top of your back panel. You have a three point haul system, so you can haul your pack up.

And on the pack’s hip-belt you have another gear loop. It would be nice if there was a place for ice clippers.

And then you have system where you put your hands between the buckle and loop and just pull for tightening. And I like that. I like other packs where you just clip and pull the strap traditionally. But I have really enjoyed using the tightening system of this pack.

One more thing I want to share about this pack is that I find this back panel to be pretty flimsy. If I have clunky gear inside the pack, like ski boots, goggles, a shovel, probe, and the gear doesn’t fill out the pack, then it will cave in the middle. Then my back is only touching at the top and bottom and it doesn’t feel great. Not how a backpack is supposed to ride. So I have to purposely shove clothes in to ensure the pack stays filled out.

How long do you have this backpack for?

I have owned this one for about 3 years.

Can we see what it looks like on?

Sure. This pack also has a little avalanche whistle here on the clip.

How many starts out of 5 would you give it?

I will give it a 4. Yeah, it’s a nice pack. It needs some more durability in the back and they need to fix these ice axe clips on the bottom.