Talon 33

I bought a Talon 33 in January 2021. I wanted a pack with around 30 litres and a good compromise between weight, durability and padding for carrying comfort. I also wanted a pack with a lid with at least two pockets. The Talon seemed like a good fit for my requirements and I'm fairly happy with it after just over two years of (light) use.

It's never become the absolute favorite pack i hoped for when I bought it though. Very few specific complaints, but I wish the framsheet would have been slightly "stiffer" so the pack would hold it's shape better when not fully loaded.

My main problem might be specific to me, but I'd like an (additional) internal pocket for easier organization. An internal pocket for hydration bladder would have helped a lot. The Talon has support for hydration bladder, but it's in a pocket that's on the outside between the harness and the fabric of the pack and very hard to access and not really usable for anything but hydration. Placing it there in stead of inside eliminate the chance of water from a leaking bladder getting everything else wet, so I can see why, but it's still a poor choice in my opinion.

I used to own the full Talon series back in the early 2010s and then decided to sell it as I wasn't using it often enough.

Last fall 2020 I managed to get an early release Talon 33 Stealth Black from the USA. I specifically got this pack for the Spine Race 2021 which eventually got canceled. I still managed to test the pack and put in a few hundred kilometers of training with it.

THE GOOD
The new backpanel is great: both very comfortable and even reasonably breathable for a contact style backpanel.

The harness is also comfortable and there is adequate padding for a pack of this size.

The hipbelt has enough padding to be comfortably tightened over the hips. It sounds like nothig special but some similarly lightweight packs by other premium manufacturers have very little or no padding on the hip belts: it's good to see Osprey didn't fall to the temptation to reduce weight in the wrong place!

The external reservoir compartment is great for refilling without having to pull out and slide the reservoir back into a main compartment full with gear. If using the reservoir in winter with an insulated reservoir sleeve, be aware that inserting and removing the sleeve isn't as easy and requires some playing around.

The hipbelt pockets have been considerably improved compared to the older Talon models: they can easily be zipped open or closed with just one hand. The hipbelt pockets are also considerably bigger than they used to which allows easily storing small essentials for quick access.

Other nice Talon features have remained unchanged - i.e.: Stow-On-The-Go poles attachment, InsideOut compression straps, spacious top lid pocket with key clip, etc.

From a purely easthetic perspective: I really love the Stealth Black colorway! In my opinion the white trims on some of the other colorways get dirty too easily and look dirty even after being cleaned. I hope to see on many other Osprey packs made available in Stealth Black.


THE BAD
Items stowed in the stretch mesh side pockets can't be easily accessed while wearing the pack, in fact they are really hard to even with a high degree of arm flexibility. If using them for bottles, you might still be able to pull out the bottle when wearing the pack but putting back in without removing the pack is nearly impossible. This problem could have been easily solved with a dual-access mesh side pocket design like on the Manta.

The pocket on the harness has very limited use: too small for all but the most compact smart phones and not secure enough. It's good for snacks but I'd very careful to use for anything else. I used it to store a flashlight and, luckily with a lanyard secured to carabiner, and it slid out and fell when bending to tie up my shoes or even because of the bounce when jogging downhill. Honestly, if it wasn't there, you wouldn't miss it.

It lacks a daisy chain along the front stretch pocket to secure larger items on the front of the pack - e.g. sleeping pad with folding design or ultralight snowshoes.

CONCLUSION
To sum it up, the Talon 33 is comfortable, spacious, and built to the usual Osprey high-quality standards.
As long your intended use is hiking, the Osprey Talon 33 is an excellent pack and I highly recommend it!
I gave it four stars only because of the poor desing of the harness pocket and the design of the side mesh pockets.

However, if you are looking for a fast-packing or multi-day ultra-running pack, there are better designs and you might be better off also looking for alternatives elsewhere.
The Talon 33 has the shortcomings of a traditional hiking pack design: relatively narrow shoulder straps, no harness organization, and side mesh pockets that are pretty much unusable when wearing the pack. Osprey could have been bolder and designed the 26 and 36 with a vest-style harness and easy-to-access zippered side mesh pockets like on the Duro 15. Short of that, they should really design 25 and 30 liter versions of the Duro.

The ups:
This rucksack is advertised as super light and it is. I bought it in my trusted shop and when trying it on it was simply the perfect fit. Used it on a GR20 trip and on various Munro outings for 1.5 years now.

The downs:
It is optimised for weight. Comfortable padding and sturdiness did not take top priority. On the GR20 with ~14kg it felt like stretching the weight that you can comfortably cary with. Doing such trips also heavily wears off the material. I have my gopro with the 3 way stick in the right side pocket and the putting it back in place produced a hole that I had to patch. Also the hanger for the water pack ruptured when I pulled the tank once out a bit too energetically. I fully appreciate my share in that but it is simply something to be aware of. My Lowe Alpine 75l is a different beast. I feel I am unable to tear it apart and I can load it with >25kg and feel comfy. But then, it is much heavier.

Would I buy it again? Probably not, as I would value durability more now. But it is a great rucksack.

(This review was left on a previous version of this product)

I use this pack everyday and have done for about 3 years. It is so great and light. Perfect for cycling and going to the shops or going international as a carry on. So comfortable and folds away pretty flat. If you are going to buy one backpack, it has to be this one. I love this pack, it well made and well thought out. The only addition it could have is a rain cover.

(This review was left on a previous version of this product)

My third Osprey bag and this one to replace a Deuter 30L as I needed a bit more space. Overall this sack has all the features and benefits you would expect of a quality product - however! Second time of using and at the very start of a walk the sternum chest strap came away from the rail on the shoulder strap. After contacting Osprey I was sent a short video showing how to use long nose pliers and a nail file to 'fix' it. Duly done but pretty baffling that this is such a design fault on a quality product that it has not been redesigned and a video has to be produced to correct the fault (I notice in other reviews that this has happened to others).
The fact that no waterproof cover is provided is personally very contentious! I have the opinion that Osprey expect individuals to have various dry bags inside the sack so if it rains the bag gets soaking but items are kept dry inside. Why the hell should we have to do this? On my Deuter sack there is a cover in an exterior pocket at the bottom of the bag which is applied very quickly. I have now sold this sack but kept the cover which now has to occupy a pocket on my Osprey so I have it available. In my other Osprey sacks I have either bought an Osprey cover at extra cost (it does not fit very well) or use a dry bag, which soaks the actual sack.
The back frame works ok and I have adjusted it to make it fit me. It's fine and I cannot complain, however the Deuter Air Comfort is supremely comfortable - I wait to see on longer trecks how the Talon compares.
Sounds like I am unhappy, I'm not! No doubt this sack will last me for many years - however the above either should not be a problem or options/answers should be found or developed to remove these issues.


(This review was left on a previous version of this product)

Man merkt wirklich, dass die Leute von Osprey selber viel mit Rucksäcken unterwegs sind.
Der Rucksack trägt sich so angenehm, dass man ihn kaum spürt (Tipp: nehmt euch die Zeit um die richtige Rückenlänge einzustellen, es macht einen großen Unterschied!). Das relativ niedrige Gewicht vom Talon ist ebenfalls toll.
Ich habe 3 Rucksäcke mit dem gespannten Rückennetz (2 Deuter und einen Osprey) und finde das Rückensystem vom Talon besser. Das gespannte Netz ventiliert zwar noch mehr, dafür benötigt es mehr Stahl (= mehr Gewicht) und hält die Last entweder weiter weg vom Rücken (zB Osprey Tropos), oder aber hat eine starke Krümmung im Innenraum (zB Deuter Bike Air XP), was beim Packen stört.
Der Talon hingegen, hat die Last gefühlt näher am Körper und ventiliert trotzdem sehr gut.
Meine Freundin hat den Tempest und ist sehr zufrieden damit.

Ich denke, dass dieser Rucksack für 80% der Leute der richtige Rucksack ist.

(This review was left on a previous version of this product)

This is a great lightweight pack, I used it for trekking parts of the camino in Spain, it was perfect as I kept pack down to 10kg max. Now need to upgrade to larger 60/65L for some longer treks with mor gear. Highly recommend, very comfy, no rubbing or digging in and I was walking 20-30k a day on average there, I also took it on the Jersey Round Island walk, that was 76k in one day end of June - no problem, was well ventilated.

(This review was left on a previous version of this product)

I absolutely love the backpack, good quality material, distributes the weight very well. Using it for couple day hikes, comfortable and breathable had enough room for all kit, great product and would recommend for others.

(This review was left on a previous version of this product)

I like the backpack - perfect for an extended weekend. Also like the material quality. But during the first trip (not even a month since I purchased the backpack) one of the buckles got de-attached from a strap, most likely this part was just poorly assembled. Customer service offered me to fix it by myself and refused to change the product. After a dispute I fixed it by myself, but it required to damage the rail with pilers. It's a small thing, but tells a lot about the quality of small parts, while the customer service could definitely do more.

(This review was left on a previous version of this product)

I got the 33 litre Talon to use for long distance hiking. The bag itself is really lightweight, fits very comfortably on my back, and distributes the packed load well throughout the body. I find it perfect in terms of comfort and functionality. The only downside for me personally are the choices of colour and the use of white on straps and padding (assuming it will stain and discolour with use).

(This review was left on a previous version of this product)