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The Osprey Talon 33 (men’s) / Tempest 33 (women’s version) backpack is an excellent hiking / day bag from the world-renowned backpack maker that is Osprey. It features lots of pockets and in particular it’s large external mesh pocket (now becoming common on may packs) makes a really useful place to store gear that you need often – like a raincoat or extra layer.
The Bottom Line
- Excellent and highly adjustable back system
- Lots of adjustability on the pack
- Floating brain for extra space
- Non-detatchable brain
Purchasing
The Talon / Tempest is available direct from Osprey, or from a whole host of other providers. It retails for £155 (so definitely not cheap), but you can often get it for around £110-120 if you look out. Or, they regularly turn up used on your favourite classified ads site (I got mine on eBay for around £40).
Space and Uses of the Osprey Talon 33 / Tempest 33
The Talon / Tempest has one, large main pocket, with a separate sleeve for a hydration bladder in the back system. It’s got a floating brain (i.e. it’s attached by webbing, not stitched on) so you can store stuff under it – see below. The brain has a top and an underside pocket, and the bag additionally has three stretch mesh pockets – two for water bottles and one large one on the back of the pack. Finally there are two hip belt pockets.
Hiking
At 33 litres, the Talon / Tempest makes for a great day-pack, even for winter hiking. You can get all the food and water you’ll need for a day in the mountains into the pack comfortably, as well as a few extra layers (and even crampons if needed). I find its extra size (compared to many day packs) great for when I’m out with others, when I might be carrying a bigger first aid kit for example, or extra food / layers / etc. that I might need to give to members of the groups I’m leading.
Climbing
While the Osprey Talon 33 / Tempest 33 are not designed as climbing bags, I also find them a good size for climbing days. My shoes, harness and helmet all fit comfortably for approach to the crag, and the bag can be adjusted to sit well above the harness so I can wear both at the same time. I’ve even been able to use it as a rope bag (for an 80 m rope) and fit my helmet in on top. I haven’t done it much myself, but it is even be possible to strap a rope to the bag, under the brain and using the cinch straps on the side.
Attachment
The Talon / Tempest has two ice axe loops on the back (which can also be used for trekking poles), as well as a quick-access trekking pole loop on the left-side chest strap. I find the under-arm style of trekking pole attachment gets in the way, so it’s great to have the option to stow them properly on the back of the pack. Other than that, it doesn’t have any webbing straps with buckles for external attachment – it’s got a cinch strap down each side of the bag that you can put stuff under, as with the rope above. but if you like arraying your gear on the outside of the pack then this one isn’t for you.
Adjustability
The bag has a lot of adjustment, which is great! Of course the whole back system and harness is adjustable, but I’ll cover that later.
The cinch straps I mentioned are not only great for attaching extra gear, but also, as the name suggests, for cinching the pack down: if a pack isn’t full, it has a tendency to slump, where all the weight falls to the bottom and leaves the top loose. Because of these straps, the Talon / Tempest won’t do that: you can pack it as you like and then, by tightening the cinch straps, snug the whole bag down so that it keeps the contents in place.
One slight annoyance with the version that I’ve got is that the cinch straps are one single piece on each side: great for saving weight, but it means the relative length of each section can change over time. This has been fixed on the newest version though, where each ‘leg’ of the cinch strap is separate.
Back System & Sizing
The Talon 33 / Tempest 33 has a great back and harness system that’s highly adjustable. Like many packs from high-end manufacturers, the Osprey Talon 33’s back system used to come in multiple sizes for an optimum fit (new versions of the bag are one-size, with an extended fit version sold separately). It also features Osprey’s Airspace technology, where a big piece of patterned foam creates a nice air gap between the pack and your back, aiming to maximise ventilation. As with a lot of solutions for making packs feel ‘weightless,’ it doesn’t quite do that – but it definitely does keep the bag nice and fresh-feeling where other bags would start to make you sweat.
The whole back system and harness is highly adjustable, with the usual load lifters and harness adjustment options – plus also an option to adjust the length of the back system itself. Unlike many packs, this doesn’t happen in the middle of the back, but rather by physically moving the point where the harness straps attach to the back up and down.
