Is Osprey UNLTD AG 32 Pack Worth the Money?

Osprey has launched yet another group of packs that belong to their UNLTD series. They are under the name Osprey UNLTD AG 32 packs, and they are very expensive. So the question is, are they worth it?

About the name first

As you notice, the title is about one official name, but there are two separate versions, Osprey UNLTD AG 32 pack for men and the same pack for women as well.

But there is more to this. The number 32 they use as a part of the generic name, yet there are two sub-sizes for each of the packs. This means you have Osprey UNLTD AG 32 and 34 for men, and Osprey UNLTD AG 30 and 32 for women. So there are 4 packs in total.

The phrase UNLTD indicates that this is about packs that belong to the same series they launched last year. The letters AG mean anti-gravity, so this is about a particular design from this brand but its actual meaning is next to none. The picture below shows the version for men.

Key features

I shall start with some of the key features that might be behind the high price of these packs. So here they are:

Fully adjustable suspension

The meaning of this is that you have the following:

• An adjustable torso length.
• An adjustable padding on the hip belt.

The torso length adjustability is a ladder type, with several positions where you can attach the shoulder harness. There is nothing unique here, Osprey has many series with a similar design.

The hip belt is with fins that attach through Velcro tabs, so you can position them where it suits you best. For a pack of such a size, this is a rare feature, but many packs on the market have this. So this is useful but nothing unique.

Note also that the pack is with a metal peripheral frame. It is partly visible in the picture below.

External hydration sleeve

This is convenient to have if you use a hydration bladder. The compartment is behind the harness, so access to it is supposed to be easier than when such a sleeve is inside of the main compartment.

However, there is nothing special and unique here. There are many packs on the market with such a design.

Injection molded lumbar padding

It is far from clear to me how they made this. However, this seems not to be the 3D printed lumbar padding which they were so proud of in their larger UNLTD packs. See how it looks:

AutoLift harness system

This feature is unique, you have it only in the UNLTD packs of Osprey. This means that by pulling the shoulder straps, you at the same type pull the pack closer to your shoulders and neck. This means there are no separate load lifters straps.

Let’s think about this a bit. You want to fine tune the position of the hip belt, and for this you pull the shoulder straps. This moves the hip belt to a higher position. Similarly, when you want to move the hip belt to a lower position, you release the shoulder harness straps a bit.

Now, in the first of these actions, you also pull the backpack closer to your neck. In the second action, you actually move the pack farther from your neck. The question is why this? You would want to be able to use load lifter straps independently from the position of your hip belt.

So, I do not think this is a great design. Although it is unique, this does not make it useful. They wanted an innovation and they succeeded in this, but this is all, just a useless innovation.

Other features

This pack has many other features, so here are some of them.

• You have a rain cover included, it is stored in a separate bottom pocket.
• There are 6 pockets in total. I shall say a bit more about one of them below.
• The usual upper and lower compression straps are in place.
• There is a pair of bottom straps for attachment. Here you can place a sleeping pad or anything similar.
• Stow-on-the-Go attachment system for trekking poles is also added.
• A loop for an ice axe, paired with a bungee tie-off, is also in place.
• The back panel is ventilated. This is all I would say about it. There are many packs on the market with a ventilated back panel.

What I dislike in Osprey UNLTD AG 32 pack

• I already mentioned the so-called AutoLift design. This is a unique but useless feature.
• The hip belt pocket on the right side is a sort of innovation which makes no much sense to me. They have made it stretch and connected with the usual side stretch mesh pocket, see the picture. So you practically have only one large pocket with two access points. Pretty unnecessary. It is better to have yet another zippered hip belt pocket and one more separate side stretch mesh pocket.

• Weight. There are several packs in this series, with the volume 30, 32, 34 liters, and their weight is in the range 3.272-3.398 lb (1.48-1.54 kg). So the volume-to-weight ratio is definitely not the best feature of these packs, it is around 21 liters per kilogram.
• Price. This is the main point here.

Conclusion

I would summarize this text by saying that this Osprey UNLTD AG 32 Pack is a great backpack for day tours. It has many standard yet useful features. But I am not impressed with those that are unique.

The pack is well-made and they use advanced materials. However, Osprey and other brands have many packs with similar features and you can buy them for half the money you need for this UNLTD pack.

So I feel sorry to say this, but I do not see anything that would justify its $350 current price (this is as of the moment of writing this text).

You might want to know that there are Osprey packs designed specifically for plus-size users. Read more in my text about Osprey Extended Fit backpacks.

Let me know what you think, there is a comment box below. Bookmark this site and keep as a references. Have a nice day.