Why I returned my Osprey Fairview 55L bag
TLDR: My girlfriend and I are traveling the world for a year and we started off using the Osprey Fairview/Farpoint 55L bags. After only 4 months of use they both needed maintenance, and we realized we needed to carry a lighter load. We’ve decided to try out the Cotopaxi 42L or 35L (haven’t decided yet!) Allpa bag for our next leg in Europe!
Hello travel friends! I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while to talk about our experience researching, choosing, and finally returning the bag we used as our single carry-on for our year-long world adventure. We spent months watching YouTube reviews, reading blog posts, and going to REI to try on and consider different carry-on travel packs. After all that research we landed on the Osprey Fairview and Farpoint 55L bags, which we liked because they came with a detachable day bag, and we’d read a lot of solid reviews on Osprey as a company.
Real quick where we went
The first week of January we headed off on the first leg of our world tour - South America, starting in Patagonia for the W-Trek. Throughout the 4 months we traveled through Argentina (El Calafate, El Chalten, Bariloche, Buenos Aires), to Puerto Iguazu falls, Rio de Janeiro for Carnevale, Lima and Cusco in Perù where we hiked 4 days to Machu Picchu, and our final stop in South America was in Colombia where we traveled from Cartagena to Puerto Colombia where I did a 3 week Yoga Teacher Training at the beautiful Akasha Yoga School, and after we visited Minca, Santa Marta, Taganga, and Tayrona Park.
The single bag situation
We really wanted a single bag situation for traveling quickly between transfers, and not needing to check anything in on flights. Also, it was comforting to have everything you needed easy to just pick up and carry with you whenever you needed to go somewhere. I noticed especially in places like Minca, Colombia, it was way easier having a travel pack because the most inexpensive transportation options were mototaxis, and amazingly enough they could carry our travel packs on the moto, but it would have been impossible to take a roller bag. Another point for smaller carry-on bags, if you have one that fits under the seat then flights can be a whole lot cheaper.
I really went back and forth on this because it was quite heavy to carry, especially in the airport, though I think this is because I brought an additional backpack with me for more space. This next leg of our trip in Europe, we’ll need way less warm clothes and we’re leaving our hiking boots behind so I think we may be able to get away with a smaller bag.
Why I’m returning the bag
At first I did really love this bag — it fit all of our stuff (though it was bulging a bit) and the extra day bag came in handy for our shorter hikes and day trips. We both felt that the day bag was too small though, especially the opening at the top which doesn’t zip down very far so it’s challenging to get things in and out of the bag. I also really needed a hip belt when we did our Patagonia and Machu Picchu treks, so this time around I want to search for a day bag that has one of those. I actually ended up tying a rope through the shoulder straps to make my own hip belt, which worked at the moment but was definitely annoying to take on and off. Another thing about the day pack — I noticed in older models it used to zip on the back of the Osprey whereas this newer model you just clip in the bottom and top by looping straps through. I think the older models must have been easier to actually attach the bag, because once it fills up it becomes hard to strap it on. In the end, I ended up packing the day bag and carrying another backpack in the front because the day bag was too small to really fit anything useful for travel.
Probably the biggest reason we decided to return it and try a new bag is that after only 4 months of use, we already needed maintenance on both of the bags. My bag’s shoulder straps started to rip at the seams and come apart, and Ash’s hip belt fell off somehow during transit. We wrote to Osprey requesting a new hip belt and sent tons of pictures, but they ended up mailing us one 3 months later and it was the wrong size.
The Osprey Fairview/Farpoint bags also have this curvature on the inside that comes from the back support, but takes up a lot of room on the inside of the bag. We’ve been eyeing some other travel packs on the market that don’t have this, and maybe they will prove less comfortable on our backs, but I want to try it out to see if the space is easier to pack.
Some good things we liked about this bag — I liked the hip belt, I thought it was easy to use and pretty comfortable. I liked the inside mesh pocket, I would use that mostly for laundry, and I liked the side mesh pocket too which fit quite a lot of stuff. Maybe it would have been more comfortable to carry if I had packed it lighter, but it really did start to hurt a lot after only like 15 minutes of wearing it.
What we will try next
I haven’t purchased it yet but I’ve been looking into the Cotopaxi Allpa 42L or 35L. I actually will go to REI today to try them both on and see which one I want to go with. I heard that the 48L comes with a water bottle pocket, but that it’s really hard to use once the bag is full. I saw someone on YouTube using the 35L and then just attaching a bottle of water to the side with a carabiner, and I loved that idea! Ash has been saying if we get a smaller bag then we’ll just be forced to bring less things with us, so that’s an argument towards the 35L bag. It’s also going to be HOT HOT and SUMMER basically everywhere we’re going for the rest of the year which will mean our clothes will be a lot lighter and thinner material, YAY!
I like the Allpa bags for their mesh pockets and organization, and because there’s that extra zipped pocket at the top of the bag. I think with this bag, we could just buy a separate day pack, or I might just use the Cotopaxi hip pack I already have as a day bag. I think the main concern for these bags is that they have less back and hip support, so maybe it’ll be just as painful as carrying the Osprey bags or more, but that’s something we will find out as we travel!! This is also why I LOVE being an REI member, so that we can actually try out the gear and return them if it doesn’t work for us.
After our next leg to Europe we’ll be heading to Asia (likely Thailand, Philippines, Japan so far). We’ll update here if we end up liking our new bags or decide to try different ones!