The most requested post and the most popular question I receive is: What did you pack for extended travel?! Many cannot imagine or believe that I pack everything into carry-on only! In the following posts, I will highlight everything I had with me as I was leaving the USA after one month of travel and explain how it all fit into one bag!
Let’s start with the bag. I use an Osprey Ozone 46 Liter Backpack. That’s right, a backpack! And only one! My goal when looking for a bag was to find one that could fit a reasonable amount, looked more like a regular backpack versus a backpacking backpack, had a comfortable and hideable hip belt, and was carry on size. A hard one to find. I know. It took me a while to find!
I did a copious amount of research on different styles of backpacks and had my eye on the Osprey Ozone after a trip to REI. The key to finding a backpack is making sure it fits your needs and fits your body well. When fully packed, these bags can become very heavy, so it is crucial to find a bag that fits your frame well.
The reason I wanted the bag to look more like a standard backpack versus a backpacking backpack was that I did not want to raise any alarms at airport check-ins. Since I am flying carryon only and usually with budget airlines, who have strict carryon policies, a standard looking backpack it more likely to pass as a personal item. Having a hip belt that hides away helps with this as well.
The Backpack’s Structure:
For those not familiar with backpacking backpacks. The number listed after its name refers to the volume the bag holds. So, for instance, my bag is the Ozone 46, which means it can hold 46 Liters of items. The very common Osprey Fairview 40, holds 40 Liters worth of items. The rule of thumb is between 40 Liters to 50 Liters is considered carryon size.
The Osprey Ozone 46 Liter has 4 zippered compartments.
- The main compartment: it has a laptop sleeve and another zippered sleeve. It is one of the few bags I found that has a laptop sleeve that rests along your back. This makes it great for safety and weight distribution.
- The padded electronics compartment: this compartment has some basic padding and waterproof qualities. This is a great area to store slim electronics such as phone, tablet, or kindle.
- The front compartment: this area has a zippered sleeve, pen holders, and a mesh pocket. This area is great for organizing stationary and small electronics.
- Bottom compartment: I refer to this area as the basement pocket. It is ideally meant for shoe storage, but it also makes a great dirty clothes and miscellaneous storage area. The negative about this pocket is that if you fill it, it will consume space in the main compartment. And vice versa.
- Bonus: This is technically not a storage spot, but I use it as one. Along the back of the bag is a slim opening where the shoulder straps can be unhooked, stored, and zipped away if you ever need to check a bag. I use this area to store the rain cover, packable day bag, and crossbody purse.
The bag also has two mesh water bottle holders on either side. However, when the bag is at capacity, it is very difficult to fit a bottle into it. The pockets are also not very elastic. I usually use the compression straps to hold the bottle place.
The Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Appearance is more like a traditional school backpack versus a backpacking backpack.
- A hideable hip belt that still allows the use of shoulder straps.
- Laptop Sleeve is in a lockable zipper compartment and against your back.
- Multiple functional compartments.
- Adjustable chest strap.
- Shoulder straps can be zipped away if the bag ever needs to checked.
- When shoulder straps are not zipped away, the area can be used for additional storage.
- Carry on size
- At max capacity, it can still fit under most* airplane seats and overhead compartments. (*I have only had problems on smaller aircraft, or seats that have the powerbox under it)
- Compression Straps
- High-Quality materials
- Lifetime Warranty guaranteed
Cons:
- Water bottle pockets useless when the bag is filled.
- The bottom zippered pocket (shoe pocket) shares a wall and space with the main compartment. If the main compartment is full, very little can fit in the shoe pocket and vice versa.
- Zipper Pulls. The zipper pulls are the ever more common string loops. They offer zero help in terms of security. I ended up changing them out for metal zipper pulls.
- Lack of lockable zippers. The only compartment that has lockable zippers is the main compartment. It would have been nice if all zippers had this ability for security reasons.
Adjustments I made to the bag:
- I added a patch to cover the Osprey logo. I am not a fan of advertising name brands, plus it hides the fact that I have a rather high-end bag.
- Changed out the zipper pulls. The original fabric loops Osprey put on can easily get caught on random objects. You can put a lock through the loops to ‘lock’ the compartments, but the fabric is too easy to cut through. I wish they either used metal zipper pulls or used lockable zippers on all compartments. I changed the zipper pulls to metal and hard plastic pulls, however some have snapped under force. For the ones that broke, I use keychain rings.
- Added reflective strips to the outside. The Osprey logos on the bag are reflective, but since I covered the main logo with a patch, I no longer had any reflective on my black backpack. I do not plan on being outside in the dark with my pack, but should the occasion arise, it is good to have some.
- Removed the velcro from the Laptop Sleeve strap. I absolutely cannot stand the sound of velcro. It’s even worse than fingernails on a chalkboard to me. It causes my ear’s physical pain so I avoid it at all costs.
- Shortened the straps. I found the compressions straps, hip belt, and shoulder straps had excess material. So to lighten the pack a bit, I shortened the straps and re-sewed the ends.
It is very unfortunate that Osprey no longer makes the style of backpack I have. They still make an Ozone 46, but it is a wheeled version. There are also new Ozone packs, but they are larger and in my opinion, hideous. They take after the Fairview 55 where they have a detachable day pack. However, the configuration is complicated and confusing. At capacity, the bag extends too far away from the body, causing back pain and imbalance.
Overall, I love this backpack! It fits the majority of my needs well and has not caused me any problems!
