Osprey Tempest 20 Womens

Osprey has built a reputation for quality and that is certainly borne out by the Tempest, a female-specific version of the established Talon pack. It is well made, comfortable to carry and cleverly designed to incorporate all the features you could possibly need.

Although it's listed on Osprey's website in the hiking rather than biking range, it includes cycle-friendly features – the Lidlock helmet carrier, a bike light loop and hydration reservoir compartment. I wanted a multi-purpose pack for my commute, which is part cycling and part on foot, and this fitted the bill perfectly.

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The first thing that struck me about the Tempest was its light weight, especially considering the number of straps and buckles dangling off it (neatly, I might add). Attention to detail is phenomenal – this pack has so many features that Osprey has a series of handy video clips on its website demonstrating how to use them!

The second thing was how well designed it is: you can easily access the many pockets and other features – plus it's comfortable, which isn't necessarily a given with backpacks.

The harness and hip belt are both gender specific and Osprey has done its homework well. The shoulder straps are very well shaped for a comfortable fit. With other packs I often find they feel too widely spaced and pull back on my shoulders so I need to use the sternum strap to bring them in, but I had no need to do this with the Tempest. The belt and straps are also nicely padded, with foam (and decent sized cutouts for ventilation) covered in soft mesh, and the straps sport two loops on each side for running the hose of your hydration bladder through.

There is a height-adjustable sternum strap for added stability, and a stretch mesh pocket on the left-hand strap for popping in a snack bar or keeping your sunnies to hand. A very nifty feature is that the buckle of the sternum strap has an emergency whistle incorporated into it. It's so small and subtle it took me a few weeks to even notice it, but it makes a pretty loud and piercing sound. Finally, there's a small reinforced adjustable bungee designed to loop around the handles of your trekking poles (the ends go through a plastic-reinforced loop at the bottom of the pack).

I tested the 20-litre model (it's also available in 9, 16, 30 and 40-litre sizes, and pink and black too), which is ideal for my commute. It swallows a change of shoes and clothes plus waterproofs with ease, and you can stuff extras in the large mesh pocket on the front, which has a clip strap to ensure the contents don't fall out. The outer fabric is a tough ripstop nylon that sheds water well – in a light shower, rain just beaded and ran off, although Osprey makes no claims for it being waterproof so use drybags to be sure. (At the time of writing Osprey is giving away a free drybag when you buy the pack from its website.)

Talking of water, the Tempest has an easy-access external compartment (with a little loop to keep it in place) that will hold a 3-litre reservoir. This fits behind the comfy back panel, which is made from three pieces of ridged foam with ventilation channels between, covered in mesh.

Other features include a bungee cord and loop for carrying an ice axe (taking versatility to the extreme!), carry handle and reflective logos.

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As for pockets, the main compartment has a good-sized internal zipped pocket and there's an even larger handy zipped pocket with a key clip behind this. The hip belt has generous zippered mesh pockets on both sides, ideal for keys, snacks, money and more. Lastly, there are two stretch mesh side pockets, big enough for a drinks bottle. They have side compression straps, which you can choose to run either inside or outside the pocket.

It's an exhaustive feature list – the only omissions I can think of are keepers for excess strap length so they're not dangling around, and maybe a rain cover, although these are minor niggles and don't detract much from a superb pack.

Verdict

A comfortable, solidly constructed and versatile pack with more features than you can shake a trekking pole/ice axe at!