Osprey Farpoint 40 Review
Active Gear Review is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
As someone who takes their luggage as serious as they take their outdoor gear, it can be challenging at times finding a good piece of luggage that meets my needs. When Osprey came out with the Farpoint 40, I was intrigued because it is small enough to fit in a carry on bin, has a specific storage for my computer and iPad, and can fit 2-4 days of clothes. I often take weekend trips and I don’t always want to take a wheeled piece of luggage with me, but I don’t have the hassle of a top loading backpack either. So having a hybrid piece of luggage was perfect.
The Osprey Farpoint 40 is made with the adventure traveler in mind. For starters, the pack is equipped with padded shoulder straps, adjustable sternum strap, a padded waste belt, and load lifters. This is everything you would see on Ospreys backpacking packs, but a little paired down because you typically aren’t spending 6 hours + with the pack on your shoulders. Hopefully you are using this to get from point A to point B and dropping off the pack so you can go and and explore cultures, cities, landscapes, etc. When you don’t want to use the backpacking features, you can tuck them into the back side of the pack and make them disappear with a zippered cover.
The main compartment of the Osprey Farpoint 40 main compartment has most of the features that you will see in the standard rolling carry on suitcase. There is a zippered mesh compartment to store things you want to keep separate from the rest of your load such as dirty clothes or toiletries. The main compartment also has compression straps to keep your clothes in place and cinched down on the inside. This helps keep everything organized and the straps allow you to place more in the pack. One thing that stands out to me on the inside of the main compartment is that all the seems coming from the outside are covered up with additional fabric to help keep the seems from additional wear and tear. They also provide a nice clean look on the inside. If you were to go with less expensive luggage, this is definitely something you would not see. You usually only see this type of quality with high end brands such as Osprey.
The outside office compartment of the Osprey Farpoint 40 is something that I am a big fan of. As someone who constantly needs to be connected, I always have my laptop, iPad, headphones, etc. with me. The laptop compartment is padded and can store up to a 15 inch laptop. I have a 14 inch laptop and it works perfect. For extra security, there is a Velcro strap that keeps your laptop from flying out of the pack. On top of that, there is a zippered pocket that can accommodate a tablet or other items with similar dimensions. I have an Otterbox Defender Series case on my iPad 2 and it fits fine. There is plenty more room in this computer compartment, but it depends on how much you have packed the main compartment. If you stuff your main compartment full, the computer compartment gets much smaller. This also goes for the outside storage pockets on the outside of the Fartpoint 40. When the bag is packed full, it is hard to get much in the mesh pockets, it’s nearly impossible to get a water bottle in at that point. One thing I would like to see in future models is to have this outer mesh fabric be more flexible. This would answer the problem when your pack is full on the inside. If you find yourself still needing a little room, there are two compression straps on the outside of the pack where you can ratchet down a few more items. There is also a small compartment on the top of the pack where you can store items you want to be easily accessible to you like plain tickets, etc. I personally like to keep my passport on me at all times when traveling.
Overall, I have been super happy with the functions and performance of the Farpoint 40. The Osprey Farpoint 40 retails for $149 and is worth every penny. For more information on the Farpoint 40 and other Osprey packs, visit www.osprey.com or www.amazon.com/osprey.
