Osprey Exos 46 Backpack Review........

The Exos 46 backpack by osprey is part of their super-light line, stripped down to the bare essentials, meant for fast packing and ultralight adventures. As a weekend or three day outing bag it excels, having just enough room for all of your gear but not oversized, light enough nut with enough support so as to not make your shoulders be on fire by the end of the day.  I have used this pack for winter summit hikes in the White Mountains, specifically Mount Washington, were the external tie in loops made carrying snowshoes easy, and the bag easily gobbled up crampons, extra layers, lunch, and 3 liters of water.  As a general hiking pack it fits perfectly for the weekend warrior and ultralight hiker. On three day trips as a Ranger for Philmont Scout Ranch it was all i needed to take out crews. Capable of holding my Hubba, Prolite, Sleeping bag, Pound cake, icing, food, stove, rain gear, and required ranger equipment without a problem.  On personal extended 4 to 5 day ultra light jaunts it excelled, dropping the brain and synching everything down it made hiking extremely enjoyable.  Full packing over Baldy Mt. (12,441ft) was especially fun, cruising past daypack toting crews.  However nice of a pack it is it still has some things that could be changed.  The hip belt is a little scarce in the padding, understandable for an ultralight pack, but still extremely uncomfortable for loads over 35 lbs.  But even after toting 50 lbs of water and bear patrol gear up the Tooth of Time (9003ft) in a quick hour long haul, i was surprised to find that my hips weren't to rubbed raw and the next day hiking out was just as enjoyable as before.  A wonderful pack to add to anyone's quiver of packs (we all know we have one) as a weekend and extended ultralight pack.