Osprey Meridian 75

Product Description

The Osprey Meridian 75 convertible wheeled system is designed for today’s adventurous flashpacker.  Sometimes you need both luxury and gritty necessity on your travels and the Meridian gives you these and so much more.  Its travel durable fabrics, smooth wheels, and lightweight construction lend you a certain amount of freedom, while you easily glide in and out of the crowds with your wheeled luggage and then promptly switch it to your back to get to your off-the-beaten-path destination.  When transferring the luggage to your back, you can easily maneuver both the hip belt and the shoulder straps to your personal preference and comfort in just a matter of seconds, and always on the move.  However you choose to arrive, your contents inside your pack will not have suffered along the way due to the Meridian’s inner compression straps and multiple pocket storage found inside as well.  For your excursions into the city or just off the trail, the incredibly easy zip off daypack is available immediately to hold the necessary contents of your chosen side trip.  If organized chaos is how you tend to travel, then this pack is for you.

Field Report

When planning my adventure to Europe, I knew I was in need of a pack that could take me just about anywhere, as I had yet to really grasp where I was going.  The selling point for me was the shear amount of space you get in a compact / practical setting.  I knew I wanted full access to the bag’s contents, and I wanted to be able to keep my clothes looking fresh for as long as was possible.  The Meridian’s organizational qualities allowed for me to roam freely around Europe alone for almost a month and look as though I had just stepped off the plane every day.

The detachable daypack was paramount in my decision as well.  With security being toward the forefront of my mind at all times while over there, I found both the back entrance zipper and the top zipper of the daypack to be great for peace of mind, as I was sure to feel a thief’s presence immediately.  However, since the back zipper opened all the way, I had to be careful when opening the bag that way (instead of from the top) because all of stuff inside would fall out.  I ended up having to cautiously open the zipper half way and maneuver my chosen articles from its depths.  My having travelled with the daypack for some time, I ended up knowing by feel as to where my contents were, leading me to be able to go through the top opening most of the time.

The Meridian has it all in terms of pockets and / or organizational components.  The mesh pocket inside the opening flap was great for storing dirty clothes on most of my trips.  The big side pockets inside the pack were used mainly for miscellaneous items that were very important but didn’t have any separate storing of their own (such as electrical outlet converters for each country).  The outside compartment on the front of the pack was great for needing to quickly access items along the way (such as my rain cover, which was much needed in soggy Ireland).  And as though I haven’t really put the side outside pockets to great use, I know they’d be great storage upon necessity.

The extra large polyurethane wheels with sealed bearings really helped me navigate many an airport.  Whether it be the judicial feel of Ireland or France, the hustle and bustle of Mexico, or the laidback attitude of Argentina; the Meridian was able to wind around the terminals with incredible ease and precision.  I even put these durable wheels to the test in Western Ireland when I was lost in yet another city along the way and ended up needing to wheel my pack through unforgiving gravel and dirt.  With little resistance, the pack stayed with me the entire mile or so where the sidewalk had evaporated.  Throughout all of this, I was able to use the pack’s retractable ergonomical handle to my advantage.  Without missing a beat, I could get off a train holding the pack on either its top or side carry handle, and then quickly place the pack on the ground and pull out the retractable handle.  All of this was done so smoothly that it made me look much more seasoned of a traveler than I really was.

At particular instances along the way, I was made to halt my stride and attach my daypack to the main bag while simultaneously unearthing the harness and hipbelt due to an impending downpour.  On my way to catch a ferry out of the Aran Islands, this exact thing happened to me.  Because it took no more than two minutes to turn my entire luggage into a backpack (which I protected with my rain cover) and be on my way, I was able to narrowly make the ferry by maybe a minute.

I found the suspension system in the harness and hipbelt to be very superior to just your average backpack luggage.  The padding on the lumbar region was very nice when having to haul my full load the width of Dublin in order to find my hostel.  I was also able to make it so that the pack fit snug to my body type with the suspension system’s different straps.

As I have not used my Meridian to go on any kind of trekking adventure, I was fortunate enough to meet a girl my age in Chile on the Paine Circuit who was using her Meridian (minus the daypack) to backpack one of the most notorious routes known in the outdoor world.  She had elements of her pack hanging all on the outside of her pack, but they were secure with the sheer strength of the Meridian’s build.  I later found out that her and her friend were travelling all over South America; in her case, she had only brought her Meridian.  When the opportunity arose that they would get to hike the Paine Circuit, she didn’t hesitate in putting her “luxury” pack to the test.  When I saw her, she was very satisfied in its performance.

This pack is my go-to pack for all of my travelling.  It has everything I could want in a luggage, backpack, and daypack.  The design is very attractive and appealing (even with all of my coveted patches sewn all over it).  This is a must-have for the active, unpredictable traveler.