OspreyPacks Farpoint 36 Wheeled Travel Pack

This bag is already meeting and exceeding my expectations.Personally, I've always been an over-packer, but I also have a great desire to travel/get around easily and comfortably.Since airlines have been charging (and overcharging) us for bags, limiting carry-ons, etc., it was time to teach myself new ways to travel light.This review is coming from the viewpoint of an active, 50-year old 6-foot 170-pound man with experience as a backpacker, and as a casual air traveler who is always in coach. I also happen to be the type of person who reads a million and one reviews and does a lot of research before buying something as expensive as this.I have the tendency to want to walk very quickly from point A to point B, and when off in some state or country on a trip, I'm most likely to be hoping aboard public transit instead of taking a cab or ride-service. With all this in mind, I started researching travel suitcases/bags that have both wheels AND an option to wear it as a backpack.Nine times out of ten it is quicker for me to walk with a my bag on my back than pulling it, but I wanted BOTH options for traveling.There's no shortage of options (of bags that has both wheels and backpack straps) out there and the prices (although mostly high) swing wildly depending on brand and features. I thought; "OK, if I was going to visit friends in Europe (departing from the U.S.), what do I most want/need in a piece of luggage?"--The first thing was; can the bag pass as a "carry-on"?With this, the Osprey Farpoint 36 Men's Wheeled Luggage, the answer is a definitive yes.Osprey designed this bag with the correct dimensions in mind, and this, the smaller of the two bags of this type, can and does fit the most widely accepted dimensions of a carry-on [The standard domestic carry-on luggage size is 22” x 14” x 9”. The largest checked international luggage size allowed is 62 linear (total) inches. Typically, a standard checked luggage size wavers around 27 x 21 x 14 inches, but can be/is less for smaller international airlines.]--The second thing I wanted of a bag is how well built are the wheels and the telescoping handle?I'm tall (6'), and I find that the handle is more than comfortable for me to walk, very quickly and easily pulling this bag behind me. Time will tell about the durability of the wheels, but they seem to be very well made, and much better than a lot of lower-cost bags I had researched.--The Third thing that was very important to me was whether the bag had a waist band/hip belt?YES; this DOES and a very good one at that!As a backpacker, I know that without a waist band and/or hip belt you might as well not even go hiking. The way that weight is redistributed when using a hip belt allows you to not only stand straighter, but it removes a lot of weight and strain off of your shoulders. If you are carrying 22 to 50 pounds in a bag like this, without a hip belt you might be done for the day if you had to carry a suitcase on your back for more than 20 min.Osprey knows what is is doing; they are a high-end, attention to detail company that backs up their products with a lifetime guarantee, WHO DESIGN BUILD AND SELL BACKPACKS. For backpacking. For hiking.I found several competitor rolling "carry-on" luggage bags that might have had good looking shoulder straps, and sternum strap too, but without a well constructed hip belt, they could be worthless if you have to go any distance.--Fourth: How easy/hard is it store away the backpacking parts.Answer: easy. Sure it may take you 30 seconds to a minute, but they tuck away securely and no straps dangle or anything like that. Once they are put away, they are gone.--Fifth: How much does this bag carry? I mean; how much does it actually carry, and how easy/hard is it to get to stuff.Answer: plenty, but not as simple or as easy as you might think. My initial reaction when I got the bag was that the main compartment looked pretty small.Remember how I mentioned that I am an over-packer? I love watching videos by manufactures showing how easy their bags are, and all the compartments, etc., but they must pack just a pair of underwear and a granola bar, 'cause when you're really trying to get enough stuff into this bag for a comfortable time for maybe a week in Europe, then you're going to have to adjust what you bring. The big compartment, as others have mentioned, does have room taken up by the mechanism of the handle that extends. This causes a bowing-like affect in the center vertical line of the main compartment. anything that packs in there must bow (bend) over that hump. The compression straps both on the inside, and outside of the pack are going to help mitigate fitting everything, but if you had, for example, a cardboard box that has a cuckoo clock in it, that's not something that's going to be able to "bend" to fit. Anything and everything you pack in this bag should either be pliable (like clothing), or small enough to fit into the crevices of everything else you pack.My solution for this has been to buy some "compression" bags (aka compression packing cubes). NOT merely packing blocks, but the type which "compress" with a secondary zipper. As you can see from the pictures I'm including, I managed to get a LOT of clothing into this bag, and keep them fairly organized, but the bag was COMPLETELY stuffed.I doubt you'll ever get a laptop into this bag, unless the other contents are are JUST the pair of underwear and a granola bar as mentioned previously. I have a small-ish ChromeBook in a cover which measures 12 x 9.8 x 1.2 inches, but as that does not BEND, I would have to take out half of my stuff to find a good way to fit it in and surround it with all the rest of my clothing. A cell phone or very small tablet? No problem.It's the kind of bag, in my opinion, that you pack with everything you can/want to, but you don't take things out of it unless/until you're at your destination (your hotel, your friend's house, etc.). It's not that you can't, but if you're like me, and want to get as much stuff into it as possible, you ARE using the built-in compression straps (both inside and out) and you've placed everything JUST SO, that when you dig around to get something, you're re-packing the bag afterwards.Am I tying to discourage you from getting this bag? HECK NO! I think this is a PERFECT bag.The backpack component alone is worth its weight in gold.It is VERY well made.It has a lifetime warranty.As long as you can pack light, it's going to carry everything you need.Additional helpers (like compression bags/compression packing cubes) are going to help make this bag all the more efficient.I honestly can't wait to take more trips (involving flying) with this bag.I also want to point out that I DO NOT work for Osprey, NO ONE has paid me for this review; I'm just a guy who overthinks purchases before making them, does a lot of geeky research and comparison before buying, and is appreciative of honest, longer reviews when folks take the time to write them up.My review includes information that I wish others had written in more detail about.OH; FYI, I weighed my bag with all the stuff I packed in it (that you can see in the photos) and it weighed 23.4 pounds (1.4 pounds higher than the common 22 pound limit for domestic carry-ons. I've already paired back what I will be packing for 7 to 10 day trips.

Took this bag to Africa recently (from USA) and covered 4 countries in 3 weeks. We chose this bag because wheeled designs work on flat surfaces but work poorly on uneven and muddy terrain; we envisaged needing to carry the bag anything up to around 5 miles, so a comfortable backpack hybrid was essential.So what I like:* Bag is sturdy, well designed and constructed - the wheels are heavily protected and unlikely to damage easily* The hiking straps are highly adjustable, reasonably padded and have both a waist and chest strap. When not in use this stow away behind a zip-up panel. There is an airgap created behind the backpack which makes wearing the bag surprisingly comfortable. Not for long distance, cross-country hikes however!* Internal and external straps allow you to compress the bag to prevent bulging - the dual design reduces stress so they should last (unless severely abused)* Wheels are really good; I was concerned about using a 2 wheel (rather than 4 wheel) design but they work really well because they are large diameter. The opposite corners have sturdy stands so the bottom of the bag doesn't get scuffed* We had no trouble taking these on domestic flights as overhead bin luggage - however on smaller aircraft such as the Bombadier CRJ700 they will be a problem. For the 737's and 310 etc., they work really well.* We have learnt to travel light - the Farpoint proved ideal for a 2-4 week trip provided you are an experienced traveler. Our pack weight total never exceeded 21lbs. People who want to transport a wardrobe around the world will need a larger bag.Here's what I didn't like so much:* The drag arm channel intrudes into the luggage space. Unfortunately this seems to be a compromise to ensure you have a air-gap between your back and the bag when used as a backpack. For me this was acceptable, but it could be an issue for you. It also creates an uneven packing surface - in practice, however, it didn't prove to be a significant problem for either of us* The single drag arm (rather than dual) makes slinging a smaller pack over the arm somewhat awkward (the smaller pack will tend to rotate around the arm). This can be mitigated by finding a pack you can stabilize by attaching to the various loops on the Farpoint.* In practice the pack size is maybe an inch bigger all-round than we expected - even when empty it seemed larger than the stated dimensions. However, to be fair, it went into the overheads easily and no-one challenged us on the size. We chose this bag because the stated dimension are 'the industry standard' so I was somewhat surprised and mildly disappointed.At the end of the trip we dusted off our bags and inspected them for wear-and-tear. Long story short, there wasn't any. Seams all looked good and the bags had weather the 10 flights without damage or noticeable wear. So yes, despite minor shortcomings, these bags are definitely worth the money. They are now our primary luggage on 2-4 week excursions. I have yet to find any superior bag that satisfies our intended usage (and we have checked out many, many bags).

I had to go through seven of these to find the right one. 2 from Amazon (the replacement had the same problem) and 5 at 3 different REI retailers. There is a HUGE variation between bags.Most of them only have 1 spinning wheel. Some have 2 locked wheels.The rare ones that do have two free spinning wheels, have the issue of "tipping over" when the telescoping handle is fully extended.For a 270$ bag, these type of QC issues should not be. They simply should not be.I will add some videos later demonstrating the problem.For now, if you buy one of these, I'd suggest you go to your local REIs and check them out, and inspect them for 2 common QC issues:1) non spinning or "sticking" wheels.2) tipping over when the telescoping handle is fully extended.