We wrote this Osprey Talon 44 review because we loved the balance that this day hiking backpack provides. It includes most of the features that Osprey has designed for its backpacks. It has everything that we would want, including a hydration sleeve so that we can replenish ourselves without needing to reach for a water bottle.
The top lid is removable in order to save space and create a slimmer profile. Once you remove the top lid, you could replace it with the backpack’s material flap that will go over it and create more compression for the rest of the content. This will also help guard against the rain.
Related: Osprey Exos 48 vs Talon 44: Made for 1-2 Days
Osprey Talon 44 Specifications
Osprey Talon 44 Features
Flexibility and Comfort
The Talon 44 offers plenty of flexibility when it comes to its harness and hip belt. Are you a taller or shorter person? First of all, you can choose between a small or large backpack. But if this does not completely meet your size needs, the harness also adjusts to your torso length.
Depending on how much you’re wearing, you may need to consider adjusting the hip belt strap. Luckily, the Talon 44’s hip belt can be adjusted to within five inches of adjustability.
There’s nothing worse than taking a long hike in record heat. Even in cooler conditions, hiking for long periods of time will cause sweating and even heat exhaustion. This is why the Talon 44 was made with the Airscape mesh back panel. This enhances the ventilation between your back and the back panel, thus reducing sweating.
The harness and hip belt come with Osprey’s special BioStretch feature. This helps the backpack structure to conform to the contours of your body.
Useful Compartments
The Osprey Talon 44 has compartments to organize the items that you will need the most while you are on a hike. Since this backpack is normally used for weekend hiking, you need a spot to put your sleeping bag.
Sleeping Bag Compartment
There is a separate sleeping bag compartment at the bottom of the main compartment separated by a piece of material. This keeps your sleeping bag away from the rest of your gear. The sleeping bag will not get rained on as with backpacks that have outside straps for it.
All the sides of the backpack are useful mesh pockets that stretch to conform to anything that you want to put in there. Above the mesh pockets are compression straps that can double as gear attachments where you can insert your longer items. You could put in an umbrella or a long axe into this combination.
Convenient Hip Belt Pockets
If you want to put away items that you will be wanting to retrieve on a frequent basis, put them inside of the hip belt pockets. There’s one on each side and they are readily accessible.
Stretch Mesh Pockets
One of the things we love about Osprey backpacks is that most of them include a stretch mesh front pocket. Instead of putting all of your body gear inside of the main compartment and taking up space, you can place this gear inside of this pocket. This will also allow you to access it immediately once you take off your backpack instead of rummaging through the main compartment.
Make this Backpack Smaller
Although this backpack was meant for several days’ worth of hiking, there may be times when you want to decrease the size of the backpack. You might want to go for a stroll in the city or just use this backpack as a day hiking pack.
In order to slim it down, you can remove the top lid and place the cover over where the lid normally would be. The top lid itself is made of the main compartment and two separate zippered slots.
Osprey Talon 44 Water Resistance
Is the Osprey Talon 44 waterproof?
Like the other Osprey Hiking backpacks, the Osprey Talon 44 is made from nylon fabric and finished with a silicone coating. This makes this backpack water-resistant but not completely waterproof.
If you want to make sure that your items don’t get wet, make sure you bring a rain cover. One tip is to place all the items you’ don’t want to get wet in a trash bag or zip lock bags. This will guarantee that your clothes or gadgets stay dry, just in case you encounter heavy rains during your hike.
Osprey Talon 44 Size and volume
- Weight: 2.31 pounds (s/m) and 2.4 pounds (m/l)
- Dimensions: 26 x 12 x 11 inches (s/m) and 28 x 12 x 11 inches (m/l)
- Volume capacity: 42 liters (s/m) and 44 liters (m/l)
Osprey Talon 44 Pros
- Made of durable and thick material
- Comes with an external hydration sleeve
- The harness and hip belt mold to the contours of your body
- Can be used for a weekend hiking or ultralight week-long backpacking
- The top lid can be removed in order to create a slimmer profile
Osprey Talon 44 Cons
- If filled to more than 35 liters, it can get a little uncomfortable
- If the full hydration bladder is filled, it feels like a bump sticking out of the back panel
Where to Buy the Osprey Talon 44
Go to Amazon directly to get the latest price of the Osprey Talon 44.
The Verdict
The Osprey Talon 44 is great for the balance that it provides in all of its features. You do not need to be stuck with a heavy and bulky backpack when you are just going about your day.
You can remove the top lid and further compress the contents using the material flap at the top of the backpack. We would not hesitate to recommend this backpack for those who want to travel light.
If you are wanting a backpack that you can use throughout an entire week, this one is great if you’re going to be doing ultralight backpacking. We would not recommend that you fill it up to more than 35 liters, as this can get uncomfortable.
Overall, this backpack provides everything that you would need on your weekend trips.
