For me, this is the selling point. Although the pack is loaded with lightweight mesh and nylon, it has withstood many rough goings and yet its quality and features have not been compromised or damaged.

We love the features of this pack, but it also seems to be a test balloon that is meant to push the limits of bells-and-whistles.

While the Aether AG 60 is one of the heaviest in our test, it does offer a comfortable waist belt and padded shoulder straps, as well as a suspension system that is more robust than most. Nylon is a light pack fabric built to endure big weight for long distances and durations over easy to moderate goings.This fabric varies from other pack types, namely canvas, which is a heavier fabric but designed to withstand harder goings.

We’d heard the positive feedback for Osprey as a brand and we’re here to jump on the bandwagon.We purchased the Aether 60 before embarking on doing We also needed the pack to double up as a suitcase for our trip around the world.
They’re made of a tough elastic and are easy to access while wearing the pack but still keep a full-size Nalgene secure.The outer elastic kangaroo pouch is really useful for storing wet clothes on the trail, and Osprey has replaced the middle, abrasion-prone section with a patch of tougher nylon.The hip belt features a surprisingly high-volume zippered pocket on each side, and they’re large enough to easily hold my Canon G16 point-and-shoot camera in its bulky hard case.The Aether AG 60 also features a low-profile flap to cover the drawstring opening and cinch down the pack when you’ve removed the brain, which Osprey has named the “FlapJacket™.” This subtle addition makes it a lot easier to lighten your load by ditching the brain completely, and I also often found myself keeping the brain in daypack mode, stuffing it inside the main compartment of the Aether AG 60, and using the flap to keep everything tight and covered.The most unique aspect of the Aether AG 60 is the brain, which converts into a miniature daypack — a feature that Osprey calls the DayLid™. We have never felt the pack's shoulder straps slip or slide out of place at any time, which earns the Aether AG 60 high marks. When compared with other models we tested, the Aether uses more robust materials and suspension than most.

Its excellent fitting options are paired with a very effective suspension system, which makes for a very comfortable, well-ventilated pack. We were able to squeeze in two sleeping bags, food, clothes and power cords into this pack with plenty of room to spare! Having used many other brands before Osprey, we can honestly say that they pale in comparison. When I embarked on my first overnight hike, quite a few years ago, I bought myself a 75ltr pack which looked and felt really comfortable in the store.

The Aether has definitely opened a world of possibility for multi-day trekking and I can’t wait to take it here, there and everywhere. Overall, we think the features are well-designed and help any user have an enjoyable time in the backcountry.The lid of the Aether AG 60 sports two separate zippered pockets on the top.
But the strange thing is that the volume of the backpack should be the same. So while this feature is a pretty small feature, it remains nice to have.While the forward-facing bottle entry is easy enough to access, the bottles were a little tricky to reinstall, still needing two hands. The Flash 18 only features a drawstring closure at the top, which makes finding gear at the bottom more difficult.While the shape of the Aether AG 60’s brain daypack makes getting to your gear easy, the bulbous lower section makes effective weight distribution much more difficult compared to the cylindrical shape of the Flash 18. The Aether AG 60 may not have won an award, but it's a super comfortable pack that does a great job toting a decently heavy load.A comfy padding in the shoulders and hip belts are some of the cushiest in the roundup.The top-lid is easy to remove and doubles as a full daypack for summit trips. A pack can have all the bells and whistles in the world but if it isn’t comfortable, then it’s as useless as tits on a bull, and is usually the difference between a good trek and a rubbish one.The pack carries 60L which is a perfect size for how I used it, and I’ll continue to use this size on multi-day treks. This separate pack is attached and tucks away in the lid. One of our review staff's favorite features was the stretchy back beavertail style pocket, which was a great place to stash items that you wanted to keep close by (like a rain jacket) or things we wanted to dry out (socks, damp base layers, etc.). After a lot of use, the zips have degraded, but it’s not a significant problem (and it wasn’t a major part of the pack for me).The Aether 60 has been a game changer.

So the Aether 60 is (surprise surprise) 60 litres big, which is plenty of space for longer trips. The hip belt provides adequate cushioning and support without any uncomfortable rubbing, and the tensioned mesh of the Anti-Gravity suspension system helps keep the hip belt very snug around your waist. Osprey’s DayLid™ system is meant to serve as a replacement for this kind of ultralight daypack, and for the most part does a great job doing so.The Flash 18 has an even, tubelike shape while the Aether AG 60’s brain daypack forms a tapered shape necessitated by the need to act as a functional brain when not in pack mode. Short answer–absolutely.