Gear Review: Osprey Talon 44 Backpack

I only got into backpacking a few years ago and have slowly been refining my gear since that time. Many of my early purchases proved to be unwise; too heavy, too bulky, poorly designed, or simply totally unnecessary and never used. The one area where I was either uncharacteristically wise or hit some serious beginner’s luck was in my pack choice. For my needs, I cannot think of single improvement I would make to the Osprey Talon 44 beyond the nit-pickingest of nitpicks. In short, I love this pack. I find the Talon 44 to be a perfect marriage between durable construction and lightweight simplicity; all compromises were made in the right places and not at the expense of comfort, ruggedness, or performance. Let’s go over the basic specs before getting into comfort, performance, and durability:

Gear Review: Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Sleeping Pad

Getting out in the wilderness is a lot more fun with a good night's sleep. Lord knows I've spent many a night tossing and turning, flopping around in my tent hoping to find a position that doesn't hurt my back and begging for the sandman to enter. The biggest factors in finding that sleep are warmth (in cooler temps) and comfort (year round.) I’ve been using the Big Agnes Insulated Air Core sleeping pad for the past year, and it hits the mark on both counts. I have the standard width mummy version, and this review will only be focusing on that model. They offer the pad in several other options - standard rectangular, long, wide, wide mummy, and two different short versions (48" or 66"). Overall, I've been plenty happy with this pad. Like any piece of gear, it has its pros and cons – it can’t be all things to all people. The pros far outweigh the few cons for my purposes, however. This is an air chamber pad requiring manual inflation (about 12-15 big breaths for me.)  I actually received my Air Core as a warranty replacement for an older Big Agnes air pad that developed a slow, minor leak in the valve housing. Not only was Big Agnes prompt to replace my old pad, they gave me an upgrade to the newer insulated version reviewed here. So, we can go ahead and get that part of the review out of the way – BA is a manufacturer that stands behind their gear and offers great customer service, in my experience. (For the record, I purchased the original pad and received the replacement as a regular consumer – I was not writing about gear at the time.)  So, let’s get down to business and talk specifics to see if this pad suits your needs. We'll cover the main specs, first: