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Home / Gear / Backpacks

Osprey Talon vs Stratos

Last updated: August 6, 2021 by Canberk Koksal 2 Comments

If I were to day-hike with my pack 80% of the time or more, then I'd prefer the Stratos 24 [read my review]. 

As most of you know, I've been sharing helpful guides to Osprey backpacks for more than 2 years now (find full post list is at the bottom). 

I thought that putting together a guide around Osprey Talon vs Stratos (which also applies to Osprey Tempest vs Sirrus) models would be helpful for most of you. 

Because both of them took place in my top Osprey hiking backpacks post, and their differences can be confusing at times. 

Overview

Now...

Let's take a brief look at them before we dig any deeper. 

You can think of Talon | Tempest line as a more comfortable & less feature-rich alternative to the Stratos | Sirrus line.

  • #A sidenote here: REI's backpack capacity chart is GOLD. Highly recommend you to check it out before you read any further. 
In short, I'd recommend the Talon 22 for multiple high output activities, the Stratos 24 or Talon 33 if you'll be day hiking only, the Stratos 36 for overnight camping trips and Stratos 50 for weekend trips. 

This is exactly why Osprey advertises the Stratos | Sirrus [source at osprey.com] and Talon | Tempest accordingly [source at osprey.com]! 

  • Information given in this post about Talon and Stratos lines

...also apply to their women's counterparts, Tempest and Sirrus lines.

If I had to lay them out one by one... 

  • Related Data Set: Osprey's All Backpacking Backpacks
  • Bold are my top picks for each group (based on trip length).
  • If you tend to pack more or less than the average person, then shift the trip length values accordingly.
  • If you're planning to get either one of them, I'd also highly recommend you to check out Osprey's own PackFinder tool as well.

To see the full table and my top picks, visit my post Best Osprey Hiking Backpacks. 

Rotate your phone sideways for a better table display.

 

Comfort

Features & Organization

Weight (M Size)


Trip Length: 7+ nights [>90 L]

Xenith 105 (Men's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

10/10

10/10

5.78 lbs

Cell

Trip Length: 5-7 nights [75 - 90 L]

Xenith 88 (Men's)

Xena 85 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

10/10

10/10

5.61 lbs

Aether AG 85 (Men's)

Ariel AG 75 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

8/10

9/10

5.37 lbs

Cell

Trip Length: 2-5 nights [55 - 75 L]

Sweet spot. Versatile picks.

Atmos AG 65 (Men's)

Aura AG 65 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

10/10

8/10

4.56 lbs

Xenith 75 (Men's)

Xena 70 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

9/10

10/10

5.56 lbs

Volt 75 (Men's)

Viva 65 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

8/10

6/10

4.3 lbs

Aether PRO 70 (Men's)

Ariel PRO 65 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

10/10

4/10

3.94 lbs

Aether AG 70 (Men's)

Ariel AG 65 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

9/10

9/10

5.21 lbs

Aether AG 60 (Men's)

Ariel AG 55 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

9/10

9/10

5.15 lbs

Volt 60 (Men's)

[PDF Manual]

8/10

6/10

4.3 lbs

Rook 65 (Men's)

Renn 65 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

6/10

5/10

3.52 lbs

Levity 60 (Men's)

Lumina 60 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

8/10

4/10

1.95 lbs

Exos 58 (Men's)

Eja 58 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

7/10

4/10

2.58 lbs

Cell

Trip Length: 1-3 nights [45 - 55 L]

Atmos AG 50 (Men's)

Aura AG 50 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

9/10

7/10

4.21 lbs

Kestrel 48 (Men's)

Kyte 46 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

[Read my review]

8/10

8/10

3.59 lbs

Stratos 50 (Men's)

Sirrus 50 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

8/10

8/10

3.68 lbs

Levity 45 (Men's)

Lumina 45 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

8/10

4/10

1.85 lbs

Exos 48 (Men's)

Eja 48 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

7/10

4/10

2.57 lbs

Rook 50 (Men's)

Renn 50 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

6/10

6/10

3.49 lbs

Viva 50 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

8/10

6/10

4.02 lbs

Cell

Trip Length: 0-1 nights [<45 L]

Kestrel 38 (Men's)

Kyte 36 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

[Read my review]

8/10

8/10

3.40 lbs

Stratos 36 (Men's)

Sirrus 36 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

8/10

8/10

3.30 lbs

Talon 44 (Men's)

Tempest 40 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

8/10

6/10

2.44 lbs

Talon 33 (Men's)

Tempest 30 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

9/10

5/10

2.02 lbs

Exos 38 (Men's)

Eja 38 (Women's)

[PDF Manual]

[Read my review]

8/10

4/10

2.48 lbs

If you're interested in getting a travel backpack, check out my Osprey's top travel backpacks post. 

Talon 22 vs Stratos 24

I'd recommend them mostly for daily purposes. 

  • Talon 22: In addition to day hiking, if you're also planning to perform a fair amount of other high output activities (think biking or bikepacking), then I'd recommend Talon 22 over Stratos 34. 
  • Stratos 24: If I were to day-hike with my pack 80% of the time or more, then I'd prefer the Stratos 24 over Talon 22. 
    • Its design is intended towards hiking more than the Talon 22. Equipped with more pockets: Top panel zippered stash pocket, front panel zippered storage pocket and front panel vertical zippered pocket. There might not be (isn't) much difference between their volumes, but you always wish having your equipment organized on a hike. This will make a noticeable difference. 

Talon 33 vs Stratos 34 and 36

I'd recommend them mostly for day hikes with occasional overnight camping trips with UL gear. 

Streamlined design and superior comfort of Talon 33 [read my review] makes it a great match for day hikes with occasional overnight camping trips with UL gear. For backpacks with smaller volumes like this, comfort becomes more important than features. Hell, sometimes I tend to find too many bells and whistles even annoying when I'm on a short hike! 

  • Talon 33: More streamlined (no sleeping bag compartment & less exterior pockets) compared to Stratos 34 and 36, but offers more comfort.
  • Also, unlike Talon 22 and Stratos 24 & 34, Talon 33 is loaded from top - which allows easier access to your main compartment when you take your pack off and put it on the ground. 
    • Now yes, I am listing the Talon 33 under this heading and not under the previous one - but don't let that mislead you. Overall design (no sleeping bag compartment and few pockets combined with small size) of Talon 33 would allow you to camp overnight only if you're packing ultralight gear. Otherwise, I'd probably stick with Stratos 36 in most cases for that matter, and prefer Talon 33 just for day hikes. 
  • Stratos 34 (no women's counterpart!): I can't think of any situation I'd recommend this pack over the others mentioned in this post. 
    • Its design, in my opinion, is mostly "flawed", for the lack of a better word. Its intention is unfortunately stuck somewhere between day hiking and overnight camping. The thing I find the most strange and confusing about it is that it's large AND offers front panel loading at the same time. It doesn't even have a women's counterpart! Is Osprey experimenting their marketing with this pack or what?! 

Stratos 36 [read my review] is the only pack in this round-up that offers 3 accesses (top, bottom and side) and horizontal access to mesh water bottle holders at each side (allows you to load & unload on the go, without necessarily taking off your pack). 

  • Stratos 36: The most suitable pick here for overnight trips. Mind you though, I'd still like a (much) larger volume for trips longer than 1 night. Check out Stratos 50 for that matter. 
    • Versatility-wise, it's a no-brainer that the Stratos 36 is the winner here. If you aren't sure about the ratio of your day hiking trips to your overnight camping trips... Better be safe than sorry. Some say that the more space you have, the more you'll pack, but I don't find it necessarily true for me. I think having the extra space but not needing it is better than needing it but not having it. Especially when you're considering to get a backpack that's far from cheap. 

Talon 44 vs Stratos 50

Stratos 50. 

I'd mostly recommend them for weekend camping and hiking trips.

  • Stratos 50: The most suitable pick here for this. I'm pretty sure that the Stratos 36 won't suffice in this case. 
    • Besides the obvious volume increase, everything else stays the same going from Stratos 36 to 50. The benefit of the additional side access becomes a complete game-changer here. 
  • Talon 44: I'd probably get the Stratos 50. 
    • Unlike Stratos 50, Talon 44 does not offer a side-access to the main compartment (as it's the case for all Talon & Tempest line-up). If you're like most people; when going above, say, 40 liters; an additional access would probably always come handy. Not having to dig through your entire inventory and then re-packing them mostly save you a lot of time and frustration on the go. 

Conclusion

Both are great lines with different design intentions: Talon | Tempest line is more comfortable & less feature-rich than Stratos | Sirrus line. 

I'd recommend the Talon 22 for multiple high output activities, the Stratos 24 or Talon 33 if you'll be day hiking only, the Stratos 36 for overnight camping trips and Stratos 50 for weekend trips. 


I hope this post was helpful for you to learn more about the backpack(s) in your mind.

Feel free to ask me any questions or provide feedback and I'll be happy to respond in the comment section below.

Guide: Backpacks

Start here:

  • Best Osprey Hiking Backpacks: My Top Picks
  • Best Osprey Travel Backpacks: My Top Picks

Complete list:

Backpacking Backpacks

  • Osprey Atmos AG 50
  • Osprey Atmos AG 65
  • Osprey Aura AG 50
  • Osprey Aura AG 65
  • Osprey Aether AG 60
  • Osprey Aether AG 70
  • Osprey Aether AG 85
  • Osprey Aether PRO 70
  • Osprey Ariel AG 55
  • Osprey Ariel AG 65
  • Osprey Ariel AG 75
  • Osprey Ariel PRO 65
  • Osprey Xenith 75, 88 & 105
  • Gregory Baltoro 65, 75, 85, 95 PRO
  • Osprey Kestrel 38
  • Osprey Kestrel 48
  • Osprey Kyte 36
  • Osprey Kyte 46
  • Kelty Redwing 50
  • Teton Sports Scout 3400

Light Backpacking Backpacks

  • Osprey Talon 22
  • Osprey Talon 33
  • Osprey Talon 44
  • Osprey Exos 48
  • Osprey Exos 58
  • Osprey Stratos 24
  • Osprey Stratos 34
  • Osprey Stratos 36
  • Osprey Stratos 50

Travel Backpacks

  • Osprey Farpoint 40
  • Osprey Farpoint 55
  • Osprey Farpoint 70
  • Osprey Porter 46
  • Osprey Sojourn 45
  • eBags TLS Mother Lode Weekender Convertible
  • Best Carry-on Backpacks

Hydration Backpacks

  • Osprey Raptor 10
  • Osprey Raptor 14


Thank you for reading.

Filed Under: Backpacks Tagged With: backpacks, osprey, osprey backpacking backpacks

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Gergely Nagy says

    February 2, 2022 at 2:24 pm

    Hi!

    You didn’t mention the Talon 36. Compared to the stratos 36, which is the better choice for overnight trips?

    Thank you for your reply,
    Geri

    Reply
    • Hugh says

      May 12, 2022 at 7:52 pm

      I’d like to see these two compared as well.

      Reply

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