Three months, 1,300km, one trail
It's day 72 on the trail. I've finished one of the hardest days on my Te Araroa adventure so far... a brutal 30km with over 2,000m ascent through the infamous Richmond Ranges. I arrive at Top Wairoa Hut at dusk, drop my pack and reluctantly start stretching my weary legs. As I run through this nightly routine in a semi-daze, I stare at my pack, and it strikes me just how dependent I am on this core bit of kit.
I’m currently carrying everything I need to survive in my Osprey Exos 58 pack, including 8 days worth of food to get me through the Richmonds. I was fairly confident going into the TA that my trusty Osprey pack would last the distance, but the longest hike I’d done before now was only 8 days. Now, getting close to the end of my journey, I could see just how this pack was holding up after the daily abuse of this 3 month epic.
The first test: Getting the weight right
The Exos 58 isn’t the lightest pack in Osprey’s multi-day hiking pack lineup, but at 1.3kg it’s definitely no slouch given the 58L capacity. Thru-hikers often chase ultralight setups, but I also knew that New Zealand’s trails could be extremely rugged and harsh on gear, so I welcomed a slightly more robust pack for this adventure.
The 58L capacity turned out to be perfect. Plenty of room for all the essentials - shelter, sleep system, cooking kit, clothing etc - while allowing enough expansion for all the extra food required on those longer sections.
As a photographer, I also required some extra room for camera gear and related items… while my camera lived inside the Osprey Chest Rig, all the extra batteries, memory cards and powerbanks needed to fit the main pack.
Even when my pack was at its heaviest, including all the extra weight of my camera gear, I was constantly impressed with just how comfortable and supportive the Airspeed Suspension remained.
Three months of real-world testing
After 3 months and 1,300km, my Exos pack felt like a part of me. Rather than dreading picking up the pack and getting started each day, I came to welcome its embrace as I cinched up the straps and it settled into its familiar position on my back.
The ventilated back panel was also a massive win for hiking through the summer. South Island summers aren’t ridiculously hot, but let me tell you - this trail will make you sweat, so the extra ventilation on my back was incredibly welcome.
Even after long days, shoulder fatigue was non-existent thanks to the well designed harness settling the bulk of the load on my hips. I also loved how sturdy the pack felt - all the compression straps kept everything tightly held in place, with no loosening off as the kilometres racked up.
While I could’ve used a water bladder easily with my Exos, water sources are so plentiful in the South Island that I chose instead to use a Nalgene as my main water bottle. The dual access side pockets on this packet are a delight to use in this situation - meaning I could easily pop the Nalgene out for a drink or to refill without needing to drop the pack. And likewise - the spacious hipbelt pockets meant easy access to snacks, electrolyte tablets and suncream.
I’d often stash my wet and dirty tent footprint in the big front stash pocket, keeping it separate from my other gear and easy to pull out and dry off during a lunch break. My waterproof gear also lived in these outside pockets for easy access if it rained.
What surprised me after three months
I knew all about how functional this pack would be before I set out on the trail, as I’d been hiking with my Exos 58 for the past couple of years. But what blew me away after 1,300km of bashing through aggressively overgrown trails, boulder hopping and scrambling across old landslides, countless river crossings, shoving it under hut bunks and into the occasional transport trailer was just how damn durable this pack is! Sure, it was filthy - but it was holding up just as stoically as it did on Day 1.
I came to love the Stow-on-the-Go trekking pole system - another little feature that meant I could stash my poles and free up my hands without even breaking stride. I’d often do this on longer road sections when I wanted a snack without stopping, or as I came into more technical sections which required my hands be free for extra grip.
But more than individual features, I just plain came to love the pack as a whole. I could see now it was easily going to go the distance with me… it was my trail buddy, and we were a team. I honestly thought I would hate the pack by the end of the trail, but it truly was the opposite.
I guess the real test of a piece of gear isn't whether you love it on day one. It's whether you still want to pick it up on Day 85.
The pack I'd take back out
For me, there are many reasons why my Exos pack is a core part of my memories of this epic journey I completed. It’s featured in nearly all the photos and videos I took of myself on the trail for a start, but it also carried my whole life with me - and better yet - it did it supremely comfortably. It gained my complete trust as its durability became self-evident.
So, after three amazing months, the Exos 58 was no longer a piece of gear I was carrying. It was the pack that had supported me across an entire season of my life - and that, ultimately, was the best test of all.
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