Osprey Mutant 38L Climbing and Mountaineering Unisex Backpack, Mars Orange, M/L

Bought this 38L Mutant backpack for 1-day climbs. Just used it for the first time. Very satisfied so far, no issues. The material and the harness are strong but not excessive to be heavy, the straps are simple and well organized. The clips are not bulky and overall the backpack is very light without being flimsy. There are multiple attaching points on the body for attaching the rope, crampons, poles etc. This is an advantage vs some other day packs. The inside is just big enough for day trip items. The top has two separate spacious pockets. If anything negative, I can think of only two minor ones: some of the attaching hardware is not intuitive, you need to read an instruction to understand how to use those properly; and the pack looks kind of flashy in this textured grey and red, too fancy for what we do, to my taste, but sure it will gain the “proper” rugged and worn look with time. I recommend this backpack.

One of my favorite daypack bags. small enough not to feel like you have a huge pack on, but big enough to carry plenty of gear for a full day or multiple days (depending on packing style) adventures!

Wore this for my first climbing trip and it worked well. I was able to do 6 pitches while wearing it, and it did not impede me in any way. I used this pack as my overnight and on wall bag. One thing I really missed was an exterior pocket to carry my water bottle in. I understand why it is not included, because this pack is intended for climbing and you would not want a bottle slipping out and falling and hitting someone below you, but it would be nice to have if you were wearing the pack for the approach too. Other than that, I would recommend this pack for an overnight climbing trip.The Mars Orange is more like a red, than orange, but still very pretty.

nice in that it can hold my helmet, rope, 2 pickets, snow shovel, gear, clothing and emergency /first aid gear for long mountaineering day trips. As far as durability, curious to see how long this will last. It definitely will not last as long as the last osprey pack. Appears "delicate", espec when they are making it out of recyclable materials. My last osprey lasted 17 years and I retired it from climbing and used it as a hunting pack which it carried 70 lbs in meat, gun, etc. No one makes gear like they used to.

Ideal size with lots of features. Durable and high visibility.

Bought it mainly for mountaineering, but it has also turned into my daily bike commuter bag and pretty much use it for all of my outdoor activities. Very comfortable and well designed for my needs. Exactly what you would expect from Osprey.

This is a great fit, very stable. Will take more than the 38L, so is very versatile. Will use for my trip to Everest Base camp and climb to Island Peak.

I thought about giving this only 4 stars, because it is Osprey, and I have very high expectations for that brand, but I would have given this 5 stars if it were some lesser known brand, so it gets 5 stars. Generally this is a very nice pack with attention to detail. It has a narrow profile, without side pockets to allow active pursuits that use the hands such as XC skiing or climbing.On the Amazon page there is a small/medium and a medium/large choice, although the difference is not clearly articulated. It appears that the md/lg is 38 liter capacity, and the sm/md is 36L, so not a huge difference. I ordered the small/medium, and the tag on mine says Mutant 38, so I don't really know which I got.The fabric in the pack is medium/heavy, probably a compromise between maximizing durability and weight. Still, it seems up to any task I am. It has some special features to appeal to a climbing user. There are dual tool tie-offs, with a built in bungie at the top and a cleat at the bottom. These could we use for any long, thin item such as ice axes or poles. There are also some robust gear loops on the top exterior. This pack has a still back plate, which is contoured and fits me well. It has a little bit of flex, but not much. I believe that can be removed as well. It has cinch straps for compacting the load on both sides and on the back. The padding and buckles on this pack are only medium duty and on the small side. I think this is to reduce the likelihood that something will catch on them. At 38L this will not have huge loads, so padding and buckles seem adequate