Customer Reviews Osprey Nova

I am a very picky backpack-lover, and I was reluctant to let go of my old Patagonia one. The Nova has met all my needs and more! I'm 5'2" and only 100lbs, so a lot of backpacks overwhelm my frame, but I can pack it to the brim without looking completely like a turtle. It also has a supportive and breathable suspension that helps me carry heavy loads for longer than I could before (and it doesn't smell too sweaty!). I primarily use it for day-to-day life on a college campus, and it easily holds my laptop, notebooks, various small books, lunchbox, pencilcase, etc. Lots of backpacks either have no pockets, or have lots of tiny dysfunctional ones - the Nova strikes the perfect balance and I use all the pockets efficiently. Aside from college life, I've started to use this backpack for travel. At first I wouldn't have imagined I could travel with only this pack, because it's not built like a suitcase. I made a discovery last year, though, that I could unzip the laptop section completely and layer clothes in that part like a suitcase, in addition to putting clothes and toiletries in the main section. It's not the most organized method, but it totally gets the job done - I went to Ireland for 5 days only using this backpack. I'm going on a two-week trip soon and I'm planning on only taking this pack, with the help of a packing cube or two. My only gripe with this pack is that it's not completely waterproof because I hate when water gets inside, but it is fairly water resistant and keeps water out better than some of the other packs I've had. My Nova has gone through 18 months of heavy, daily use and it barely looks worn. This backpack has been with me every day at college, to travels in Asia and Europe - I liked it so much my mom bought one! This pack is great for anyone, but I think it's especially useful for people in their twenties who are looking for a versatile pack that can handle school, travel, work, and leisure needs.

I got this backpack to use for my week-long cross-continent airplane trips. It replaced an ebags professional slim which I used for 3 years at both professional meetings and my daily NYC subway commute. I spent a lot of hours reading specs and reviews for everyday commute + travel backpacks and finally settled on this one. I take everything with me so needed a bag with lots of volume, but I'm only 5'4" and 115lb so I still need a bag that is easy to carry when fully-loaded. This backpack is AMAZING. On my last trip, I put: my laptop, 6 different types of cabling/chargers and portable mouse, 2 toiletries bags, a 7.25 x 6.57 x 4.5" camera bag, binoculars, pullover, large tupperware full of pie, bag of chocolate, 2 medium spiral notebooks and a folder full of papers, journal, coffee thermos, socks. I still had room for more stuff, had some empty pockets, and felt comfortable carrying the bag. So great! Trade-offs I made in picking this bag: This bag is nice-looking (I got pearl grey) but I used to work in finance and it wouldn't pass the "client meeting in NYC" test. Now I work for an environmental NGO and it fits in perfectly :) This bag is better suited to long trips or a day when you're going to have many different types of activities before heading back home. I wish the pen holders in the front pocket were higher - that pocket is deep so the pens get enfolded by the top of the pocket and are hard to grab quickly. On other people's comments: I didn't have issues with my water bottle falling out the side pocket, but my bottle tapers at the top. The compression straps are annoying if you want to get into the large pockets regularly. Useful if you're going to stow and not touch. The "TSA-friendly" full-zip feature is a blessing and a curse. I had that pocket halfway open and grabbed the top handle, and the whole back pocket upzipped to the bottom, dumping my notebooks all over the floor. It was mildly embarrassing.

I bought my Nova at REI after envying my husband his Osprey backpack. I have had it for little less than a year. So far, it has been with me playing tug-o-war with a Tasmanian Devil, bareboat sailing throughout the Dalmatian Islands in Croatia, touring wineries in the Rhineland in Germany, along with I don't know how many trips within the US. I love the top little pocket that is just the right size for my passport and smartphone, but those aren't the only pockets. It has a plethora of pockets!! My only cavil is that sometimes it takes a while for me to find something if I have not remembered in which pocket it is stashed. I have had many travel packs over the years. Some have been light, but flimsy and with few pockets. Some have been heavy but with a lot of places to stash things. The Nova exceeds them all, being really light when empty, but sturdy with pockets galore.

If you want to know why I chose this bag over the Perigree, head over to the reviews for Perigree! Once I decided to go with the Nova as a personal item on my Spirit airlines flight with 18"x14"x8" restrictions, the real test was actually traveling with it. I used the front stash pocket to place travel-sized liquids so it would be easy to access for TSA screening. I used the sunglasses/goggles pocket for my huge RFID-proof wallet, passport, boarding pass, etc., again easy to access. My phone went into one of the organization pockets, keys I knew I wouldn't need for a week went on the little red hook in the organization pocket. I didn't take a laptop on this trip but it would have been easy to access without disturbing other contents in my pack if I had. I still don't understand the water bottle comments. I took the Nova on a test run with my 12oz standard mouth HydroFlask. I traveled with my 21 oz standard mouth HydroFlask. Full liters of water fit in the side pockets (much wider than any wide mouth HydroFlask, except maybe the 40 oz or larger) and the only time a water bottle fell out, I know it wasn't all the way in the pocket. Maybe I'm not bending over as much as everyone else. Anywho, once on the plane, to make sure my bag fit, I stashed my toiletries bag and water bottle into the main compartment and it fit under the seat in front of me just fine, although 2 of the 3 the dimensions of the Nova are listed as larger than the dimensions of Spirit Airlines. But like Kristine, I didn't have a fully packed bag for this trip - by design and because i really didn't need to. For reasons that will be left on Yelp and Trip Advisor, I ended up on JetBlue flights that got me to my actual destination. JetBlue's personal item requirements are even smaller than Spirit's (17x13x8) and my pack still fit. JetBlue doesn't charge for carry-ons so I still would have been ok. Too bad I didn't have the presence of mind to take a photo of my pack on the JetBlue flight.

I bought this pack to take to Ireland for two weeks traveling. I scotch guard sprayed the pack, my shoes and jacket. Everything stayed dry in the off and on rain of Ireland. I used Contigo water bottles which stayed snug in the outside pockets. See photo. My weight in the pack was around 30 pounds. Our goal is to travel with this backpack only. It fits very well and carries the load comfortably. I highly recommend it for two weeks of travel abroad.

I tried out several different packs to suit my needs for school and international travel. The Osprey Nova was perfect for all of my needs! It's incredibly comfortable which is so important since I'm using this pack for commuting on my bike, going to class and traveling on trains and planes. The organization and capacity of this pack are perfect. It's not too big or small and it's incredibly easy to store and organize all of my stuff. This pack is perfect!

Perfect for carrying all the crap I have to carry for work, and the extra lint roller and travel CHI straightener. As always, Zappos took care of business and got it to me lightening fast!

After exhaustive research, I picked this pack to take with me for my Peace Corps service In Ethiopia. I've been using it daily here in the States to get to know it, and I am so so happy with my choice. I love the separate "laptop" section for all my notebooks & my laptop. All my other bulky stuff goes in the other full size section. The helmet pouch is where I put my keys, or the first aid kit I carried around as the camp nurse. Highly recommend.

I wanted to comment on the other post in regards to the zipper pulls. I just bought this bag today and my zipper pulls are very different from what was previously described. Looks like they changed them. Love the features. Planning a trip but haven't used it yet.

It was good to find a pack which fit my frame. The zipper pulls are an issue. I'm going to see if I can replace them. I solved the water bottle issue on an earlier pack and will continue to clip it onto a nearby loop with a small clip.

I have always used North Face packs and have loved them. But they are heavy, even when empty. I bought this pack and have been using it for a little over three months. I absolutely love it. Bat pack I have ever purchased, with one huge flaw. When you put a water bottle in the side pocket, regardless of size of the bottle, it will fall out. I have tried adjusting the straps, putting in smaller bottles, Nalgene bottles etc. there is no way that a bottle will stay in the side pockets. If the pack is on your back and you let lean forward to pick something up, the bottle slide out. I cannot believe something so important in a pack is not fixed. Went back to where I bought it and asked if I was doing something wrong or if there was a trick to keeping the bottles in place. I was told that this pack was not intended to be used outside of school. What? So people in school don't drink water? I love this pack but I need to carry water. Does anyone have a hack on how to secure a water bottle? Straps do nothing. Would love some feedback.

I bought this bag for school and traveling with my laptop, knowing that this would not be my edc bag. I love Osprey bags, I think their shoulder straps/suspension and back panel on this pack are spot on with what I expected from them (I have the Kyte 46 and Daylite that I love). Getting through TSA with my laptop was super quick. I ended up zipping through in front of 2 people that were fighting to get their laptops out of their bags as I just unzipped mine - so that was pretty awesome. As for fitting under the seat - I did not have this bag packed full so I was able to stuff it under the seat. If it was stuffed full it would have been another 2-3 inches or so deeper and would not have fit under the seat (Spirit under-seat limits are: 18" x 14" x 8") The bag is at least 19" x 12" x 10", although I did not measure to confirm. I used 2 medium ebags packing cubes fully packed and had my 15.6" HP laptop in the back, there was room for a lot more in the bag, but I wanted it to fit under the seat (see photo attached). Note: I was able to pack pjs, and 2 days of clothes, a bathing suit and undergarments in the 2 cubes. My complaints with the Osprey bag is a complaint I have with a lot of bags/packs -- the side compression straps go around a water bottle. When you take the water bottle out, the bag is not compressed, this is just annoying as it makes the bottle harder to get out if you have the straps pulled tight. Other than that, the organization and compartments in this bag are great and provide a space for everything I need for class.

Super great bag. It has tons of well situated pockets and, in my two years of rough and heavy use (everyday at school with heavy textbooks as well as stuffing it to full capacity on day hikes), it's still in great shape. I also had a slight issue with one of the internal zipper pulls (it came off), but nothing about the zippers have ever really bothered me. The back pocket (for laptops and such) opens like a clamshell, which once opened up all the way when I was out after I hadn't properly closed it. Nonetheless, I'm very happy with the quality and functionality of this bag -- which is also the perfect size to hang your food up in on overnight camping trips.

I REALLY want to love this pack..I LOVE the blue lining and THOUGHT the various compartments would really suite my needs. Unfortunately, the main "center" pocket has a smaller zipper section than the laptop pocket. I always open the wrong pocket by accident and have to re-zip and open the other one. I could probably get used to this over time but I wish the laptop pocket was inside the main section instead of having a whole separate section-also adds bulk. The laptop pocket takes up a lot of space so it is difficult to fit things in the center and access them. My main issue is that water bottles DO NOT stay in the side pockets-this was my whole purpose for purchasing this pack!!!! Even my daughter's small munchkin 12 oz cup falls out. Can't fit a Nalgene or anything in it. Every bottle falls out the second you lean even slightly forward. I'm so disappointed and for this reason will be looking for a different bag. I wasted my money. Pros: There are a ton of internal pockets & the interior blue color is GORGEOUS and also makes it easy to spot items.

I really like most features of this pack. The compartments are spacious and have good sub-pockets within them. There is plenty of room for gear and my backpack is secure. It is comfortable for me to wear and I can wear it for extended periods of time. However, the zipper pulls (the lanyards that have been designed to be used to pull the zipper compartments open and shut) are designed on an open-eye hook such that they slip off the zipper apparatus constantly with routine use. I am constantly refastening one of these at least once a day and I am sure I will loose them or they will break at some point. I understand the look that the company was going for, but they are really a flimsy addition to what is otherwise a very sturdy pack meant to get lots of use.