Osprey Farpoint 40 Review: Tested Across 6 Trips

11 May 2026 · 8 min read · How we test · Affiliate disclosure

Photo via Pexels

If you've spent more than ten minutes researching travel backpacks online, you've heard about the Osprey Farpoint 40. It's the bag that gets recommended in every Reddit thread, every backpacker forum, every "one bag travel" YouTube video. We bought one three years ago, partly to see if it lived up to the hype and partly because we needed a bag. Six trips later — long-hauls, city breaks, budget-airline runs, one extremely soggy Highland weekend — here's the honest verdict.

Short version: it deserves the reputation. There are things we'd change, and we'll get to them. But for most travellers asking "what carry-on backpack should I buy," the Farpoint 40 (or Fairview 40, the women's-fit version) is the right answer and probably saves you weeks of further research. Buy the Farpoint 40 on Amazon UK (affiliate link), or the Fairview 40 women's version here.

At a glance

How we tested it

This isn't a thirty-minute unboxing review. We've used the same Farpoint 40 across six trips over three years: a fortnight in Bali, a long weekend in Rome, a ten-day Thailand-Cambodia loop, a four-day Madrid trip, a soggy four-day Highlands hiking weekend (testing whether a travel bag works as an actual hiking bag — short answer, sort of), and a one-week Bangkok stay. It's been gate-checked twice when overhead bins were full. It's been thrown around by airline ground staff. It's lived in lockers, hostel bunk-beds, and budget hotel wardrobes. It's been rained on, baked on, sat on, and stuffed past capacity more than once.

None of these conditions are exotic — they're the normal life of a travel backpack — and that's the point of the test. We didn't baby it, and we want to report what survived.

What it gets right

The clamshell opening is the killer feature. Most backpacks load from the top, which means digging through everything to find the thing at the bottom. The Farpoint zips around three sides like a suitcase, lays completely flat, and lets you see all your stuff at once. Packing cubes slot in like books on a shelf. Repacking on the road takes thirty seconds instead of five minutes. This is the feature you only fully appreciate after you've used a top-loader for a week and lost your mind looking for socks.

The harness disappears when you don't need it. The padded hip belt, shoulder straps, and load lifters all tuck behind a zipped flap on the back of the bag. This matters in two specific moments: when you're checking it in at an airline desk (no dangling straps to get caught in conveyor belts), and when you're carrying it as a normal piece of luggage rather than wearing it as a backpack. The grab handles on the top and side mean it works as a holdall as well as a pack. The transition between modes takes about ten seconds.

Comfort over long carries. We've walked from train station to hotel in Bangkok with this thing fully loaded — easily 12 kg — and the hip belt is what makes it possible. Most "travel backpacks" treat the hip belt as a token gesture; Osprey treats it as an actual load-bearing component. Above about 8 kg, a proper hip belt is the difference between walking and slowly dying. Above 12 kg you do start to feel the weight in your shoulders, but for a 40-litre bag that's reasonable.

It fits cabin baggage limits where most "carry-on" bags don't. The S/M size is within the 55 × 40 × 20 cm limits of nearly every major airline including the strictest budget carriers. We've put it through the Ryanair / easyJet sizers without it being a problem. If you've ever had to surrender a bag at the gate because it was a fraction too big, this is the metric that matters most. (Note: the M/L size is slightly larger and can fall foul of the strictest sizers — go S/M unless you're tall enough that the torso length matters.)

The lifetime guarantee is real. Osprey's "All Mighty Guarantee" replaces or repairs any bag for any reason, for life. We haven't needed to use it on the Farpoint, but a friend sent in a 12-year-old Osprey hiking pack with a broken zip and got it repaired free, with the repaired bag back in three weeks. This kind of warranty isn't marketing — it's an actual financial backstop that means a £140 bag will probably outlast multiple replacements of any cheaper alternative.

The laptop compartment is in the right place. Padded, sits against your back, has its own zip, fits up to a 15" laptop comfortably. Easy to access at airport security without unpacking the whole bag.

What's annoying

Now the honest bit. No bag is perfect, and after six trips here's where the Farpoint falls short.

It's a backpack with suitcase pretensions, not the other way around. When you carry it as a holdall by the grab handles, the wide flat shape isn't as comfortable as a proper duffel. The fact that it works as a hand-carry is a bonus, not the main use case. For airline-style "hand-luggage" carrying, a wheeled cabin case or a dedicated duffel is more comfortable. The Farpoint is designed first to be worn, second to be carried.

No external water bottle pocket. This is a genuinely odd omission for a travel backpack in 2026. There's no stretchy mesh side pocket for a water bottle, no quick-grab spot for your phone. Anything you want to access mid-walk lives inside the bag, which means stopping and unzipping. A separate small daypack or sling solves this, but it's a faff Osprey could have engineered out.

Organisation is minimal inside. The main compartment is one big space. There's a small zipped admin pocket near the top of the bag and the laptop sleeve, and that's about it. Tortuga and Peak Design's equivalent bags have far more organisational pockets and dividers. The trade-off is the Osprey is lighter and the clamshell is wider — if you use packing cubes (and you should), the lack of internal dividers doesn't matter. If you prefer everything in dedicated slots, look elsewhere.

The fabric, while sturdy, isn't waterproof. It's water-resistant — light rain rolls off, you can leave it out in a drizzle — but in genuine rain it'll soak through within fifteen minutes. Osprey makes a rain cover for it (sold separately, around £25), which we'd recommend if you're travelling somewhere wet. Or use a binbag. Both work.

The colour options are limited and the dark ones get warm in the sun. Black, blue, green — sensible, dull, and dark colours absorb a lot of heat in tropical climates. The Farpoint sat next to a pool in Thailand for thirty minutes and was uncomfortable to touch by the time we picked it up. Minor, but worth knowing if your travel style involves being outdoors a lot in hot countries.

Farpoint vs Fairview: which one?

The Farpoint and Fairview are the same bag with different harness shapes. The Fairview is built for shorter torso lengths and narrower shoulders — generally fits women's frames better, though it's not exclusively "women's". The Farpoint is the standard / longer harness. We'd recommend trying the Fairview if you're under about 5'7" regardless of gender, and the Farpoint if you're taller. Osprey publishes torso-length charts on their site that help you size correctly. Wrong size = back pain; right size = comfortable carry for hours.

Capacity and features are identical between the two. Browse the Fairview 40 on Amazon UK (affiliate link).

Who it's actually for

It's the right bag if:

• You want to travel carry-on only, even on budget airlines
• You walk meaningful distances with your bag (hotel-to-station, around hostels, on small islands)
• You like the idea of a backpack but want one that opens flat like a suitcase
• You value a lifetime warranty and don't want to replace your travel bag every few years
• You're going to use packing cubes (which we'd recommend anyway — see our packing cubes piece)

It's not the right bag if:

• You need wheels (long airport walks, mobility issues, smooth-floor travel only) — get a wheeled cabin case instead
• You're a digital nomad living out of one bag full-time — the Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L or Tortuga Travel Backpack have more organisation built in
• You actually need 50+ litres because you're packing for serious cold-weather travel or carrying speciality gear
• You prefer top-loading bags (rare but some people do)

The alternatives we've also tried

Tortuga Travel Backpack (£240): More organisation, more pockets, better for digital nomads, premium fabric. Roughly 70% more expensive. If you live out of your bag, it's worth the upgrade. If you take 6 trips a year, the Farpoint is better value.

Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L (£300): The premium pick. Expandable from 35L to 45L, magnetic snap closures, recycled materials, beautiful design. Twice the price of the Farpoint. We'd say it's worth it if you also use it as a daily work bag — the Peak Design crosses over between travel and city carry better than the Osprey does. For pure travel-only use, the Farpoint wins on price.

Nomatic Travel Bag 40L (£260): Heaps of pockets and modular features, fans love it. Heavier than the Farpoint (a noticeable amount) and the fabric is less breathable for hot climates.

Cheaper Amazon dupes (£40–£80): They exist. We've tested two. Both had failing zips within six months. The frame on one started to deform under load after a year. Save your money or buy the real thing — the lifetime warranty alone makes the Farpoint cheaper over five years than any £50 alternative.

The verdict

If we could only own one travel bag, this is it. After three years and six trips it still looks essentially new. The clamshell opening makes packing and re-packing fast. The hip belt makes long walks tolerable. The size fits every airline we've used. The lifetime warranty means we'll probably never need to buy another carry-on bag. It's earned every star of its 4.7-average rating across thousands of reviews.

The annoyances — no water bottle pocket, minimal organisation, not waterproof — are real but small, and we've worked around all of them. For £140, getting a bag that survives years of actual travel and comes with a no-questions repair guarantee is the right call almost every time.

Buy the Osprey Farpoint 40 on Amazon UK → (affiliate link)

Or the Fairview 40 (women's fit) → (affiliate link)