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    • Older Osprey Daypacks that Are Still Great—and Often Still Available

    by  Mose Hayward
    LAST UPDATED ON  2025-10-13
    PUBLISHED ON  2022-06-08
    By / / From the Minimalist.Travel Archives, Luggage, Packing / 9 minutes of reading

    Your Travel Guide

    Mose Hayward

    Classic Backpack Nut

    There are lots of great Osprey Daypacks—that is, the smaller backpacks for everyday use—that appear to no longer be in active production but are still available from some sources (including those we link to where possible below).

    While in most cases we recommend the newest range of small Osprey Daypacks, and detail the differences between them in that article, some people may have very specific use cases, or nostalgia, or be looking for a deal. So below you’ll find our coverage of those daypacks, many of which are still available.

    Table Of Contents
    1. Daylite Travel: A Good Complement to Full-Size Backpacker Packs
    2. Student-Style Backpacks: The Osprey Quasar (Men) / Questa (Women)
    3. Commuter day packs: The Osprey Comet and Metron
    4. Great All-Purpose Smaller Trekking-Style Packs with Urban Features: The Osprey Heritage Series (Simplex 20, Scarab 30, and Nanofly Versions)
    5. A Women's Full-Featured City/Laptop Backpack: Osprey Talia
    6. A More Basic City/Laptop Backpack: Nova (for Women)
    7. Streamlined, Everyday Student-Style Backpacks: The Osprey Apogee (Men), Aphelia (Women), and Centauri (Unisex, Smaller)
    8. The Ultra-Rugged City Backpack for Cycling and Heavy Frequent Rain: The Osprey Transporter Series (Small Zip Top, Large Zip Top, Panel Loader, Roll Top, Flap)

    Daylite Travel: A Good Complement to Full-Size Backpacker Packs

    Note: Use that cute little + sign ( ) to expand the info.

    The Osprey Daylite Travel daypack is one of my favorites of the recently discontinued lines.

    The Osprey Daylite Travel Pack is like the Daylite Plus but with features a bit more geared for the traveller rather than a hiker. It is a daypack I used while travelling for a few years. It has more organizational pockets than the other Daylites. It can be thin, or it can expand to give you more space as an overnight bag with a wraparound zipper that allows it to accordion out for an added 6 liters, holding a bit more than the current Daylite and Daylite Plus.

    The Daylite Travel is a good compliment to a full-size Osprey trekking pack as it can clip into the following: the Osprey Aether/Ariel series, Farpoint 80, Porter series, Sojourn series, and finally the Volt/Viva series.

    The Osprey Daylite Travel Pack
    Osprey Daylite Travel Pack
    Osprey Daylite Travel Pack
    Check on Amazon

    The Daylite Travel Pack has a fully featured interior padded hanging laptop sleeve with two organizational mesh pockets for tablets or Kindles. Just above the laptop area, there’s a tucked away, quite subtle but still accessible “hidden pocket” for a passport and cash and the like.

    The Osprey Daylite Travel’s secret interior document pocket for passports and cash

    The thing that makes the Daylite Travel stand out from the other two Daylite daypacks is the zip-around accordion that allows the pack to expand when necessary. This is a lifesaver in a pinch; I usually leave it zipped to keep the pack thin but it’s nice to expand when I need to.

    Here’s the Daylite Travel daypack slimmed down (with my favorite travel speaker in the pocket)
    And here’s the Osprey Daylite Travel Pack expanded with its side zipper
    The fully packed Daylite Travel Pack with a laptop, a detachable second screen, Kindle, a water bottle, universal plug adapter, and travel speaker

    Student-Style Backpacks: The Osprey Quasar (Men) / Questa (Women)

    Use the below to expand for more info.

    These are student style backpacks and a bit cheaper than many Osprey day packs; they lack some of the features of the more elite urban day packs like the Osprey Arcane series.

    If these are out of stock at the links above we suggest checking out our coverage of the other Osprey student-style day packs: the Osprey Apogee (for men), the Osprey Aphelia (for women), and the Osprey Centauri (for carrying a smaller volume).

    Commuter day packs: The Osprey Comet and Metron

    Use the below to expand for more info.

    These Osprey packs are excellent options mainly for urban/suburban commutes, especially biking in the case of the Metron.

    At last check they are out of stock, if this is still the case at the links above we suggest checking out our coverage of the excellent urban-commute focused Osprey Arcane series, or for frequently rainy environments, the Osprey Transporter series. The variety of day packs in those two series cover all of the needs previously covered by the Comet and Metron quite well.

    Great All-Purpose Smaller Trekking-Style Packs with Urban Features: The Osprey Heritage Series (Simplex 20, Scarab 30, and Nanofly Versions)

    Use the below to expand for more info.

    Osprey’s Heritage series is not available new as of our latest check in June of 2025.

    This Heritage series is playing hard on nostalgia for older Osprey designs—here completely updated for current tastes with features like laptop sleeves and recycled PFC-free materials. If you are into the hybrid look (modern+retro) and have hybrid needs (backcountry+city) these small backpacks may be perfect for you.

    The Osprey Heritage Simplex 20 opens fully with a zipper that goes all the way around the sides and top (“panel loading”) so that you can get at items anywhere in the pack without completely unpacking or trying to dig around blindly. The features you’d expect from a backpacker pack are there: excellent breathable suspension and padded hipbelt, outer attachment points for gear and a bungee cord to tie down a wet jacket or other items, a sleeve for a water bottle with a thread-through opening for the tube, and tough-but-lightweight material and construction.

    For more day-to-day use the water reservoir sleeve is padded and designed to fit 15-inch laptops, and there is a key clip on the inside stash pocket. That inside pocket can also be accessed from the outside front panel, which is convenient for you but makes the pack less suitable for crowded city areas where there could be pickpockets.

    The Osprey Heritage Scarab 30 is similar to the Simplex 20; the most immediately notable difference is the outer compression straps to help you cinch down the volume of your gear once the pack is closed. We’re not so sure how necessary that is in a small pack, but it can help with balancing the pack a bit on a long hike.

    Similarly to the Simplex 20, the Scarab 30 opens up fully with U-shaped zippered access to the main compartment so there is no need to unpack everything to get at something in the bottom of the pack.

    The Scarab 30’s padded hip belt straps can slide inside when not in use. The harness and back panel are padded and built for comfort on long hikes, but without the mesh ventilation suspension of the Simplex 20.

    Overall the Scarab 30 is an ideal choice for a minimalist traveller that likes to carry a rather retro-looking small pack, but wants the modern convenience of a laptop sleeve.

    The Nanofly versions of these packs are the same but with Nanofly fabrics, which Osprey says are more highly resistant to scratches and tears while maintaining the same lightness. The Nanofly versions are also, of course, slightly more expensive. Bear in mind that very high quality materials and construction (along with a lifetime warranty) are included with the regular versions; for most uses it is unlikely that the extra upgraded durability is warranted. But if it gives you peace of mind…

    A Women’s Full-Featured City/Laptop Backpack: Osprey Talia

    This pack was previously marketed as a “women’s” version of the Osprey Tropos, which is still available. The proportions are very slightly different, presumably for women’s generally shorter torsos. The Talia is about an inch shorter and makes up for that by being an inch deeper than the Tropos. The full stats on both are below. You can find out more about the Osprey Tropos here.

    A More Basic City/Laptop Backpack: Nova (for Women)

    The Osprey Nova was marketed as the “women’s” version of the Opsrey Nebula; it is shown below in a comparison table with the original Nebula (for men) for reference.

    Use the below to expand for more info.

    Osprey Nova
    Osprey Nova
    Check on Amazon

    The Osprey Nebula is similar to the Talia above but a bit simpler in terms of features.

    There is nice padding on the Nova’s back panel that is raised a bit for some breathability.

    Streamlined, Everyday Student-Style Backpacks: The Osprey Apogee (Men), Aphelia (Women), and Centauri (Unisex, Smaller)

    Use the below to expand for more info.

    Osprey Apogee
    Osprey Apogee
    Check on Amazon

    The Osprey Apogee (designed slightly longer for men’s backs) and Aphelia (shorter and slightly wider for women’s backs) are marketed as “24/7” day-to-day backs. To me, these are student backpacks—with excellent organizational pockets and size for carrying a laptop, a few books, sunglasses, and a water bottle.

    These packs have a smoother look to them than the typical student backpacks, however, and are suitable if you don’t want a blatant studenty look. The water bottle pockets in particular are notable in that they are not notable—you slide a water bottle in the side and it is hidden, you’d hardly note it was there.

    There are compression straps, which we really don’t think are useful on such an already small, svelte urban pack for daily use, but they tuck away in any case when not in use.

    If you don’t have much to carry, you might opt for the Centauri version instead, which has about 30% less capacity (though at it’s size and with nearly the same features you could consider the Daylite Plus, which tends to be cheaper, though is not as svelte looking as the Centauri).

    The Ultra-Rugged City Backpack for Cycling and Heavy Frequent Rain: The Osprey Transporter Series (Small Zip Top, Large Zip Top, Panel Loader, Roll Top, Flap)

    Use the below to expand for more info.

    These are weather resistant daypacks.

    The key difference in these packs is their TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane) coating (in addition to a DWR treatment for water resistance). TPU-treated material lasts longer than and should hold up to even more abuse, and so we’d expect the Transporter series daypacks to survive rain, mud, and rough treatment even better than the other Osprey daypacks discussed here. And just like the newer Osprey series daypacks, Transporter daypacks use heavy-duty recycled polyester with a PFC-free treatment for a more sustainable impact.

    The Transporter day packs are also designed to distribute weight comfortably with a full padded and breathable shoulder harness with sternum strap and back panel. They’re also great for travel along with a rolling suitcase as the top carry handle can function as a sleeve to slide over the luggage’s extended handle.

    Osprey Transporter Large Osprey Transporter Large

    The Osprey Transporter Small Zip Top and Osprey Transporter Large Zip Top are the classic versions in 25L and 30L capacities, respectively. We’d expect the bucket-style flip open top to be the best of any of the Transporter packs at protecting from water, though they should all be fine. The Transporter Small fits only a 13″ laptop in its internal sleeve whereas the Transporter Larger takes up to a 15″ laptop in its side-access zippered laptop sleeve.

    Osprey Transporter Panel Loader Osprey Transporter Panel Loader

    Confusingly, the Transporter Small Zip Top is not the smallest pack in the Transporter series. Coming in a bit smaller are the Osprey Transporter Panel Loader and the Osprey Transporter Flap at 20L capacity each. The Panel Loader opens around the top and sides like a traditional school backpack with a zipper, and the Flap has, of course, a flap that affixes with a buckle. They have only a single water bottle pocket (certainly enough). The Panel Loader fits a much larger 16″ laptop in its dedicated sleeve.

    Osprey Transporter Roll Top Osprey Transporter Roll Top

    The older, discontinued version of the Osprey Transporter Roll Top is the same size as the Transporter Small at 25L but fits a much larger 16″ laptop in its external padded sleeve. It has a rolling top that attaches with a buckle for those who enjoy that look.

    , ,

    1 thought on “Older Osprey Daypacks that Are Still Great—and Often Still Available”

    1. Karen

      I’ve got a question for you. Have you ever seen this Osprey pack? I would like to send a photo. Called Osprey Axis 24 litre. Not the new one, but someone is selling and I wonder if it is legit. Can you send me an email and I can post the pic to you. thanks.

      Reply

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