REASONS TO BUY
Versatile
Durable
Comfortable to carry in different ways
REASONS TO AVOID
Complicated design takes some figuring out
Some features get in the way of others
Osprey Ozone Duplex 60 - Women's Review
This is a clever travel backpack that can be used in one or two parts, making it easy to carry on and transport your items over longer distances
Credit: Osprey
Our Verdict
The Osprey Ozone Duplex 60 travel backpack is an intriguing and creative solution to a variety of travel scenarios. It can be carried as one unit or separated into two. As two bags, it is a simple system that can be carried on to an airplane as your carry on and personal item; when the two are attached together, the larger bag clips on to the outside. At first, this may seem backward and uncomfortable, as if it would make the heaviest bag further from your body, and therefore torque on your shoulders, but it is actually quite clever. Your bulkier items (like clothing) go in the outer bag, so this part of the bag may look bigger but is likely to be the lighter weight of the two.
Our Analysis and Test Results
The Ozone Duplex 60 can be many things: a single backpack, a carry on and personal item, or a duffel for the hotel with a handy day pack for around town, hikes, or other outdoor adventures.
Performance Comparison
The Ozone Duplex 60 from Osprey morphs from one bag into two for a variety of travel uses.
Credit: Lyra Pierotti
Comfort
Osprey has long been known to make some of the most comfortable backpacks in the industry. After they revolutionized comfort in their alpine climbing backpacks, we noticed this interesting new take on the travel backpack. The first thing the Ozone Duplex does well to improve comfort has to do with the way your travel gear is organized. The backpack separates into two parts, with the larger suitcase-like part attaching like a tortoiseshell onto the back of a smaller, slim daypack-sized backpack. The frame is built with sturdy but svelte straps and suspension, but this organization scheme also improves comfort. Since your heavy electronics and books fit best in the smaller pack, this puts heavy items next to your back; when you hub the larger outer bag on top of the smaller one, you're most likely putting bulky but lighter items (like clothing) on the outside of the bag. This helped reduce the torque effect of an otherwise bulky backpack, though when the two are stacked into one and stuffed full, it does protrude a ways behind the body.
The hip belt is minimal but effective on the Osprey Ozone Duplex 60.
Credit: Lyra Pierotti Lyra Pierotti
The suspension of the Ozone Duplex is very well made. The straps are wide to distribute weight, and the firm padding improves support and long term durability. We like the hip belt as well; it's big enough to be functional and wrap around the hips, but small enough to be discrete and not cumbersome. If you're carrying this whole system on to an airplane, you will need to separate the two bags. The larger outer bag then turns in to something like a duffel that you can sling over your shoulder while wearing the backpack. This is not the most comfortable way to carry the bag, overall, at least for our testers, but the convertible nature makes navigating airline rules a bit more doable.
The Ozone Duplex is a great travel pack if you want to avoid checking a bag. Just detach and you have two bags, one carry on and one personal item.
Credit: Lyra Pierotti Lyra Pierotti
Features
The Ozone Duplex earns uniqueness points in this department. The hubbed design is much easier to manage than we initially expected. The bottoms attach with sewn buckles, and the upper corners attach with an adjustable buckle, much like the one that keeps your heel in place in a pair of ski boots. It's something of a “progress capture” system, so if your bag is packed to the brim, you just need to push them together until you hear one click. If it's less stuffed, you'll get more clicks making the bag fit together more tightly.
Here we are disconnecting the small backpack from the larger duffel-style bag, getting ready to board the plane.
Credit: Lyra Pierotti
The bag then can be separated, and the outer portion becomes a duffel of sorts. It has a sturdy grab handle as well as a detachable shoulder strap, which gives you many carrying options. Overall, we like the organization scheme and pockets, and the smaller daypack is particularly well thought out for electronics and essentials, or even for a light hike.
The small backpack handles heavier, denser objects very well with padding for electronics and an easy access circumferential zipper that opens into the main compartment.
Credit: Lyra Pierotti
The outer bag also has a separate compartment that perfectly fits a toiletries bag. One of the biggest stressors in transit is having a shampoo explode all over your clothing. This compartment can help put your travel mind at ease, even if you end up having to check that half (or 2/3) of the bag last minute.
Packing & Accessibility
If we stopped rating bags after the first two metrics, Comfort and Features, the Ozone Duplex may have been more competitive in this review. However, Osprey seems to have gotten distracted by the novelty of the Duplex and didn't pay quite enough attention to accessibility. The pockets that make the most sense for a wallet and passport are very tricky to access when the two bags are hubbed together, which makes this pack feel cumbersome during travel.
When the bags are hubbed together, this small pocket is the most logical one for a wallet or passport, but the shoulder straps must be unclipped to access it. This is one example of how the Ozone Duplex can be quite fiddley to use.
Credit: Lyra Pierotti
The outer bag is also very soft and supple, without much of a frame, and shaped to hub onto the smaller backpack. This makes carrying it a bit awkward and floppy when it is detached. The bag is much better when joined to make one backpack, and not as great separated. That outer bag does, however, have useful internal compression straps and flaps that help keep your contents secure.
The internal compression flaps are like a jacket for your jackets! This is a nice feature for a soft-sided suitcase so your contents don't get too jumbled in transit.
Credit: Lyra Pierotti
Durability
The Ozone Duplex is made of a combination of thoughtfully placed lighter weight 210 denier nylon with more durable 450 denier Packcloth. The zippers are smooth and large, and some are lockable. The D-ring attachment system for the shoulder strap is thick and sturdy. Overall, high marks for durability — as usual from Osprey.
Volume to Weight Ratio
Due to the thoughtful use of lighter weight fabrics where possible, the Ozone Duplex travel backpack is relatively light for a 60-liter backpack, which is of decent capacity size and the largest in our review. These 60-liters only weigh 4.43 pounds, giving a ratio that's just above average for our lineup.
The OGL Test Load (left) and how much of it fit into the bag. Easily all of it!
Credit: Lyra Pierotti
Value
The Ozone Duplex is not a bargain travel backpack. However, Osprey has a strong reputation for well-made products, so we are confident that if this bag suits your needs, you'll feel it is well worth the cost, and it will last you a long time.
Ready to board with our carry on and personal item! The Ozone Duplex is a clever and useful bag, though fiddley and cumbersome at times.
Credit: Lyra Pierotti
Conclusion
The Osprey Ozone Duplex 60 is an intriguing and useful travel backpack. The hubbed, or “tortoiseshell” design makes it highly modular and adaptable for urban and airline travel. We appreciate that the smaller daypack (with the electronics pockets) keeps heavy items close to the back, making the pack useful as an around-town backpack. The beneficial pockets also allow for light hiking. Overall, the Duplex is a highly versatile and exciting backpack that lost some points due to some fiddley and awkward features, such as valuable pockets blocked by the hubbed outer bag. Overall, however, it's a pack that we think many will love and find exceedingly useful.
Off we go with the savvy Ozone Duplex!
Credit: Lyra Pierotti
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Lyra Pierotti
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