Gear Review – Osprey Eja 48L Pack

Written by Jonny and Pippa Bird

3–4 minutes

We’ve been on the look out for a pack that ticks the following boxes:

Big enough for multi-day camping (2-3 days)
Technical features for both summer walking and winter mountaineering
Some way of reducing the size down for multi-day Alpine hut to hut adventures
Has a specific women’s fit

The good news is – we think we’ve found one!

Testing out the Osprey Eja 48 in the Northern Fells, Lake District © Bird

Review

Big enough for multi-day camping

The 48L Eja comes in at the perfect size for a two day camp – although it is perfectly capable of stretching to another day if you pack efficiently! Not only does it come in the right size, but the location of pockets and features lends itself well to this kind of activity where a lot of kit will remain in the main bag, with layers, food and drink needing to be accessed throughout the day. Osprey have clearly designed this bag primarily with multi-day trekkers in mind, and they have hit the brief!

Technical features for both summer walking and winter mountaineering

As mentioned above, the Eja ticks the boxes for features in terms of summer walking – accessible food and drink on the move, as well as standard pole stashing and breathable back system. While the 48L volume is probably too big for UK winter single day adventures, the pack would be ideal for those wanting to spend a night winter camping or holed up in a bothy. In order to be compatible with this, the pack features ample room for helmet and ice axe – something which can be missed by packs geared more towards the summer months. This makes sure the Eja can be a go-to option year round.

The Eja can be perfectly at home in Scottish Winter, Glencoe © Bird

Some way of reducing the size down for multi-day Alpine adventures

The next item on our shopping list was a way of reducing the size of the pack down for hut-to-hut alpine climbing – the kind of pack that is bigger than your day pack, but has a little extra room for pyjamas and a clean pair of undies! Equally, you don’t want to be on an alpine ridge traverse with a big burley 70L pack on your back – we were looking for the Goldilocks size – just right!

Fortunately, the wizards at Osprey have thought of this too – the lid is fully removable, coming with a built in flap to cover the top-opening that can be deployed as needed. This reduces the pack size to the 35-40L range – ideal for multi-day alpine adventures. Combine this with its winter features, and we really like this pack for this type of climbing.

And finally – it must fit nicely!

Like with all packs – it must be comfy! We have found that companies that have men’s and women’s versions of packs seem to be the most consistent with this – making features and proportions to fit different bodies seems like a no brainer; although it has taken some time for this to become the norm. The Eja 48L is a great fit for Pippa, although we would always recommend trying on in the shop before purchasing to make sure!

In summary – we like this one! If you are in the market for a women’s all-rounder that can just about squeak into a day pack crossed with a multi-day pack, we would certainly recommend this one from Osprey!

Wild Mile Adventure