This guy is fun, great personality but most importantly, he is thorough and intelligent about what he reviews. He covers all the issues of a pack better than most of the pack reviewers that I have watched. I am an avid backpacker who has done a lot of alpine winter solo hiking. I am 70 now and have bought a lot of packs and gear. This guy gets two thumbs up by me... go George!
recently got both at good price. to those undecided i advice you to pick the quasar. borealis is too stiff, uncomfortable and heavy. and the annoying thing is you can't make it stand on its own. the quasar is the opposite. main compartment has a good stretch making it easy to fill the bag with your things, lightweight, soft and very comfortable on your back.
George... Love your Intros...mate... you doing my head in just laughing ...the shows are are nothing short of spectacular... Keep it coming ... Friend...great channel.......i vote Channel of the Year for actual products which everyone needs..
Have both. Borealis is much smaller in terms of what you can put in despite its bigger looks because it can't stretch forward (it's wide and tall but can't stretch forward - you can put sneaker shoes box in Quasar but it won't fit in Borealis). That's biggest North Face downside, but its zippers and pockets are more comfortable, so is laptop compartment. Quasar pockets are good too but not that good as Borealis. But all in all Quasar is more versatile and I'm using it every day and Borealis is stuck in my closet.
Professional and passionate. Good job. Edit: between the recon and borealis? Try putting a jacket or a yoga mat in the recon's outside pocket. The straps shine in a bulky-item scenario.
I don’t know how I missed you channel but your reviews are outstanding. I’m willing to pay top dollar for a solid commute bag since my commute is very long via mass transit. The details and production values of your reviews are top notch. Great content. Thanks!
The osprey is designed for hiking or travel and more outdoors work the bags are designed for different purposes for comparison. Not to mention your overall frame is very large, the northface for me I would swim in and I find the slimmer shoulder fit very comfortable. Their pack is a beautiful fit for me, and I for one prefer it's single color style over a flashy bag like the north face bag. Mine is also designed different. I bought it in 2019 so that doesn't make a lot of sense. But mine has extra water clips at the top of the third pocket. Mine also has air channels along the back they are sewn in but better than on the bag you have. Mine has double zippers as well. You must have a different version of the bag, I have the quesa which is the female version that's still supposed to be the same. My quesa has a strap along the side of the bag to keep your water bottle in. I also prefer that the back isn't seamed like the other bag, because when wearing thinner clothes the seams can rub into your skin.
In my opinion, North face lost a lot since they changed their admin panel, shortening and eliminating some pouches; I ordered a 2019 recon and now I am returning it due to this issue: when you put spacious things in the admin on the new north face, it fills too much and it becomes hard to reach and extract things from the main compartment; moreover, this create a gap of space in the main comportment that is hard to use. Honestly, the old admin panel was near to perfect, and used to offer the possibility to put medium items in it, while in this it is impossible and it makes also the main compartment harder to use. It looks like some designer at North Face, one day, woke up and said "Hey, we are doing some great backpack, why don't we design some shitty changes in the 2019 version in order to fuck everything up?" The borealis and the recon, in particular, if they had kept the old admin pouch and added the new laptop compartment, would have been such a great backpacks. In this case, I would prefer the Osprey, 'cause even if they also removed some pouches from their admin, at least their backpack has not a so deal-breaking flaw such as that horrible mutilated admin pouch. Great comparison and video as always George, you deserve many more subscribers
Which would you recommend is best for everyday walks / short hikes? Concerned about the weight of borealis….or would you suggest a different alternative all together?
as a Osprey fanboy, my comment of the original video upload still stands. what's the deal with all these Osprey vs North Face comparos? kickback from North Face, perhaps? ha! just kidding. your reviews are very impartial. One.
I like the North Face. Do they make this style in anti theft including slash for those who travel around Europe. Would make a great day/city bag if they do
They do make some like that but I would like more.. Thanks for watching.. I'm not sure how this video got deleted?? I got another review coming tomorrow or Friday!
Osprey ruined the Quasar. I have, I believe, the 2017 model. It’s got way more admin pockets, double zippers and wider shoulder straps. Looks like osprey got cheap and tried to save money on production.
Love your reviews...a quick question. Why does the borealis have one of the exterior water bottle compartments that is not stitched right through, it has an opening at one point on the side. Is there a function for this?
North face bags don’t last. Even my Herschel and jansport bags always outlast NF. But Osprey has lasted me and I treat that bag ROUGH (unlike my NF). I will never buy another NF bag again. I just hate how Osprey cheats out now and gets rid of internal zipper pocket and organization pockets
I was leaning toward buying TNF borealis or the recon BUT when reading reviews I saw that many people noted that these North Face backpacks do not stand upright when you set them down on the ground. I bought a North Face backpack many years ago which also had this problem; the bottom was kind of curved/sloped so that it did not sit upright independently, I had to lean it against something or lay it flat. I ended up returning that bag. But from reviews, I see that these TNF backpacks still have this issue. Does the borealis or the recon have a flat bottom and stand upright independently? (Not when empty, obviously, no bag will stand upright and flat on the bottom when empty 🤣) And do the Osprey backpacks (quasar and nebula) have flat bottoms that sit upright independently, better than TNF?
They don't stand my man.. What you read is correct! TNF have back saver tech and the bottom curves. Try the Osprey Tropos if you want a bag in this style that stands up! See ya
@@GeorgeDEFINED thank you for your reply 👍 I can see how that sloped shape would distribute weight better for carrying, but makes it very inconvenient for school or travel when you know you'll have to set it down and have to load/unload from the top many times throughout the day. It seems like a minor thing, but it is a huge dealbreaker for me, my personal preference. I did purchase the Osprey Nebula based on your stellar review in your recent video; bought it for my son to replace his ll bean school backpack. I think the nebula will work great for that purpose. I was undecided between the osprey quasar and the nebula and your video really helped me make my final decision, very thorough and informative. Thanks again 😊 side note: might be a good video idea to compare/contrast the Osprey nebula and quasar
Borealis sucks, unfortunately. After a 2-months of a moderate usage ("commuting" by car, so it stays on a backseat most of the time) the harness on the top started to rip off the pack body like the cheapest backpacks do after a year of a usage.
