Granite Gear Crown3 60 vs Osprey Exos 58

These two land on the same shortlist constantly, and for once the comparison is not between a budget pack and a good one. Both are mature designs from makers with real warranties, both sit around 60 litres, and both are bought by the same person: someone whose base weight has come down enough to stop needing a 2.5 kg expedition pack, but not far enough to go frameless.

Side by side

The 240 gram gap, and how to widen it

Granite Gear lists the Crown3 60 Regular at 1.08 kg without the removable lid, with the lid listed separately at 0.18 lb. Osprey lists the Exos 58 S/M at 1,288 g on the product page and 1,320 g in the S22 owner's manual; we use the heavier figure, as we do throughout the site when a maker prints two.

That is 240 g (8.5 oz) as they come out of the box. The gap widens if you want it to: Granite Gear publishes a 2 lb figure for the Crown3 with the frame sheet removed, which turns it into a frameless 60 L pack at around 900 g. Osprey's frame is integral to the suspension and does not come out.

Against our reference pack the Crown3 saves 598 g (1 lb 5.1 oz) vs the Osprey Rook 65 at Value 2.3/10, and the Exos saves 358 g (12.6 oz) vs the Osprey Rook 65 at Value 1.3/10. On list price, the same MSRP band separates them.

Framesheet versus suspended mesh

This is the real difference between the two packs, and it is not a weight difference.

The Crown3 60 uses a Vapor Current Mark 3 frame sheet — made, Granite Gear says, from scrap plastic — with a moulded foam back panel that sits against your back. It is light, it is stiff enough to transfer load to the belt, and it will make your shirt wet on a warm climb.

The Exos 58 uses AirSpeed: a 4 mm powder-coated LightWire frame holding a trampoline of tensioned mesh an inch or so off your back. Air moves through the gap. The cost is weight, a slightly less stable load because the mass sits further from your spine, and less ability to strip the pack down.

Load ratings: 35 lbs against 35 lbs

Both makers publish a rating, and they land in the same place by different routes.

• Crown3 60: Granite Gear lists 25 lb without the frame sheet, 35 lb with it, and 43 lb with an optional aluminium stay sold separately. Three packs in one, and the only pack on this site with a published 43 lb ceiling under 1.1 kg.
• Exos 58: Osprey lists a 30-35 lb (14-16 kg) load range. One number, no configuration required.

For a typical three-season kit with four days of food and two litres of water, you are in the high 20s to low 30s and both packs are inside their range. If you carry a bear canister, winter gear or long food carries, the Crown3 with the aluminium stay is the only one of the two that claims 43 lb. What your own number actually is, is worked out in how heavy should my backpack be.

Fit: fixed sizes or four inches of adjustment

Granite Gear sells the Crown3 60 in three fixed torso sizes: Short 15-18 in, Regular 18-21 in and Long 21-24 in, with a Re-Fit belt at 26-42 in. The torso does not adjust; you buy the right one. Weight varies slightly by size (Short 1.04 kg, Regular 1.08 kg, Long 1.13 kg).

Osprey sells the Exos 58 in two sizes with adjustment inside each: the S22 owner's manual lists S/M at 17-20.5 in and L/XL at 19.5-23 in, and the product page describes 4 in of torso adjustment on the AirSpeed back panel. Volume changes with size too — 58 L in S/M and 61 L in L/XL.

Practical upshot: the Crown3 covers shorter torsos (15 in against 17 in) and the Exos covers people who do not know their measurement yet, or who are between sizes. Measure first either way — the method is in our sizing guide.

Pockets, lids and the things you actually use

Both have two zippered hipbelt pockets, a front stretch pocket, dual side pockets and a hydration sleeve. The differences are small and real:

Dual-access side pockets sound like marketing until you have tried to get a bottle out of a Crown3 side pocket without taking the pack off. It is a genuine, small, daily advantage to the Exos.

Warranty, and why it is not a tiebreaker

Osprey's All Mighty Guarantee states that Osprey repairs any damage or defect for any reason, or replaces the pack. Granite Gear's warranty is lifetime against defects in materials or workmanship.

Osprey's is the stronger promise on paper, because “for any reason” covers things you did to the pack and “defects” does not. In practice both makers have good reputations for standing behind their gear, and a warranty should not decide a purchase between two packs you will keep for a decade. It is a tiebreaker, not an argument.

The third option, if you are lighter than both

If your base weight is already under about 15 lbs, both of these packs are carrying frame you do not need. The Granite Gear Virga3 55 is 762 g (1 lb 10.9 oz) — 318 g (11.2 oz) under the Crown3 — for 55 L, an adjustable torso and the same Re-Fit belt system, at a lower list price than either.

The constraint is the published 25 lb load rating, and it is not negotiable: a frameless pack past its ceiling puts everything on your shoulders. Read frameless vs framed backpacks before you decide you qualify.

Who should buy which

Both packs appear in our budget ultralight pack ranking, and the Exos also features in Exos 58 vs Durston Kakwa 55 if the cottage end of the market is also on your list.

If the real question is the Exos against Osprey's own comfort pack rather than against Granite Gear, Exos 58 vs Atmos AG 65 covers that choice and the load range that decides it.