Osprey Mutant refresh for Fall '22

Some pics have been added to the Mutant pages on Osprey.com, and image filenames indicate Fall '22 collection. There has been no official announcement that I'm aware of, but some things can be inferred.

Mutant 38

Mutant 22

Looks like they've changed fabric, possibly to the same "NanoFly" used on the Mutant Nimsdai edition. It is still 210D like the previous fabric, so I'm not sure if this will affect abrasion resistance meaningfully. They've added some buckle straps to the front of the pack, which I prefer over shock cord for strapping multiple items. The 22's hip belt has added foam hip flaps, where it used to be just webbing. I think this makes sense as a small pack that is meant for relatively heavy loads in winter/mixed climbs. The previous belt was a bit insufficient for actually carrying two ice tools, a rope on top, crampons etc. Overall pack geometry, external features though look the same as previous version. Curious to see what else they've changed.

Looks like they changed the main compartment from a drawstring to a zip up, also from my perspective the bag is more square and not as tapered down as before. I have the 38 and while I do like it i often feel like i'm faffing about with all the buckles so adding two more is gonna be a con for me 

Osprey nanofly is their branding of Gridstop, UHMWPE (dyneema) ripstop grid on a nylon base. Very sturdy for the weight, but it isn’t thick/stiff enough to prevent crampons strapped to the outside from poking through the weave a little bit.

Brian, are you mixing up the 22 and 38 pictures? The 38 geometry and closure looks the same as the previous model.

Possible release date of 19 September from Amazon. Also confirms Nanofly fabric: "Made with lightweight, durable Nanofly (UHMWPE) grid fabric with recycled nylon base".

BD speed 22 will still be the ultimate alpine pack (with back panel and hip belt mod)

looks heavy. i was hoping future models would be lighter. zippers = bad in the alpine. 

with my current 38, i've had to remove a lot of riff raff to get it down to an acceptable weight for multi day alpine routes. modified, it's under 1.5 lb. even with frame sheet and stays removed, the pack carries well and is comfortable.

jcs

I have the most recent 22L mutant and have been really satisfied with it. My only two drawbacks with it are that the rope carry system requires me to take the rope off in order to access the main compartment and that there is no side or back straps to allow for A-frame ski carry, compression, or external crampon carry. It seems like they’ve at least fixed the latter on this new version. Maybe i could buy just the straps and put them on my current pack.

Brian C wrote:

Looks like they changed the main compartment from a drawstring to a zip up, also from my perspective the bag is more square and not as tapered down as before. I have the 38 and while I do like it i often feel like i'm faffing about with all the buckles so adding two more is gonna be a con for me 

That looks like it could just be the brain