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Osprey Porter 46 Specs
Cost: $140
Capacity: 46 liters
Dimensions: 22” x 14” x 11” (56 x 36 x 28 cm)
Style: Duffel Bag
Weight: 3.4 lbs (1.5 kg)
Laptop: 15.6”
Materials: 420D Nylon Packcloth, 420D Ripstop Nylon, YKK Zippers
Origin: Manufactured in Vietnam
Osprey Porter 30 Specs
Cost: $120
Capacity: 30 liters
Dimensions: 19.5” x 13” x 10” (50 x 33 x 25 cm)
Style: Duffel Bag
Weight: 2.8 lbs (1.3 kg)
Laptop: 15.6”
Materials: 420D Nylon Packcloth, 420D Ripstop Nylon, YKK Zippers
Origin: Manufactured in Vietnam
Osprey Porter 30 vs 46 Size Comparison
The two size versions of the Osprey Porter are basically the same design, with the major differences being the dimensions and carry capacity. I’ve already demonstrated the features on the Porter 46 in another post, so here I’ll show you the difference in capacity by packing each bag. But first, I’ll cover the subtle design differences.
Buckles and Hardware Differences
While they’re the same style, the Porter 46 has noticeably larger buckles on the compression straps as well as the hip belts. They’re both off-brand nylon, but the Porter 46 is almost twice as large.
Dimensions Difference
One main difference in these packs is the dimensions. The Porter 46 is considered a max-size carry on with dimensions of 22” x 14” x11” (56 x 36 x 28 cm). This pack gets a lot of criticism for being wider than the max allowable by most airlines. And while this is true if the pack is overpacked, it has such good compression that it’s easy to squish the bag down to 9”.
Most people would consider the Osprey Porter 30 to be a weekend bag. It’s quite a big smaller than the 46, but with a huge main compartment, it holds more than you think it would. With dimensions of 19.5” x 13” x 10” (50 x 33 x 25 cm) theoretically the 30 liter version should hold about 2/3 the gear of the 46.
Size and Fit Difference
The Osprey Porter 30 is physically a smaller bag than the 46. This comes out in the capacity as well as the dimensions and the fit. Measuring the Porter 30 from the middle of the hip belt, up to where the backpack straps are sewn into the pack is about 15”
The Porter 46 version measuring the same distance is a little longer at about 16”. This isn’t a huge difference, but this does influence the comfort carry depending on your torso length. For an explanation of why torso length is important and how to measure it, see my post about backpacks for tall guys.
Laptop Sleeve
Both versions of the Osprey Porter can hold a 15” laptop, but there is slightly more room in the 46 version. The pocket isn’t quite big enough to hold a 17” laptop, but there is plenty of wiggle-room for your 15”. The Osprey Porter 30 also fits a 15” laptop just fine, but it’s quite a bit more snug.
Packing Osprey Porter 46
I’ll start by packing the Osprey Porter 46 so you can see what the larger bag looks like completely full. Later, I’ll transfer the gear into the Porter 30 so you can see the difference in capacity. Experienced packers might balk at this packing list (3 long sleeve shirts, whaaaa…) but my goal is to pack it as full as possible to demonstrate the capacity. Here is the complete list of gear I’ll be packing the bag:
Clothes
Long-sleeve button-up shirts (3)
– Wool and Prince Button Up Oxford
– Hardvark Everyday Shirt
– Cotton Button Up
Patagonia mid-weight crew top (2)
Patagonia mid-weight bottoms (1)
Outlier New Ways Shorts (1)
T-Shirts (6)
– Patagonia Cool Trail (2)
– Generic poly-blend undershirts (4)
Underwear (6)
Socks (4)
– Darn Tough
– Smartwool
Puffy Jacket (1)
– Arc’teryx Atom LT
Rain Jacket (1)
– Outdoor Research Helium ii
Pants (3)
– Cotton Jeans (1)
– Synthetic Eddie Bauer Guide Pants (2)
Lems Nine2Five Shoes
Electronics
CARD 4-Pro Travel Adapter
Dell Inspiron 15” Laptop
Google Pixel 2 Phone
Anker PowerCore 10000 PD Redux
USB-C Cable 6ft.
Nite-Ize Cord Tie
Samsung Ear Buds
Misc. Gear
Matador Freefly Packable Daypack
Vapur 1L Collapsible Water Bottle
Chums Surfshort Wallet
Travel Utensils
Bond Travel Wallet
Flex Lock
Passport
Notebook
Pen and Pencil
Sunglasses
Packing The Porter 46
The Osprey Porter 46 is quite a bit larger than the 30 and this goes for the interior compartment as well. I found a Medium sized packing cube with dimensions of about 14” x 10” x 3” fits almost perfectly in the bottom of the main compartment.
The cubes I used were the Eagle Creek Medium Compression Cube. These work great because they’re lightweight, and allow you to compress your gear. However, any cubes of the same dimensions will fit in here fine.
You have a lot of options for packing the second layer of the Osprey Porter 46. You can kind of just Tetris your gear in here as you see fit. For this layer I packed a Medium Gonex Compression Cube with my T-shirts, and a second Eagle Creek Small Compression Cube with my socks and underwear.
There isn’t much room now for shoes now. But if you squish the gear down you can manage to squeeze in a slim pair in the top or bottom of the pack if you have room. I have the Lems Nine2Five shoes which pack down pretty small. Finish off the main compartment with a puffy jacket.
The rest of the small items now have plenty of room to fit in the top organizational pockets. My sunglasses and phone go in the top slash pocket, and the travel wallet in back slash pocket. The rest of the electronics, chargers and cords all fit nicely in the pockets in the main top compartment.
Carry Comfort Osprey Porter 46
It’s worth mentioning that if you fill the Porter 46 this much, you probably can’t take it as a carry-on. Except for budget airlines, the max-carry on limit is usually around 22” x 14” x 9 (56 x 36 x 23 cm). The bag as I have it here is about 11” wide. However, if you take a few things out and pack it like I’ll demonstrate with the Porter 30 you can easily squish it down to fit in an overhead.
This is what the Osprey Porter 46 looks like on me fully packed. The bag weights about 23.8 lbs (10.8 kg) here. I’m about 5’10”, 200lbs, with a torso length of 17.5 inches. It fits well on me, the hip belts sit right on my hip, perfect for my torso length.
This bag is quite heavy, and the carry comfort isn’t great with this much weight. The Porter 46 doesn’t have very thick backpack straps or hip belts, the back of the pack is flat with no air ventilation. It will get uncomfortable if you plan on carrying it fully packed for too long.
Packing List for Osprey Porter 30
Now I’ll transfer as much as I can fit into the Porter 30. The packing style on the smaller bag is the same, but in theory this bag should hold about 2/3 the amount of gear. The major difference that I found was that because the bottom of the bag has smaller dimensions, I had to completely reconfigure the gear into smaller packing cubes.
I kept the non-clothes items the same in this demo because toiletries and electronics aren’t as easy to remove as bulky clothes. I ditched the largest bulkiest gear first, shoes, one long sleeve shirt, jeans, and a pair of underwear and socks.
Don’t bring a second pair of shoes if you can help it, and if you do wear your bulkiest pair and pack the other one. Same goes for jeans, wear them on the plane if you have a pair. I didn’t really need a third dress shirt here. The other two I have are merino wool anyway and can be worn over and over, a third shirt is just overkill.
Packing the Osprey Porter 30
The larger Eagle Creek 14” x 10” x 3” cubes were too large for the bottom of the Porter 30, so I had to slim down to a smaller cube. Here I used two of the Gonex Medium Compression Cubes, they measure about 12” x 9” x 3”. I kept the Eagle Creek Specter Tech Small Cube with Socks and Underwear.
The biggest difference in these packs is the capacity of the main compartment. After packing the two smaller cubes, you have much less room on the second layer for your gear. The smaller sock/underwear cube, toiletry kit, jackets and daypack fit well in here without any cramming. It would be difficult to pack a pair of shoes in here with as much gear as I have now, so I’m glad I took them out.
The front compartment, slash pockets and laptop sleeve are all the exact same configuration in the Osprey Porter 30. Everything is just slightly smaller than in the 46. My electronics and other small gear packed exactly the same in this bag, all of the little interior dividers and pockets are even the same size. Unless you have a ton of gear in these pockets, the packing style should be identical between versions.
The Osprey Porter 30 is now fully packed out about the same as the 46 liter version, just smaller in all the dimensions. You’re still going to have the same problem with this bag with the width. At about 10” wide, the 30 liter version is still too wide to fit as a carry-on packed this full. However you still have the same great side compression straps, so it’s going to be much easier to squish this bag down to fit the 9” dimension restrictions of many airlines.
Osprey Porter 30 Carry Comfort
The fit is like the Porter 46 except everything is slightly smaller. The torso length fit for the Osprey Porter 30 is slightly smaller, it sits a little bit higher on my hip, but not enough to be uncomfortable. The shoulder straps are basically the same width and padding, but this bag does feel noticeably more comfortable than the larger one. This is probably more due to the fact the bag weights quite a bit less.
The Osprey Porter doesn’t have top load adjustors like the 46 liter version does. The smaller the pack is, the less these straps are necessary. But they would have come in handy in this pack, especially because the shoulder straps attach to the pack several inches below the top of the bag. The top of the pack does sit a little higher on my back than the 46 and there’s not much you can do about it.
Summary
The Osprey Porter 30 vs 46 are almost identical backpacks, with the major differences being the dimensions and capacity. There are some minor differences in hardware, torso fit, and the carry system, but these are minor and don’t contribute much to overall comfort.
I’ve shown the difference in capacity between these two size versions, and hopefully demonstrated how much is too much to pack. When fully packed out, the Porter 46 is too large for a carry on, and too heavy to carry comfortably. The ideal packing list for both of these bags is something similar to what I packed in the Osprey 30. You will be underpacked for the 46 liter version, allowing you to compress it to carry on size. The same pack list for the Porter 30 will be more comfortable in the smaller pack. That is if the bag fits you well.
Shop Osprey Porter 30 Shop Osprey Porter 46
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