Thank you for this excellent thread!

Based on your recommendation I have gone ahead and ordered a Porter 46 for an upcoming month-long trip in January to Ukraine/Russia.

I lived in Moscow for two years and speak Russian well and enjoy traveling around to smaller towns. While I was there I would take a nice North Face pack around with me for up to a week or so.

Now that I'm going back for a month I wanted something bigger (as even a week out of a normal-sized backpack in the summer is a stretch). It being winter I needed more space for warm clothes, but a suitcase with wheels is a hindrance because of the snow. In smaller cities/towns in the former Soviet Union most of the sidewalks are not cleared of snow. Wheeling a suitcase around is not an option.

I had resigned myself to buying a traditional style internal-frame pack, like for backpacking in the wilderness. I'm very glad I checked this forum though, as I had no idea this kind of class of product even existed. A backpack oriented toward air travelers. Very cool!

I understand they make tradeoffs like smaller straps with less padding that aren't great for extended walking, but for an hour or two (like from a train station to a hostel or around a town center) is just perfect.

Some may say that the Porter 46 is too small for an extended trip, but I traveled to Eastern Europe this past March for 10 days using only a North Face Yavapai which has a 30L capacity. The Porter is over 50% larger, at 46 liters. I'm 100% confident it will be more than enough for me, even bringing a Macbook Air, Kindle 4, scarf, and other things. I try to pack very light and never bring extra shoes (besides a single pair that I wear) or many toiletries. I also find it helps to wear undershirts, which are very small/light and so you only need 2-3 long sleeve shirts. That and underwear, socks, a single pair of jeans (plus the ones I'm wearing) is fine for me for a month.

I will update here after my trip and let you know how it holds up. I'll be going to probably 7-8 towns in a month in Ukraine and Russia in the dead of winter, traveling by trains, buses, and what the Russians call "marshrutki" (small vans acting as buses). Should be a good test of the Osprey Porter 46's durability!