By ACA from Washington, DC on 1/20/2006

2-week trip to India. Thanks to handy feature that allows you to "zip in" the main shoulder straps (easily packed out of sight), this sturdy bag survived multiple Indian domestic flights & security checks and hauling around on truck, car, train, plane, bus and of course on my person. Huge, sturdy zipper pulls that can be stowed out of sight were also a godsend for security & ease of use & durability. Straps attached over the main zipper entry meant you really woudl have had to invest some time into breaking into it, unless you were cutting into it with a knife or something. This pack was fabulous in its ability to shrink significantly with use of straps etc to tighten everything up, and then when I was putting more and more in, just when i thought i coudl not cram anything more in, i realized i could open up more space with strategic loosening & rearranging. Eventually filled it to be as full and as heavy as I could possibly carry -- if I had put more in, I would not have been able to carry it (I am 5'3", 120 pound woman). So it was exactly right. Also very easy to get things in & out of -- pack does not "explode" when opened all the way because the sides are high and relatively rigid, so things pretty much stay where they are for the most part when you are getting stuff out or re-packing. I wish the pack were slightly lighter overall and not quite as bulky, but this pack was a vast improvement over anything I've used in the past. Also, this extra structural heft meant that no matter how little or how much is in it, this pack seemed to have an uncanny way of distributing its weight on my frame so as to be the most comfortable and well-balanced it could be, and I figure that's a very good tradeoff. The deep/high and narrow profile (i.e. sticks out from the body a lot but not to the left and right) took a little getting used to but eventually won me over, completely. I am not an experienced backpacker but based on this experience alone I highly highly recommend the pack.