Alright, right now I can be described as a professional college student. I have been searching for the perfect bag for sometime and unfortunately this isn't it. It is a good size. My previous bag was inbetween the large and medium and I needed something larger for all my classes and labs. Other than my three complaints this would be a great bag. First, the strap. Its padded and helps with long treks across campus but I wear my bag on the left side and this is only meant for the right side. It can't be changed. Second, the bag has very little structure to it. I sit in stadium style classrooms and I have to sit my bag on the floor. It keeps flopping over and I wish it was a bit stiffer or had some support that would allow it sit upright so I would have easy access to my stuff. Third and this one is optional for others but the bag could use more pockets. The flap is completely unusued other than covering the bag. The main compartment has a zipper so there really is no need for the flap but to cover the outer compartments. I think it could use some pockets on the outside of the flap. Three pockets of the same size on the outside would be perfect. I am considering contacting LL Bean and getting the material my back is made of (the green argyle which I love, BTW) and having my tailer add some evenly sized pockets for other things I carry. This was common practise in the Army to buy our rucks and have pockets sewed on to fit our individual needs.
I bought two messenger bags for my daughters to use for school. They wanted the custom made ones and I have to say they look great and are well made. They also work fine when almost empty! HOWEVER, they are not suitable for carrying heavy loads of books and files to and from high school and middle school. They simply aren't comfortable for carrying heavy loads. The girls were visibly straining to carry the bags because they are unbalanced with all the weight on one shoulder. I began to worry the girls were damaging their backs.
Within one month my high schooler had abandoned this bag in favor of her regular 5 year old purple hibiscus print LL Bean backpack. I ended up buying both girls new LL Bean backpacks for Christmas!
So if you need to carry heavy loads, stick with a back pack - you won't be comfortable with this bag.
The bag is adorable and well made; however, I wish the strap was shorter or more adjustable. It's way to long on the shortest setting for my 1st grader.
