This is a very good backpack. I am in the military and have used many different brands over the years. By far, this is one of the best I have ever used. I plan on purchasing all my hiking bags, school backpacks with LLBeam. My only draw back is they do not offer an ABU color.
The back pack is light weight but made out of very sturdy material. It has more compartments than I expected and even small zippered compartments within compartments. My intention is to use it for a travel carry on and it will nicely fit the items that I want to carry. I has side and top handles which will also be nice in addition to the shoulder straps
My mom got me this backpack when I was in 7th grade (it was so big I looked kind of like a turtle with it on). This year, I started my master's degree and I'm still using it! After 2 years of junior high, 4 years of high school (including 5 summers at band camp), 4 years of undergrad, and now my first year in grad school, the straps are finally starting to fray, 1 (infrequently used) zipper is sticky, and there's a small rip by the top handle. Yes, it was a little more expensive then, but if you figure the cost over ten years, this backpack cost us about $6 a year. My parents always told me that it's better to spend a little more for something that will last forever, and that was this backpack.
I purchased two of these backpacks at the same time. One for each of my sons. At the time they were in 7th and 4th grade. My 4th grader graduated this last June and never used a different backpack all those years. They both carried their packs until graduation. I washed and washed them and they are still in great shape. My 4th grader was/is a readaholic and he stuffed that bag with books all those years and it stood the test. That is 9 years with the same backpack. Lugging books, shoes, gym clothes, whatever around. Well worth the investment. I purchased a LL Bean backpack for my daugher when she started Kindergarden - but she has been too fashion concious to want just one though!!!!
