My husband and I each have one, and we love its spaciousness and versatility. When we travel, we like the convenience of a waist pack - you can access it w/o taking it off. The lumbar straps are very supportive, even with my short torso, and the mesh keeps you from getting to sweaty. It's extremely roomy and well made. The front pocket has credit card slots, space for your cell phone and Ipod, and two larger pockets. I tried using this as my "wallet" at a recent Walt Disney World trip, and didn't work well because there is no way to secure your cash or change, so I'm not sure why there are credit card slots. The inner pocket had plenty of room for our camera in its massive case, a light jacket, a hat, and a bunch of other random things. There is alot another pocket between the rear padding and the bag for things like maps. We used it mainly as a shoulder bag, and it was very comfortable to carry.

I know some folks think backpacks are supposed to be more comfortable, but in some respect, waist packs are better for heavier loads because you want the weight on your hips, not your shoulders. This bag is very good for that. If you want something smaller than a backpack but with alot of functionality, I highly recommend this pack.

I have ALOT of stuff stuffed into this pack. With the shoulder strap it comes with, it's a huge relief. However, when I put it on my back with THAT much stuff, it does get difficult to keep it on my back.

I'd recommend this to anyone that has to lug alot of stuff, but don't want a full sized duffel bag or backpack...

Excellent quality, lots of room for gear. Comfortable. I loved my pack and bought a second one for a friend as a gift.

Well-made,sturdy, secure, and well-organized with plenty of room for small equipment, snacks, and water for my field work. Much easier to reach items in the field than a backpack, and MUCH easier on my back. Good for shorter hikes.

I totally disagree with sandyandda1227589, well engineered and well thought out offering a lot of carrying capacity in what is still an relatively small waist pack. Have used it from day hiking in temperate conditions, in the deserts of the middle east, long-haul airport travel, trail / road running, to a day to day urban man-bag / pack. Admittedly it isn't perfect and have tweaked the pack a little (strap keepers, elastic bungees to hold water bottle secure, day glow zip pullers, etc), the outer wind-breaker jacket holder could have been better thought out (bigger and adjustable with strap or bungee retention to hold items secure) and the internal storage could be better compartmentalised (mesh pockets with zips for instance) but on the whole i liked it so much i bought a spare one in case they stop making it.

Use it everyday and think it's the heat for my needs. Plenty of room for all my kit. Fits well and is comfortable, even over a long period of time. Good North Face quality!

While the pack is well made, has nice features and good attention to detail, it suffers from overengineering which actually impedes its functionality. For instance, the 3-point side compression straps run directly across the hip belt pockets making access to the pockets difficult. Retrieving items from the pockets is also cumbersome; the pockets lack width and the zippers should have been placed at the top of the belt rather than along the side. Finally, the top compression straps & buckles are located right where the water bottles go, making it even harder to get the bottles back into the stretch pockets while on the go. Overall a nice looking pack that doesn't function well.

After many hours of online research this pack is a winner. I received mine today, the order handling and shipping was extremely fast and perfect from BACKCOUNTRY. I put a lot of stuff in this bag, small first aid supplies, and many other things. The material is high quality and well made, I mosthly use it with the strap shoulder. Hey North Face gays please make the next generation with removable side hips straps with sippers. Otherwise this is an awesome and very usefull product.

Too Big and Too Bulking for long hikes. Material did not seem to breath well and easily cut shoulder strp.

Never puchase another item from Noth Face, only paying for the name .

It's nice that you can use the shoulder strap, or as a lumbar pack. It also has a bunch of pockets and will hold a lot of stuff (including a water tight music pocket). I thought that it was too big though, and looked pretty dorky.