Got this bag about a month ago, it was way more heavy duty that I was even expecting and I was very pleasantly surprised. I'm using this bag to truck all of my belongings up the mountain for ski patrol every weekend and it's holding up nicely. The only concern I have, and it hasn't yet proved a problem, is that given the overall toughness and construction of this bag, the straps seem a little on the thin side... This thing is capable of carrying such a heavy load of gear and clothing, yet the shoulder straps and the handles seem really out of place against the rest of the bags construction because they aren't nearly as wide and fat as you would expect and I fear that after some heavy use, these shoulder straps and handles are going to start separating from the bag.... granted this hasn't happened yet, but I'm being intentionally ginger with them and haven't even tried the shoulder straps out yet for fear they are going to rip right off the bag.

Generally speaking I have liked Brunton gear but this thing is garbage. Like one of the other reviewers I have gone through two of these, gifting one and keeping one for myself and both of us can't believe what a poor quality product this is for the price. The flame is poor even with high quality fuel and this will not work at any kind of altitude. I routinely backpack in the Sierra Nevada's and at 6-8k feet forget it, you're much better off cupping you hand around a 2 dollar Bic. The compass is cheese and the little mirror inside is useless and both should have been left out to preserve weight and size. The "waterproof" aspect lasts only as long as you can manage not to loose the two low grade barely held in place O rings, both of which are gone from mine... along with the screw cap lid that won't hold on at all without the O ring. Putting the lanyard on the lid was also a poor design choice and the belt clip if you can call it that has no grip on it's inside and falls off incredibly easy. I would have been more satisfied with a 60 dollar block of magnesium and Brunton should be ashamed for selling this junk lighter at anything more than 10 bucks, which is what you would pay for a similar quality torch at any roadside liquor store.