The Bucket List Backpack

I loved this backpack when I received it in April, so I with the positive aspects.

Most parts of the backpack are manufactured in second-to-none quality. The canvas, the leather, and the buckles are all well-made. The backpack is the most spacious I have ever owned. I'm taking an eighteen-hour semester, I'm in a play, and I carry a 64 oz. Hydro-Flask; the main compartment holds everything I need it to. When I go to the gym, it fits it all. When I go out for a weekend, it fits it all. When I took an extended trip to Europe, it fit everything I needed it to and then some. Through it all, it feels resilient. The problem is, it only feels resilient. After seven months of use, the bag's actual quality has shown itself.

At first, the back-most zipper began to unzip under the weight of my items. The zipper stops at the bottom of the bag, but the seam is so shoddy, it would just rip apart. I have to unzip and rezip the entire bag whenever it happens; while this doesn't take long, it feels much more overwhelming in public after your bag has just unfolded on your back. I've nearly had my entire bag fall out in a crowded airport. Thankfully, I have had a more positive string of luck with the zipper, this was just a consistent pattern for my first four months with the bag. The more pressing quality issues began recently, as I take this bag into its current, and second, semester with me.

I now call into question the parts-in-between on this bag. Most simply, the lining on the open side pocket has begun to tear from it's seam at the top. Next, my right-shoulder strap is slowly severing at its lower anchor to the back of the bag. I expect that to happen to every bag eventually, but not to this bag after seven months of use. When that fully breaks apart, the strap will be functionally useless. The leather straps at the top and front of the bag have pathetic magnets on them. They rarely catch quickly, and require precise placement to stay shut. So closing them takes up to half a minute if they're being difficult; that's a long time to close a bag. If you don't close them, they loudly flop everywhere.

In summation, this bag is marketed to heavy-use customers. As someone with a bunch of school, hobbies, and no free time, I'd call myself a heavy-use customer. I take my bag everywhere, and I expect a nice bag from a reputable brand to last as long as they advertise—'heirloom.' I doubt with the way this bag falls apart on my shoulders that I will get to leave it as a functional heirloom. I love it, and I want it to last. If it lasted, I would give it five stars.

See photos for the postable quality concern.

This backpack has a well thought-out design from the passport zipper to the multiple ways to open the backpack depending on what you need to do - whether it's quickly taking out your laptop to go through airport security or quickly accessing items packed at the bottom of the backpack. The leather feels great after a round of conditioning. The leather bottom is durable and helps the backpack stand up when I need to set it down.

Customer service was also excellent and quickly helped with any issues on check-out.

I needed a tough, well-built rucksack for police duty, one that could hold equipment in my police cruiser. WOW was all I could say when I received my backpack in the mail; it well exceeded my expectations. It's an excellent heavy-duty backpack. Thank you to Kodiak Leather for producing such a high-quality product.

I love my new bag. Great quality and perfect size for short trips or everyday use!