Peter J

The backpack's workmanship, water resistance, and layout are excellent, and it meets my needs perfectly. The zipper on the clear compartment is a bit of a disaster, however. The coating on the top is peeling off, and the zipper is stiff if the two sides aren't aligned exactly, which isn't easy on a backpack with a clear compartment when packing quickly. SVB has already replaced the backpack once, easily and in a truly customer-friendly manner. Kudos! Second flaw: The carrying straps are only loosely connected. The hooks are only secure under load. Without a load, they occasionally fall off. For a backpack that shouldn't end up in the harbor, that's really a no-go. That makes you think about it with such an experienced company like GILL... I'm keeping it now, despite the repeated errors and minor flaws, because otherwise I simply like the backpack. A backpack like this is only human...