This is a great looking and feeling backpack - very professional, great size - not too big but big enough - loads of useful and thoughtfully designed storage options. The internal sleeves for laptop and tablet are excellent and secure making access simple. External pocket storage is plentiful, the top zipped pocket is an excellent and very handy option for small often used items, and the front zipped pocket is very convenient. I have been pleased with this bag for my use cases up to now.

However, potential buyers need to be aware of two usability issues that are not immediately apparent and one - I think - major design flaw that you might avoid if you know it's a possibility, but that significantly limits the usefulness of the bag for heavy or frequent use.

Firstly, internal storage capacity is much restricted if you use the front zipped pocket to hold anything that is not flat. It's possible to fit items in the internal storage in addition to laptop and tablet, but if you use the front pocket for non-flat items, it's not possible to get items out of the internal main storage easily because there's not enough room to get a hand into the lower part of the internal storage. You have to take the top items out first to do this. Secondly, while water resistant, neither the main bag material or (more importantly) the zips are waterPROOF, which means that although it will withstand light showers it will not keep out a proper downpour. In this case, the main bag material gets very damp: any tech gear would be at risk. You'll need to buy a proper waterproof cover and carry it in the pack in case of being caught out by a heavy downpour. Carrying a rain cover then eats into the internal space, since it fits best into the front pocket, as noted above. Neither of these issues is a deal breaker - you can manage them both.

However, the major design flaw that has only just become apparent to me is that after six months of ownership - not heavy use, perhaps two outings with the bag a week, mostly light carry and one day with the bag more heavily packed - the right hand shoulder strap has detached itself completely from the bag making it very much less useful. It's possible to use it with a single strap - but it's not as comfortable and given the problem with the straps, it's likely that would also happen over time to the second strap. The problem is that the straps are connected to the bag with small metal rivets and these are designed to swivel making the pack easier to put on and take off. However, this means that there is a weak spot where the rivet and leather strap meet because the strap is held into place by a very thin washer. In my case, the rivet washer has become bent over time when swivelling to put the bag on and off when the bag is full - and the leather strap hold has come off the rivet because the washer no longer lines up properly. This will need replacement and is likely fixable - and I am sure under warranty this could be done by Harber - but I suspect it would just keep happening again and again over time, so I won't be doing that as it's a lot of hassle and I need a pack I can use.

So the upshot is if you do choose this pack be very careful when putting the pack on and off and don't pack it too full. That's not something I expected to be an issue in just six months of usage for a pack costing £319. I expected it to last me a lot longer than that. So, although this is a great pack looks and features wise, having a major flaw affecting the straps - which are the most important part of a pack if you actually want to use it comfortably - this means that I will no longer be using this pack and looking for a bag with more robust design on the exterior fittings.

I really like the bag and how it feels the only think that is really annoying is the my 15 inch gaming laptop does not fit inside.