This pack is a great size for me, fitting plenty of gear and not too bulky for a bus/ train ride or carry on. The outer shell seems to offer a lot of protection and the bag looks like a plain back pack, which is nice since I don't want everyone to know I'm lugging around thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Things that might be bad for some. When packed there isn't room for much else, and as someone else said the waist strap is worthless I just took mine off and find the shoulders with chest strap to be adequate. Overall I'm very happy with it.