GregoryMountain Products Baltoro 75 Backpacking Backpack, Alaska Blue

Take it out every day for my walks and hikes. Tons of room, and it allows you to pack many things in many ways.

The features on this pack are awesome.... Just what one would expect from a Gregory pack. It has a great number of super accessible pockets. Constructed of durable materials and it can be tweaked to fit a broad range of shapes for a custom and comfortable heavy load haul. (Which is my rationale for 2 stars).UNFORTUNATELY, one of the "great" features of the pack, being the easy adjust velcro on both the back piece and the hip belt are design flaws.Less than 1 month after purchase, and on a 7 day trek with a loaded 50lb pack, on day 3 the velcro on the hip belt started to slip. Over time the hip belt would gradually loosen. On day 4 then the large patch of velcro on the back panel started slipping as well. First gradually over a few hours as the pack moved with my torso or a sudden slip as I was lifting it up to put on. By day 6 both the velcro on the hip belt and the back panel no longer locked at all. In fact, the back panel slipped down to the furthest setting within the first few minutes of putting the pack on and tightening the stability straps... Essentially the whole pack was rendered useless as I could no longer wear it comfortably while loaded.On the flipside, Gregory's customer service was empathetic to the problem and immediately moved to ensure I could send it back for a warranty fix. Living in Canada however, this means sending the pack via registered parcel post/courier at a cost of $40 (out of pocket) to their authorised repair centre. At this time, the pack has been out of my possession obtaining a repair twice as long as I actually had the pack. I still don't yet know what "the fix" from Gregory might be, but IMHO this is a major design flaw on the new Baltoro line of packs... The hook and fabric velcro they selected for the pack is not suitable for the rugged handling and abuse a multi-day adventure pack will be subjected to.Gregory should not expected a customer to send a purchase back for a warranty fix within a month of purchase nor should they be responsible for covering the cost of sending it back to get it fixed under warranty.

The bottom loop tore out of the bag while getting ready for a 13 day trip. Because we need the bag tomorrow, there is no time to send it back. I'm now worried about seam integrity/water in that area.My son has used the same Eddie Bauer backpack for school for the last 8 years. This should not have happened a $400 plus backpack that is meant for rugged use - we were simply packing!Not impressed that for this price there isn't a rain cover. I thought there was one but when I look back over the add, I can't seem to see it mentioned. Perhaps previous models had one and this years model doesn't.The size is good and it has enough space for what we need. The fit is nice and customizable.I'm not happy to have a ripped brand new bag.