Men's Trekking Backpack 50 L - MT100 EASYFIT

I bought the Trek 100 prior to a trek recently. The back did its job well. The bag is comfortable to carry, the loops for carrying stability work well. Accessing the content within the bag was easy. I carried my items within the half moon bags which accommodated well within the Trek 100. The only part I found inconvenient was accessing the bottle within the bottle holder. I would have also like the bag to have a few more compartments. Overall Trek 100 is a fantastic value for money.

Our experience with this backpack was disappointing. After just three uses, the zipper broke, rendering the backpack useless during a crucial outdoor expedition. Thank that the DofE organization had an spare one to complete the Silver Practice. The design, featuring a large zipper from top to bottom, seemed practical at first, but the poor quality of the zipper made it unreliable. I cannot recommend this backpack for outdoor hikes or expeditions due to its unreliable design and subpar zipper quality. The rest of the backpack looked sturdy but now its useless.

The self adjusting easy fit system is intuitive and, well, easy to get the perfect fit each time. The full length zip is convenient when at camp and it's too dark to dig around in the depths to find what you need. One thing that isn't ever mentioned is that the separator between bottom and top compartments is handily fitted with toggles giving you the option of two compartments or one big one. The rain cover is a nice addition if a bit heavy/bulky; it's big for the bag, like it's a one-size-fits-all affair. The one thing that irks me is the asymmetry of the external features. There's one set of trekking pole loops on the right, which is fine. Also on the right is a forward facing bottle holder, which I'm also ok with, but it does have a strange elasticated opening that takes some practice with one hand. A long expanding, zipped side pocket on the left is useful, but because it's only on one side, it gives the bag an unsightly, off-centre bulge when full. The expanding sleeve pocket on the right is very useful for quick access things, but rather than one (pocket) or the other (sleeve), it would have been more versatile with both a zipped pocket and a sleeve on each side. The one thing missing, which makes the least amount of sense, is not having a zipped hip pocket on the left like on the right. The left side hip belt is just a bit empty and non-functional. I think there might be an attachable pocket available, but if there isn't, there should be.