or as the fine folk from Cactus climbing and space exploration/ not the companies name anymore but used to be say” Gear that wears in , not wears out”
When i first moved to Nz , i had a backpack, which was about 1.5 yrs old but was wearing out..by a half decent company Jansport, but wasnt as durable as i thought could be. At the point of time i stumbled on this Kiwi company called ” Cactus Climbing “, they are now named Cactus outdoor and they make really great quality backpacks and a whole lot of things.
and this s what i bought from them in 2008 . I was jobless at the time and my wife screamed at me for buying the most expensive bag ever. I went with me everywhere, carrying all the groceries walking back home( to save money for the bus being jobless)
Forward to 2018 and the hydration bladder was getting a bit munted as they say in Kiwi land, and these blokes and gals fixed it for no cost and sent it back to me.
I paid 175 $ then but its 2020 and still showing no signs of giving up, Why put in the bin when it can go on and on..For me thats being eco friendly.
Last week i had inside 1 x 5 kg bag of potatoes, butter, broccoli, one bottle of olive oil,one 1kg carrots , my saw, deo spray and was on my back for about 5 kms..
my only suggestion would be to keep the sternum strap as a fixed accessory and not as an optional.
And no im not getting any freebies from Cactus to promote their stuff, i just think its great quality stuff , and over the years ive added more ( custom made knife roll(10+), messenger bag,( 2nd hand about 20 +yrs ) laptop bag, sleeveless vest (8 yrs +) .Go and get their things, they are great quality and made in New Zealand!