Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this bag for a trip with my son to Costa Rica. We planned on doing lots of hiking and wanted a bag we could carry on our backs, something water resistant and that would generally keep the bugs out. When it arrived I was very happy with the overall quality. My son, who had planned on bringing a vintage looking canvas bag decided to get an Earth Pak for himself for our trip. These bags and their contents where all we had for two weeks of camping and hiking. Due to their size we were able to carry on our Earth Pak and place them in the luggage carrier above our heads during all our flights. We travelled all over Costa Rica for our trip. From Monteverde down the coast to the more remote Drake Bay/Corcovado area. During our travels from Sierpe to Drake Bay you take a bumpy, windy, wet 45 minutes on an open topped boat through the wetlands and around into the bay. We boarded with tourists and locals. Most tourists were lugging on large canvas roller bags while locals carried the bare necessities in packs JUST LIKE this Earth Pak. In my first picture you can see my bag resting at my feet in the boat to Drake Bay. Everyone's bag sloshed around in several inches of water for the entire 45 minute boat ride. When we arrived there were no docks to pull up to. You literally jump out of the boat into waist deep water and the captains toss you your bags. Several tourists on the boat with us were visibly upset when they were handed their large, wet and now extremely heavy canvas roller bags. My son and I grabbed our bags, put them on our backs and jumped out of the boat into the water and easily hiked up to our hostel. No struggling with canvas rollers along muddy dirt roads. When we arrived, our contents were bone dry and we were able to pull out fresh dry towels and dry pajamas! Helpful tips: 1) Because this bag is basically one large container we were REALLY glad to have purchased packing cubes. The black mesh packing cubes kept my various packed items separate and made it easier to grab one item out without having to refold everything each time. 2) I carried a first aid kit with us which was kept in a hard sided plastic waterproof container. This was totally unnecessary as the bag was completely waterproof during our entire 2 week trip- I could have just gone with a plastic bag and saved the weight and space. The one con: We did a lot of walking and heavy duty hiking with these bags on our backs. I do wish that the bag had a hip belt system. The shoulder straps were padded enough for our liking and the straps were pretty comfortable. The bags are big enough to be heavy when filled with our stuff and a hip belt would have been helpful for those longer hikes to redistribute some of that weight. The bag held up wonderfully our entire trip! The best purchase we made! It's been 9 months since our trip and we've since used these bags for hiking, camping, overnights and day trips. It's a ridiculously useful size. Recently one small seam between the small bag and large compartment in our yellow bag has come undone. This doesn't affect the integrity or water proofing of the bag at all so I haven't contacted EarthPak. I have no doubt they would take care of it since a small note in the bag when it arrived mentioned a life time guarantee. Overall I am so happy with my purchase. Maybe my best Amazon find yet. PROS: - low cost - good quality - durability - water proof!!! (We put that to the test time and time again!) - size (small enough to be a carry on) large enough to pack a lot in it CONS: - large enough to be heavy - no hip belt - one seam has come undone but not integral to the bag TOTALLY WORTH IT! BUY THIS BAG.