warranty is pure fiction

If you live in California, close to their repair shop, their warranty might be judged as real. The fact that they have NO authorized repair shops around the country, none at all, zero, means that their 'life time warranty' is useless. (They count on this, I'm certain. Much cheaper to do business. Good for stockholders. Bad for consumers.) It is way too much of a burden and expense to box up these large items and send them across country (in my case). It is also a huge time commitment for the bag to be away - numbered in weeks depending on how busy they are. I just paid for my repair locally (in my case it was a whopping $25), complained to Jansport bitterly about their ridiculous policy, and promised to stay away from their label from now on. Suggest you do same.