I've owned the bag for three years. Actually I've owned two of them.

Pros:
- Excellent design
- Good fabrics
- Lightweight
- Good service
- Fair price

- Stitching is unacceptably poor
- Lightweight zippers
- Heavy, fragile zipper pulls
- Plastic hardware
- Gaudy branding

BLUF:  On the first trip out the door the stitching separated where the lower right shoulder strap meets the zipper on the corner of the bag, on three separate seams, threatening to spill my stuff all over an Eastern European street.  On inspection most of the seams, even at stress points and going through multiple fabric layers, were joined with a single lightweight stitch.  This simply ain't gonna cut it when one carries all of one's continental possessions upon one's back. I contacted RS and they suggested I find a cobbler who could likely make repairs.  Sage advice.  And presented so quickly I have to wonder if they offer it frequently. I instead whipped out my housewife and got busy sewing.  There was a lot to sew. Poly fabric is lightweight and strong with a nice dobby weave, but that meant that it quickly unraveled when the stitching pulled out. I used an overhand locking whip stitch to dissuade the seams from further divorce. RS immediately  sent a replacement, it was waiting for me when I returned from the road.

The design is good and well organized.  It meets the The IATA-spec'ed carry on dimensions; these are not ideal for a backpack. Too thick and too short.  This means the load tends to move towards your butt when bag is worn vertically.  This can be somewhat overcome with careful packing and compression. However the side compression straps only come 2/3 of the distance toward the front of the bag, meaning compression will be sketchy. An unavoidable consequence of the expansion zipper. Other bags can have full thickness anterior-to-posterior straps that allow for much better load control. Coupled with a lack of any support from the padding this results in a bag that is not ideal as a backpack. But it will work as one.  Of course if the bag is unzipped to expand volume this problem grows exponentially as the load moves further from one's back.  I'm of a mind that a better approach towards expanding past carry on size might be modular bags that strap onto the bottom/top of the pack.  But my view is admittedly perverted by years of carrying stuff on my back professionally.

There are many thoughtful and useful details in the design and fabric of the bag, such as heavier waterproof fabric on the bottom, air permeable padding on the front, four useful pockets, dual handles.  But he zipper pulls are both heavy and fragile, though one could run a lock through them it would be somewhat pointless as they'd break off with a strong twist.  I like Steve but I don't appreciate having his name immovably embroidered in large letters on the back of the bag.  It's like a sign saying "Hello crooks, scalpers and terrorists!  Stupid American attached to this bag waiting to get taken advantage of!"

I don't see the embroidery on the photos of the current bag, and the zip pulls seem different.  SO maybe things have improved.  HOWEVER I would not buy this bag again unless the stitching has been rectified.  Perhaps it has but no way to tell until one gets one's hands on the thing.