I chose the backpack for its small size and the number of compartments. I was looking for something to replace my old mini-backpack by ful. Now, that was a well-designed backpack. What a pity they don't make them anymore.

The first thing I noticed about the Dakine backpack was how pretty it looked (I got the black one with blue pull tabs) and the close second was: why is so thin (shape wise) and unmanageable? Any effort to shape it up has failed. I tried puffing it up; putting some bulky stuff inside it overnight to make it more round and not prone to falling over - nothing worked. It's like trying to make a pancake to stand on its edge.

Unless you keep something bulky and heavy on the bottom of it at all times, it will not stand on its own even if it's empty, let alone if you put anything in the front pocket. And whatever you put in the front pocket has to be smaller/lighter than whatever you put in the main compartment or it will topple the backpack over and your stuff will spill out the moment you open the front pocket. Like your cell phone on the asphalt - not fun. You always have to hold the handle to keep it upright and can only put the things in and take them out of the backpack with one hand. It's highly impractical.

Another thing is the two zippers (to the main compartment and the front pocket) are very close to each other and almost the same length. There's nothing to distinguish them from each other. Remember, you're dealing with a flat pancake, your depth perception won't help you. I don't remember how many times I grabbed one pull tab only to discover it's the wrong one when I already unzipped the wrong compartment.

Last but not least, the inner pocket in the main compartment is so small, I'm not sure what it's for. Maybe your keys if you don't have too many. Your cell phone will only fit if you keep it unzipped. Forget about sticking your wallet in there. Speaking of keys, I read a description of the backpack saying there's a clip for them but I couldn't find it.

People who saw me trying to maneuver my stuff in and out of the backpack without dropping everything on the ground, said "You need another backpack". I've ordered a sling-pack by Yens. It looked solid in the pictures and had good reviews. We'll see.