I bought one of these for myself when I started nursing school a few years ago and liked it. As my three kids got older and started high school, I bought each of them a High Sierra backpack, and each one of them has held up extremely well. No broken zippers, no ripping where the straps are attached, nada. And my kids have abused their backpacks, believe me. We each used our backpacks when we went to Europe this summer, and, stuffed full of carry on gear and laptops, each one held up admirably. Simply can't say enough about the quality of these backpacks.