What are you paying for? What components and features increase the cost, value and life of a bag?
1. Brand name of components: Generally the brand name component has achieved that recognition for a reason; they work, and they charge a premium for that recognition of quality. This doesn’t mean you can only get quality with brand name components, but it does mean you will pay for the name (and probably get the quality that goes with it). 2. Zippers quality: Look for oversize zippers. You want a #10 size zipper for your main compartments and a #8 for other, with #5 being only good enough for small accessory pockets. PK and YKK brand zippers are widely respected in the industry for their quality and non-corrosive characteristics. They are not the only brand that provides these quality characteristics but they are currently the most wide recognized. Using PK or YKK brand zippers increases the cost of a bag. Using a coil style zipper (instead of a PK or YKK Delrin ), or another less expensive brand will reduce the cost of the bag, and the bag may or may not be as functional. 3. Frames: I
