Well, though it is a little heavier than I'm used to, I think I like it. It seemed a little awkward when I was transferring everything over to it. You think the bottom will sit flat, and it will, but when you carry it, you want it to lay against the purse. It is very spacious inside. If I had a complaint, it would be as noted in other reviews that the lining should be tacked down, but during use so far I haven't had any problems with it. I do think a few more inside pockets might be nice as I could see very small items getting lost in the lining, but overall, very please so far. I tried it once as a backpack & it seems to lay comfortably, but I usually just sling it over my shoulder & its very comfortable that way also. So far, great purchase.

This is the best bag, exactly what I was hoping and more. Good workmanship, smells great (genuine leather), the sling or backpack option is comfortable and inconspicuous, there are multiple secured zippers. I bought it to travel Portland and am so happy, I'm considering getting another color just for variety. The brown is beautiful, more of a darker than lighter color, also perfection. Definitely recommend this.

I really love this purse. First, it is a backpack, which is so freeing to not have your hands or shoulder encumbered. Second, it's real leather, not pleather, so it is very durable. I purchased 2 of these other backpack purses in March 2016: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TEK22C/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 but they both had holes or broken straps by November. Both of them. Not this one. The real leather makes this much more durable. Another good point is that the zipper to the main pocket is next to your back. That's a benefit to security. No one can easily access the main pocket while you are wearing it. The inside is spacious, too. I hold my 7-inch tablet in there when I need to. I'm buying one a month for a few months so I will have back-up purses. Eventually I'll wear this puppy down, and I'll want another. Please keep making them.

I PAID FULL PRICE FOR THIS ITEM. Unlike several other 5 Star reviews, I did pay full money for this item. I got it three days ago, but I thought I should post a review nonetheless. Don't worry, I'll also update this review.

My needs for this bag:
I'm going on a study abroad to India, and I realized that none of the bags I owned were secure enough or would hold enough for my everyday needs. We're going to be traveling a lot, and I kind of needed a bag that could do it all: give me a hands-free experience, yet be carried comfortably at my side/in front of me for security; speaking of security, I needed this to be pretty hard to access for pickpockets, but easy to access for me; I also needed it to be extremely sturdy, able to be used for my everyday essentials on a daily basis.

Initial Impressions:
Initially, it arrived without any fancy packaging. Just in a plastic bag with a couple generic tags. Smelled faintly of leather but has since lost that smell. So I'm not too sure how "genuine" the claimed genuine leather is.

Regardless, it seems sturdy and well-made. The material feels quality to the touch, the design features are on point. The design is ridiculously utilitarian. Besides the main pocket in the middle, there's a smaller pocket on the front with a magnetic closure, a zipper pocket above that one, two small zippered side pockets, and a large pocket in the back. You can wear it as a sling back, backpack, or even as a shoulder bag (though it looks kind of funny, I find it extremely useful).

I've used it every day since I've gotten it. I'm a full time university student with a full time job, so it has gone through quite a lot. But only a fraction of what I need it to go through in India. So far, it's been comfortable no matter how I wear it. Yet, the straps are thin when converted into a backpack - so if you weigh it down, the bag will obviously be uncomfortable after a while. As for the weight of the bag itself, I don't find it to be heavy at all - but then again, I'm used to carrying around a heavy bookbag.

I can see myself loving this bag, but there are a few things I'll be keeping an eye on:
1) I'm slightly worried about the hardware on here. The zipper pulls have a lot of strain on them, and they don't seem to be of the highest quality.
2) Same goes for the lining. While it's not the cheapest I've seen, I can imagine it ripping. It's an easy fix, though.
3) The seams also worry me a bit. I'm not sure how well the straps were reinforced, or the edges at main tensions points, like in the main pocket. If these rip, it will be harder to repair. The main way to combat this, though, is to not weigh the bag down.

I'll update to comment on durability later, but I just wanted to post this now because I'm ridiculously surprised at how much stuff I've been able to put into this. Yesterday, I carried the following items in this bag:
1) My wallet (which holds my passport and several other items - it's one of the large rectangular types)
2) A pouch full of hand sanitizer, hand lotion, nasal spray, and chapstick.
3) A pouch full of mints, gum, and an ibuprofen bottle.
4) Two notebooks
5) A book
6) Two Arizona Iced Tea Arnold Palmers
7) My phone's charging cable
8) My huge set of keys
9) A DVD
10) A slim pen case

While I wasn't able to grab a picture of this impressive feat, I did want to share what I packed today. I wouldn't recommend carrying this much weight in this bag, I did want to show just how much I was able to fit because, if you play Tetris with it just right, this bag can hold pretty much whatever you need it to! In the attached pictures, I showed how I was able to fit everything in it. Here's a list of what I could fit inside it below:
1) My dog's dog toy
2) Green 3x5 notebook
3) Black 5.5x8.5 notebook
4) 10.1in Samsung Galaxy Note tablet (with cover on)
5) My huge set of keys
6) My wallet (black and floral print)
7) My 25oz S'Well water bottle
8) Large pencil pouch stuffed full of highlighters and mutli-colored pens
9) A book
10) My charger (I forgot to put it out, but I was also carrying to wall charger)
11) Tic Tacs and chapstick
12) Lady things I'd rather not picture.

It's not larger or smaller than I expected, but I'm definitely pleased with how much I can comfortably hold. Again, I would not recommend carrying this much weight in the bag (I just needed to bring some things from my place to a friend's for the night), but even so, it was comfortable to carry in every configuration. For less weight, this bag can definitely handle the same kind of volume as what's pictured here.

I'll update to comment on durability, but just a heads-up on how much actually fits in this!

I need a backpack purse because my shoulder starts to ache if I carry a shoulder bag. I looked long and hard for a backpack purse that is relatively theft-proof, because I often commute on the busy New York subway system. This bag fits the bill. I think it would be almost impossible for a thief to open this purse while it is on my back, because of the way it is styled (of course I don't put valuables in the outer pocket). My bag arrived in perfect condition, with all zippers working well, etc. I carried it for the past several days on the NYC subway and it has held up well. This bag is definitely worth the price. The only downside is that I don't think this bag looks like leather -- it looks like a sort of synthetic, but not bad, and certainly not bad for the money. My daughter also said that the bag does not look like leather. That being said, it seems to be the best bag out there for me, given my requirements and my budget.