I have the eBags eTech Weekender and it really is a well designed bag. Since January this has been my primary travel bag, and it has held up extremely well.
The features are all well described on the video, but the one lingering concern I have with the bag is the backpack strap attachment hardware. (see:
http://www.hearaduckquack.com/mmmplastic.jpg ) When I first saw them I thought they wouldn't last a single trip, and yet 8 months later they still haven't given me any issues.
Around the same time I ordered the bag I also ordered a RedOxx Gator to use as my gear bag and "under the seat" bag when traveling. One cool thing about RedOxx is all of their bags come with a product ID dog tag attached via a cable lock, and this gave me a good workaround idea. They sell the cable lock separately:
http://www.redoxx.com/Cool-Luggage-A...00/170/Product I figure if anything is going to fail on the shoulder strap setup it's going to be the plastic parts, so I ordered a handfull of the cable locks to pack in with the bag. If either the hook or plastic D-ring were to snap, you can feed the cable locks through the ballistic nylon loops to keep the strap attached to the bag. Since the clasp is only crimped on to the cable, I would plan on using at least 2 or 3 cable locks to distribute the tension.
I really love the RedOxx products I have, which include the Gator and a Market Tote bag. The Market Tote packs down nicely and is handy for making a quick convenience store stop to pick up some drinks / snacks prior to checking in at a hotel to avoid the outrageous mini-bar prices. It's strong enough to hold a couple of 2L bottles + assorted goodies and still looks classy enough that I don't feel out of place when carrying it into the Ritz.
After seeing the RedOxx quality I
really wanted to buy a Sky Train. I've had that thing loaded in my cart on the site at least a couple dozen times now, but I can't bring myself to do it. The shoulder straps on the eTech Weekender are comfortable for me to wear for long periods of time -- when I look at the straps on the SkyTrain I can already feel them digging into my shoulders. Inside the front U-shaped zippered compartment of the eTech is a pocket that is a perfect place for my 3-1-1 bag, and my 3lb netbook in its sleeve slides just perfectly into the big pocket in the u-zip flap. The front of that pocket also has a zippered section which is a great place to store paper you pick up over the course of the trip (hotel invoices, receipts, playbills, game programs, etc). I'm sold on the RedOxx quality, but the loss of features is what holds me back from making the purchase. Even if the eBag Weekenders don't last forever, it's still pretty compelling when you can buy 8 eTech bags @ $31.99 for the cost of a single RedOxx SkyTrain.
I will confess that in true RedOxx geek fashion, I did replace all the zipper pulls with the RedOxx monkey's fist pulls. 6 of them at $0.75/ea is what it takes to outfit all of the exterior zippers on an eTech Weekender.