When packed, the bag has a nice, rectilinear shape that allows it to "stand up" stably when it's set down on the ground. There are no bumpers or protective thingies on the bottom, so if you set it down and drag it around, or set it on wet ground, it'll be unprotected. The multiple zones for clothes packing worked really well. The "Claw" shoulder strap is indeed grippy. It's the grippiest strap I've encountered, and it simply does not slip. Kudos to Red Oxx for their slip-resistant design. But to get that level of grip, there's a real design tradeoff with comfort, and comfort really suffers.
The hand-carrying straps are simple and durable, but were also a bit uncomfortable. The 2 straps each consist of a piece of 2" webbing folded over and stitched together, and then there's a simple Cordura wrap with snaps to bundle those two straps together. Maybe the folded-over webbing will soften with additional use, but for now, with the bag fully loaded, they sort of cut into my hands a little bit. Nice round leather handles on the straps would be a HUGE upgrade for this product. The equivalent strap on my Jansport bag is also just webbing, but instead of simply folding the webbing in half, it's wrapped around some kind of round core. Way more comfy.
The hardware used on the bag all seemed to be very sturdy and likely to be quite durable. The zippers are indeed burly and probably very reliable, just like Red Oxx promotes. The tradeoff with big zippers like that is that they tend to have visible "gaps" between the teeth, which wouldn't be the case with a smaller zipper. I was digging through the bag the other day, and saw daylight coming in through the zipper teeth. Not really a problem, but as a resident of the Pac. NW, I know that visible daylight there means it'll be easier for rain to penetrate the zipper quickly. There's no sort of "storm flap" over any of the zippers. Would also be nice if the zippers (or at least the one on the main central compartment) were the kind where the pulls overlay each other so that a small lock can be easily attached.
The lining of all of the zippered compartments is red, with one notable exception, and that's the small compartment on the outside which is apparently targeted at being the place to carry your boarding pass or passport or similar. I say it's a "notable" exception because I love the
way Briggs & Riley lines their equivalent compartments with bright orange nylon, so that it's easy to see if it has been left unzipped. When I travel, especially internationally, I tend to constantly check and recheck everything on my bag all the time to make sure I haven't lost anything important. On the Air Boss, that compartment isn't lined in a contrasting color, so it's not immediately visibly obvious that it's been left open. On the plus side, that compartment is pretty deep, which is good, and it's also wide enough that I can get my fairly meaty hand all the way to the bottom.
