In reply to the ant hill mob: In the rucsac market there are essentially two distinct segments:
- Manufacturers selling rucsacs with a fairly basic construction suitable for moderate use and moderate loads.
- Manufacturers selling rucsacs with an enhanced construction suitable for heavy use and/or extreme loads.
Berghaus, North Ridge and Quechua fall into the former. POD, Macpac and Blue Ice fall firmly into the later with Crux and Osprey also tending in that direction. As an example, I completely destroyed a Berghaus Alpine Extreme within 2-3 years but I after ten years of equally hard use a POD Black Ice was still going strong.
If you are only every going to carry 'sensible' loads of no more than 10-12kg, then you shouldn't have any issues with something like the Ballistic, but regularly load it with 25kg, haul it up routes, climb granite chimneys with it etc. and it just won't last compared to something like the Blue Ice pack.
It is worth being aware of this. However, if you are spending £30 on a rucsac, rather than £100, having to replace it a lot sooner may not be something you will overly worry about.