Perhaps you could send me a few close ups of the old Spire bag design vs the new one so I could better understand the changes?

I have been lugging mine around with two laptops, a 6×8 Wacom tablet, a Maxtor external hard drive, three power bricks, etc., for a few months now. So far none of the seams are letting loose.

I mostly use the over the shoulder strap that connects to the top of the bag with two O-rings. There is a LOT of stress at those two points. I really think I am the worst case scenario when it comes to stress and weight in a camera or laptop backpack.

At this point, I stand by my original recommendation. This is an excellent laptop backpack with amazing capacity.

Please let us know how your return or refund works out.

This afternoon, I opened my box from Spire to something of a disappointment. Something Mr. Ray may have missed was that the seams where the zipper tapes and pack fabric panels are sewn together are not bound or taped. My experience has been that packs lacking this are prone to having the stiching pull out of the fabric in the direction of the unfinished fabric edge. This is usually sped up by fibers unraveling from the fabric as items are placed into and removed from the pack. As the amount of fibers decreases, the integrity of the fabric also goes down, and the stitches pull out of the fabric. I have other packs, for different applications, for which I paid similar amounts, and which are thoroughly taped.

Also, in the past, the Boot laptop sleeve was held in place within the pack by a fabric and foam covered plastic pocket. This pocket was 3-dimensionally structured, with velcro tabs on three edges which stuck to a low-pile fabric panel inside of one of the main pack compartments. The plastic was substantial enough to help prevent sharp corners from pressing on the back of the screen lid, causing dead pixels on your screen. It also suspended the Boot off of the bottom of the 1/4″ foam padded compartment bottom. Such is no longer the case, at least in the Torq pack model. This was one of the main selling points on which I based my recent purchase.

These two things alone have lowered my opinion of my pack, and of the Spire product in general. The lack of seam binding, combined with the loss of security for the Boot make the Torq blend back into the sea of average, lackluster computer packs to be had on eBags or in the local department store.

To top off my disappointment, while transferring my typical day’s contents from my present messenger bag to the Torq, I snugged up one of the bungies holding the mesh pockets closed. I didn’t have anything to put in them immediately, so I thought I’d lower their profile. One end of one of the bungies pulled free of the stitching at the pack seam.

One of the brighter things I can share is Spire’s 30-day return policy. Defects encountered within the first thirty days are able to be replaced in advance. That is to say, they will advance you a replacement item, along with a return label for the defective product. I only hope that this doesn’t indicate a rise in return claims due to an increase in defects.

When I bought my Boot, Spire was in Boulder, CO. Spire is now in Easthampton, MA. I used to live in Boulder, and folks there are commonly involved in gear-intensive activities. To survive in such a marketplace, your gear had better be of good quality, or word got around fast. I don’t know what prompted the move to the East, or how long ago the move occurred, so I don’t know how relevant the move is to my quality issue. I don’t mean to imply a lack of quality items coming out of the East coast, only that the ownership may have changed hands, resulting in a new design philosophy, or that the new factory may not be up to standard yet.

I just finished emailing Spire sales regarding my concerns, and hope to hear from them soon. My desire is that I get my present pack replaced with what I was expecting (the Boot pocket, properly taped zipper seams, and properly secured bungie cords), or that the pack be returned in exchange for a full refund.

If Spire replaces the pack, I will be very pleased, and will not doubt their products’ integrity again. They would be the first brand I would recommend to anyone. If not, I’ll be choosing a pack from among the small companies involved in small unit military supplies, and modifying it to suit my school requirements through a local gear repair shop here in Salt Lake City.

I’ll post one way the other with the results. For now, I’d have to give a thumbs down for the Spire Torq.

http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/spire_torq_backpack

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