Welcome Vincent! Choosing brands is about as personal as knives. Suffice it to say any well known brand is light years beyond the wooden packboards in my older books. One phenomenon I've noticed; if you have unused space something heavy,expensive and usually uneccesary will make it's way in there.My current rucksack is a Swedish Surplus for all of $8. I've been concentrating on the actual gear insde ( sometimes a grubby looking container attracts less attention also). Most of my daily carry disappears into pockets and a neck lanyard.