Winkine Durable Vintage Casual Lightweight Canvas Backpack - Travel School College Shoulder Bag / Bookbag / Daypack by IBSound

    I Am Torn When It Comes to This Bag. 

I am torn when it comes to this bag. First off, let me tell you that I was offered a review copy of this bag from IBsound so I paid nothing for it in exchange for an honest review.

Second, I have to tell you that I actually received two copies of this bag. The first one I received came without two of the three magnetic belt cinch straps that are used to close the pockets. I was sent another one right away. I would not even have mentioned the problem with the first bag (mistakes happen and they fixed it right away) except that the second bad also had an issue. The loop handle at the top was not sewn correctly - there's no way that anyone would have purchased it at a store the way it was sewn. But, I just took the belt straps from the new bag and put them on the old bag and between the two of them I had one complete bag. But, I felt that I had to report that both copies that I was sent had problems.

My high school-aged daughter loved the bag on sight and she used it for 4 show choir events to keep her personal items in. These show choir events are literally all day events (18+ hours long) so she really got to know the bag well. She siad that she would rate it a B/B-, which I interpret as 4 stars on the 5 star scale that I use.

But, when I told her he price of this bag she was troubled. At the time of this review the asking price for this bag is $28.99. (Check here for current pricing:Winkine Durable Vintage Casual Lightweight Canvas Backpack).  She said that she would pay no more than $15 for this bag, especially when compared the $45.58 price tag of her heavy duty school backpack that gets a real workout every day (she goes to a large high school and does not have the chance to go to her locker between classes so she carries everything in it) and looks as good as the day she got it.

The bag is made of a lightweight canvas. The straps, buckles and loop at the top are all made of a plastic leather-like material (I call it "pleather"). This pleather is better than the pleather of the past but is not fooling anyone within 5 feet of it. The main pocket has a cinch top. Inside, there is a additional zipper pocket to hold something small like a wallet or some change. My daughter put her battery to re-charge her cell phone in it. The leather straps are meant to look like they cinch shut but the buckles are merely decorative and the pockets are actually held shut by a magnet. If you do not overfill them, they will stay shut.

This is a lightweight bag. Don't try to use it as a heavy duty bag to carry a bunch of textbooks - it was not designed for it and it will not hold up. 

Considering everything, I have to rate this bag 3 stars out of 5.