KiplingKipling Cross-Body Bag

So many pockets. There is plenty of places and room for everything. It is just the right size for my needs, not too small, not too large. Great Kipling quality as usual. Zippers glide smoothly, stitches are perfect without defect or bunching. I will be using this a very long time. The shade of blue is very nice.

I've carried the Europa/Erica, in espresso/brown color, exclusively for 25 years. That bag is stupidly no longer made, so I have reluctantly switched to this. It is a significant downgrade in many ways compared to the original Erica:1. It is not made of the old wonderful ripstop nylon. I abused the hell out of my old bags and never tore the outside (I did tear and have to resew the insides a few times). The weak point on the Kipling bags is always the zippers. I usually started to have zipper failure after 3-4 years, so I guess I went through 5 to 7 Europa. This new material is twice as thick, half as flexible, and twice as heavy. It seems like it will be less durable. If feels very plasticky/vinyl like. Definitely not as pleasant to touch. Probably a cost saving measure. Probably the idiot geniuses that thought they could get away with this all paid themselves grand bonuses.2. The inside key ring/strap is no longer there. Cost saving measure probably. This sucks, I'll have to sew one after cutting it out of one of my old Ericas.3. The zippers feel cheaper and less durable.4. Coffee/Brown color is no longer available.5. The pockets to drop in items like cell phone/pen, that were in the second compartment previously, were stupidly moved to the main compartment, making it a lot easier to lose things when rummaging in the main. This move was not well thought out, and the pockets need to be moved back into the forward compartment where they can be zippered over.5. Instead of two pen slots, now there is only one. WTH? I used to keep a high quality Swiss pen, and a permanent marker. What a pain! Not sure what I'll do here.6. The strap is narrower, therefore more painful if there is a lot of weight in the bag. Another cost saver? Is there no end to this insanity?All in all, a terrible, significant downgrade from what was, aside from the zippers, once upon a time, before every manufacturing concern on earth went to hell, a perfect bag. I guess the people that designed the original must have retired, and the new woke folks now running the show decided they had to do something to justify their salaries and bonuses. Or maybe Kipling was bought by some giant mega finance company that only knows how to cost cut to increase profit/bonuses to themselves. Well they screwed up in every way.Kipling needs to bring back the Erica/Europa, in original form, with original ripstop nylon, except with more durable zippers.