as my mission workshop vandal's zipper broke from the sealed liners I am a bit hesitant about zippers nowadays. for all the claims about durability and toughness, its a real bummer when a work bag breaks half way into a day. at this point I think all future messenger inspired bags need to be tested more rigorously. mission workshop's design is beautiful but could not hold up to daily legal box hauls.
Before designing the bag I had actually thought about that as I have learned that zippers are a weak point on bags today. That is why the zippers I used were heavy #8 YKK zippers and placed on places of low stress (organization pockets and laptop sleeve) I avoided zipper use in place of high stress like the main compartment. Thanks for the input!