It’s what I expected. :) The material is soft on one side, and just a solid plastic sheet on the other. I always handsew the straps on backpacks to make them stronger, and make the drink bottle holders larger. See how the drink bottle holders on either side sit flat against the bag? That means that it can be difficult to shove bottles in there, and if you do, it takes up space from inside of the bag. To expand the holders and make future repairs, I use the smaller bags they come with as scrap material! Here’s a photo of my bag decorated for a sense of scale. I recommend using a safety pin on the zipper of the lower clear pocket, as it might fall down as you walk around! Shipped to Melbourne, Australia in a week.