I was surprised by the negatives here. Mine have been in hard use for 3 years as I stated above.
The zips: I really stuff the top pocket - that's where I keep waterproofs - jacket, trousers and gaiters. Also my mini towel if that's too wet to go inside. Also a trowel. It's often a struggle to close the zip, but I've never had a problem, and never felt it was in danger of going.
The buckles - again, never had a problem. There's that little clip thing that stops the free end of the strap from dangling, and a few times that has gotten dragged into the buckle and jammed. It comes out with a bit of jimmying, but my impression was that the plastic in both the buckle and clip is really good. I've never had a buckle snap, or even felt that they were in danger of it.
Like I say, these see some hard use. They've been through mud and rain, they've carried big loads for long distances. And I've used both of them to ferry groceries, and loaded them so heavy I could barely stand. Well, I exaggerate slightly, but you get the idea.
Not only have they come up smiling after all that, they don't even look worn. No stitching coming apart, nothing breaking or wearing unduly.
Strange that experiences can be so different. Maybe quality is variable, and I've been lucky?
