If there is one item you're going to spend some money on, this is it IMHO.

I own an WM Alpinlite, and it is a great bag.

I justify the cost this way (to my wife of 25 years and my dad of nearly 25 more). If I drove to some lovely place and spent a week in a hotel, I would pay more in hotel bills in that one week than I paid for that bag. The weeks I've spent in my Alpinlite have been paid for many times over.

Had I bought something else along the way, I still would have ended up with this bag. I saved money by buying it when I did.

I am, without doubt, the worlds finest at spending someone else's money.