These Hoover bags will NEVER burst. Whenever I've bought a versatile Hoover brand, they've split open at the side seam. Update 4-2-17: Well I've had pockets that burst after heavy use but usually when I overflow them or suck up large hard objects like sticks, wood shavings etc. I now use tape reinforcement along the seam with both sides and found that extra effort in the world matters. and certainly better than cleaning the inside of the vacuum cleaner if the seam tears.