The entire front face is a velcro flap that folds up, with a flat pocket underneath.
It's not deep. It's not meant to be. It holds the three or four things you reach for a dozen times a day — a folding knife, a lighter, a notepad, a pen.
Lift the flap with one hand, take what you need, drop it back. The main zipper stays shut.
Which means the panel gets fully opened maybe twice a day instead of twenty times — and each of those eighteen saved openings is one less chance to drop something in the mud, catch rain inside, or walk off with the zip half done.
Organise it properly and your daily items live under the flap, while the main compartment holds what you carry in case, not what you carry to use.