I am sick to death of crappy book bags and the $200 shoe thread got me thinking about buying a more expensive bag. But, I’ve only ever used $20 - $50 bags that barely last one school year so I have no idea where to start looking.
I want something with nicely padded straps and back. I plan to buy a permit for the farthest parking lot and walking to campus instead of taking the shuttle. This is more than a mile each way, with lots of heavy books. I don’t want my back or shoulders preventing me from getting exercise.
I want something that can hold a lot of weight without the straps stretching or breaking. I’m expecting to have 3-5 math/science textbooks in there at a time, plus notebooks.
I don’t need a million pockets. One main compartment for my books and a smaller compartment for my planner, phone, keys, and writing implements, and calculator are really all I need.
I would be willing to spend over $150 on a bag if it is comfortable and durable.
I hate shopping so I’m hoping to narrow down my search here before I start looking.
My son has this back pack by LL Bean and has used it for three years of middle school. They don’t have lockers so he carries every book and notebook he needs all day, every day. It still looks great. I expect him to continue to use it throughout high school as well.
I have a Timberland backpack that’s part of a 4-piece set. I’ve had the set for, let’s see, sheesh - fourteen years? When the set was new, I used the backpack all the time for a couple of years, and use it as my carry-on whenever I travel. It barely has any sign of wear aside from a one-inch long tear on the inside lining of one of the shoulder straps. I wonder if I’ll ever need to buy luggage again.
I’m not sure if you are male or female, but I have a Haiku backpack that I love. My goal was to find a backpack that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to take to a professional job (i.e. doesn’t look like a Jansport) that also wasn’t black. The really cool thing about this pack is that there is a coordinating little purse (I think I got them both on sale as a package deal for around $70) that fits neatly into the pocket in front- great for consolidating as one carry-on when flying. It’s a bit on the heavy side, but looks great and I always get compliments on it- it’s a great “grown up” backpack.
Crumpler bags are really popular with students, cyclists and young professionals here in Australia and are really well made. Looks like they are stocked at Amazon and REI in the US among others. I’m fond of their warranty:
I’ve had an Eastpak backpack since about 1995. They have a 30-year warranty and do not require any proof-of-purchase. You just send it in and they either fix it or send you a new one.
I’ve gotten one new one and had the zipper fixed in the 17 years I’ve had the bag. I’ve carried tons and tons of books in them, all over high school and then college. Then I switched to using it for a gym bag. Not too heavy but I stuff a lot of crap into it.
Unfortunately, usa.eastpak.com is under construction right now and all you can access is their European sites. You can buy their bags elsewhere, of course.
LL Bean all the way. I still have mine that I got in HS, nearly 20 years ago. It went through 4 years of college, 6 months in South America and several trips throughout the US and Europe. LOVE.
I sold one of these on ebay for a friend about a year ago, and it is hands down the most heavy duty knapsack I have ever seen. It weighs a few lbs just by itself. Far, far more rugged than “bookbag” type knapsacks. It’s about the size of standard large to XL bookbag.
They’re geared toward bike messengers, so they’re weatherproof and can stand up to a lot of wear and tear (I’ve ridden through rainstorms and everything inside the bag was perfectly dry. I use the mini-metro messenger bag). They come in a variety of styles and sizes.
One thing I really like is the inside is vinyl so if it gets grimy you can just wipe it out with a paper towel.
The only drawback is it’s online only unless you happen to live in New York, San Francisco or Chicago, they’re also a bit pricey but in the long run it’s cheaper than having to constantly buy a new crappy bag.
I’ve used the same black North Face backpack for about 13 years. I believe it was about $80 when I got it, very similar to this one. Used it as my book bag in high school, college and grad school. I’ve gotten a lot of rough use out of it over the years, it’s been pretty much every where I’ve been and honestly after all those years it’s held up better than I have. Plus, if you’re in college in the US it’s obligatory to have some piece of black North Face gear on you at all times
I ended up getting this. I only went to EMS to get socks for my boyfriend but the local store is closing and the sale got me looking at the bags. I really like this bag. It does have way more room than I expect to need this semester since I only have 2 classes per day but it has enough room to hold a jacket or a laptop if I end up bringing one. The straps are really comfortable. I like the side straps too so I can make it smaller when I hold less.
I nearly did buy a North Face bag wheresmymind even though at 32 I’m way too old to be following the trends of people who wear Uggs and micro minis at the same time. But, they only had 3 North Face bags and none of them really grabbed my attention. I remembered what you said when I went to orientation though. There was only one person who was obviously older than me. We were both dressed appropriately for our ages (though I neglected to dress properly for the 12° temp). Everyone else was wearing some variation of Uggs, leggings, and North Face. I felt so out of place in my hoodie, jeans, and sneakers.
The bag I got was only 10% off but I had my school ID on me (both of them actually since I’m technically still a student at my community college too) and that got me 20% off instead.
I’d definitely recommend my good old pink Jansport. I schlepped several heavy textbooks while walking to and from classes/the library on a decent-sized college campus (I’d estimate 3 miles a day, 5 days a week, plus weekend labs once or twice a month). Even now, there is no visible wear or tear or degradation in the padding/straps. It still feels and looks as good as the day I bought it (although my book-schlepping days are long past). I use it on short overnight trips when I don’t need a full suitcase/duffel.
I don’t know what it would cost now, but it was $75-80 when I purchased it 5ish years ago. I tried price-checking at their site, but I didn’t see one that looks exactly like mine (the shoulder straps have a thick, flexible padding in them that looks a bit like bubble-wrap covered in mesh). Maybe they moved on to new technology? Try it on before you decide, of course.
The Jansport brand was just a status symbol when I was in high school, so I didn’t think too highly of it when I went backpack-shopping in college. But I tried one on and really liked it. I’ve found it to be a very sturdy (and cute) backpack over the years. *Definitely *worth what I paid for it.
ETA: didn’t realize you already bought a backpack. Congrats! For what it’s worth, your bag resembles mine in size and paddingness. And hopefully you’ll notice that as the year goes on and the sorority girls segregate out of the general population (and over the years as you get into higher-numbered classes), the hoodies and sneakers will come out of the woodwork. 'Cause that shit is timeless.
