Finding the Right Backpack For Your Kids

Every year it’s the same thing. The start of school comes like clockwork. With it, comes the inevitable list of school supplies, the need for new clothes (when did those kids grow?) and the search for a new school backpack. In my grade school days, we didn’t have backpacks. No real need. Books stayed at school and homework was mostly work sheets we could carry home. It was high school before we really needed a backpack. The color choices were simple then: black, navy, midnight and the occasional red. Now there are so many colors and brands to choose from, it can make backpack shopping a real adventure.

So, what are the favorite brands? The North Face, Kipling, High Sierra, Jansport, Jworld and Heys USA are just a few for the back-to-school crowd. Buying a backpack is always an adventure at our house. NMW, the children seem to want a new school backpack every year anyway, even though last year’s backpack is still good. The major factor in the yearly backpack purchase is quite simply brand, color and style at Irv’s luggage. The words ‘Oh Mom, that’s so last year’ still ring in my head. So, what’s this year’s favorite?

I get to look at the big sellers for the Irv’s Luggage website. By far, the favorite this year is the Jansport Superbreak, white and lavender spots. These school backpacks have flown off the store shelves and out of the warehouse so fast that we can’t even keep them in stock. Wow. A close second is the Jansport Superbreak White and Pink Square (definitely a girl thing). Popular for the guys seems to be the High Sierra Access bag, in black or dark blue.

For our little family, though, it’s a very mixed bag… we have three kids and three schools. It will be quite a year…

The middle school kid, soon to be an 8th grader, is actually leaning away from the traditional school backpack… he thinks it would be cool to carry a messenger bag for all his school stuff. Right now, the choice seems to be the Timbuk2 Messenger bag, largely because it is a laptop messenger bag. The kid no longer carries books as his laptop actually has all the text books loaded, so he really just needs enough space for the computer and what he calls ‘his school supplies’ aka: junk. Maybe he’ll be a little cost conscious for the mom who has to pay the bills. We’ll see…

The other middle school kid has clearly become very fashion conscious. In no time it seems that we’ve migrated from the ‘whatever’ to actually caring about what’s ‘in’ or ‘fashionable’. Now for the girl, mood plays a huge role here… no more bright, happy colors as we have clearly reached the teenage angst years. Last year’s choice was the empire blue North Face Slingshot backpack… largely because it had cool places to put her cell phone, calculator and water bottle. This year’s choice appears to be another North Face backpack…the North Face Recon backpack which a laptop backpack, for her laptop. Fortunately, there are eight colors to choose from, and I’m guessing (given the mood lately) that we’ll opt for a darker color. No more pink backpack, definitely not a flower backpack or even the plaid backpack… at least not in the foreseeable future. I was actually hoping she’d pick one of the hugely popular and colorful Jansport Superbreak backpacks. No luck, though, it’s way too colorful, I guess.

Last, the grade school kid, our youngest. He’s wheeled around his favorite backpack so much last year, that the bottom had to be replaced. The bottom ‘plate’ of this wheeled backpack actually wore off and had to be replaced by repair guys. His choice last year was the High Sierra Fastforward backpack with wheels. Now, let’s remember that as a grade schooler, he basically wheels his lunch to school. Homework when there was any, was largely provided on tear-off sheets. No books, no computer, nothing… just lunch and that’s it. However, for the few times that he actually needed a wheeled backpack for books, it was the High Sierra wheeled backpack was the perfect choice. The kid is not into color, style or brand… he’s about as plain as unlined paper, so I’m guessing he’ll stay with his favorite High Sierra wheeled backpack for next year.

Last but not least is the niece who lives with us. She’s in her final year of college and finishing nursing school. No more school backpack and definitely no bright colors… after all, this is college. Her choice is a leather backpack from Clava Leather. She chose the Clava Leather mid-sized backpack. It is the perfect size, has lots of pockets and is a beautiful leather bag. Most importantly it holds her laptop and, of course, her myriad of nursing tools. This leather backpack will be carried long after her graduation.

Lots of choices, great values and plenty of great brands to choose from… Mom could pick the perfect backpack for each kid in a heartbeat, but then again, I’m not ‘cool’ anymore and the backpack would probably sit in the closet. Guess I’ll just give the kids my credit card and hope for the best.