From the first day of kindergarten to the last year of university, every student needs to head to school with a good backpack. Trends in school supplies come and go, but the backpack remains an iconic essential for generations of students.
For parents: before giving in to a child who’s crazy for all things princess or race car, you might want to read up on the features of good school packs and learn how to fit them for your child.
Features. A school or commuter pack is designed to help students organize their lives. Separate compartments for easy access to pencils, books, phones and electronics are ideal. For younger children, a backpack with several pouches helps distribute weight.
Comfort first. Choose a backpack according to the length of your back, not your height. When buying backpacks for children, it’s important to bring them along so they can try the packs on. The pack shouldn’t be higher than their shoulders or lower than their hips. Adjust it properly to minimize pressure points and be sure that the shoulder straps don’t restrict arm movement. The straps should be wide, well-padded and easy to adjust.
Made to last. A backpack needs to support the weight of books and withstand the weather. Look for sturdy snaps, straps, and zippers and check for tightly stitched seams by pulling apart a seam where a strap is attached – it should be difficult to see any individual stitches. For kids, a full pack shouldn’t weigh more than 10% of a child’s weight. An empty backpack with a 20L volume shouldn’t weigh more than about 600g for a kids’ pack and 1kg for teens. Read more about choosing and fitting kids’ packs.
Here are a few suggestions for bags to get you back to school in style:
Weight: 606g; volume: 19L
Designed for smaller scholars, this scaled-down version of our popular Book Bag makes carrying books and supplies a breeze. It’s comfortable, has numerous compartments, a reflective strip for visibility, a safety whistle, and a toy loop for those who can’t bear to be apart from their favourite stuffed animal.
It also has a main zippered compartment and a secondary compartment that contains a large zippered pocket, two smaller pockets, pen holders and a key clip. There’s also an outside stretch pocket on one side for a water bottle.
Weight: 940g; volume: 30L
The perfect blend of new and old school, this easy-to-carry bag can really hold stuff: books, laptop, and other academic necessities. The laptop compartment doesn’t reach the bottom of the bag, so your computer won’t hit the ground when you put your bag down.
With its extra pockets, key clip, built-in safety whistle, pen holders, side water bottle holder and wide reflective strip, this pack is tooled for getting to school.
Also available in red, green and black.
Weight: 420g; volume: 18L
To give little ones a sense of independence, this comfortable bag is big enough to hold a child’s treasures. Children can carry some of their own equipment when you go on a family hiking or camping or adventure.
Also available in ocean blue.
Weight: 1.17kg; volume: 14–36L
Arrive in style with this new version of the classic messenger bag. Features include a cam buckle, zippered side-entry pocket for fast access to keys, wallet and phone and a front organizer with three zippered compartments.
Available in lots of different colours and patterns.
Filed under: Activities, Back to School, Gear, Kids
