Since September, Mini Me has destroyed 2 schoolbags and is now on his 3rd.
At £20 a pop it’s getting ridiculous.
Can anyone recommend a tough bag for a destructive 11 year old which will last 1 year +?
He has to carry a lot of books as the school don’t provide lockers, and he prefers rucksack type bags.
He might be open to courier type bags.

Get him an Alpkit, Ortlieb or NF courier style – he won’t break one of those.

Tough kids’ schoolbags

Tough kids don’t need schoolbags.

ours have Jack Wolfskin

http://www.srcunningham.co.uk/13440/products/jack-wolfskin-kids-moab-jam—night-blue.aspx?origin=pla&kwd=&currency=gbp&gclid=cnq9wumqzmocfrs6gwodmiopta

been great for 2.5years no sign of wear… and used for holidays daytrips etc

Until he learns how to look after his kit.

martinhutch – ouch 🙂

“Whatever his mates have” would be my advice.

ime the ones they actually want to use seem to suffer a lot less ‘mysterious’ damage than the ones forced on them.

+1 martinhutch

Fjallraven Kanken?

Fjallraven Kanken

A lot of my A-level students have these; I really like them, but they probably won’t pass the 11-year-old test 🙂

I had a Lowe Alpine Countour Mountain 40l rucksaks that did me for sixth form, university, work, back to uni, and some more work, while also being my go-to bag for long bike rides and walking. So, something decent should last years.

martinhutch +1

Teach the kid to respect his gear. My kids are as active as any others and they dont go through bags on piece. I certainly wouldnt reward damaging the bags with a nice supa dupa replacement.

As wwaswas says, did he choose the bag.

We always did that with our kids, my lad used a Superdry courier style bag for over 2 years as it was one he really wanted and liked so looked after it.

Same here andermt. My lad had a superdry bag for 2yrs until the zip gave way. He was gutted.

Its not about the price of things, quality & expense is sometimes the best way to go but if the kid doesnt appreciate it, well give them a £1 bag for life and let them get on with it

My lad went through a few bags really quickly, but then I bought him a Quiksilver rucksack from TKMaxx and it’s lasted him a good year now and theres nowt wrong with it yet.

3 good useful sections as well for splitting up PE/footy kit from books and stuff.

I suggest Will’s attempt

I actually took a briefcase to secondary school. Briefly. 🙂

Eastpak Delegate Authentic Messenger Bag £45 from John Lewis.

We got junior one at age 11 because it came with a 30 year manufactures guarantee and we knew he’d break it.

It lasted three years – we then took it back to John Lewis who said that the particular damage wasn’t covered under the guarantee but they gave us a 50% off a new one as goodwill.

So far £67 on school bags for nearly 4 years at high school – the replacement bag is still going strong it may last till he leaves.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/army-surplus-bag

That’s what I had at school. Find a proper surplus one. Tough and cheap (about a tenner).

I’ve got a Jansport Rucsac which appears to be indestructible, regardless of how many flights/work trips it has been on.

Otherwise I can certainly recommend a Musto courier bag – have been dragging mine around for about 5 years – so far so good.
Cost £20 in the Musto sale.

Perhaps the solution is to get him involved in buying it. He gets a budget and can choose what he wants (within the budget) and that if he breaks it he needs to get the next one out of the same budget. If nothing else it will teach him something about budgeting.

Proper tough…

i had this at school. text books and exercise books for 10 different lessons and no lockers equals knackered bags in no time. And knackered backs as it wasn’t cool to wear your rucksack on both shoulders. Do they still do head bags with the zip off bit? they were good.

Back in the day we all had these:

Seemed pretty indestructible at the time.

eddie11 – Member
Do they still do head bags with the zip off bit? they were good.

Ahhh, the Head Monte Carlo – sports bag of choice for every self-respecting Casual in the ’80s. I had one that lasted me through 5th and 6th Form and part way through Uni.

My lad wanted one for college this year. It fell apart within three months, the quality is shockingly bad.

My eldest got a Head bag for starting secondary, which fell apart in no time.

Saw a Head Monte Carlo in the ‘shop’ (shelf) at the swimming pool yesterday – £30!!

Sooooo many zips and seams. Puma bag for the robust retro win and pretty good for smacking someone around the head (was on the receiving end).