What rucksack is your year 7/8/9 daughter wearing to school?

My daughter started the year with a lovely burgundy Kanken. I can’t tell you how awful and tatty it already looks. The straps are thin and dig in too.

Our daughter is year 7 and in her 3rd year of using one of these.
You order them from Germany. I tried to find a UK supplier but couldn't at the time.
It looks new and will last the rest of high school

www.satch.com/de/schulrucksaecke/satch-pack

Mine always have Dakine - they last well and are very comfortable

DD’s school banned handbags, it is rucksacks all year through now.

They are carrying quite a lot thanks to COVID, so have their own books, a large A4 folder for written work and a notepad for writing and one for maths, no more workbooks.

All homework has to be done electronically as nothing is to be handed in or it would need to go into isolation for 72 hours.

Therefore we went with a decent laptop bag. These ones have often padded straps and a good backing, making it better to carry and DD has to walk 40 minutes each way,

Yes to a water bottle.

This is DD's

DD is year 9 and used a black Nike rucksack for 2 years. This year she is using a Nike tote bag which is much bigger and much admired by friends and teachers.

One girl has purple shiny metallic sparkly and it stood out like a sore thumb.

I've just been caught up in traffic next to a large secondary school. Everyone had backpacks (no handbags). Adidas appeared to be a popular brand with a sprinkling of Uner Armour, Nike and some that seemed to be unbranded.

@m0therofdragons, I’m 50 and have absolutely no idea of the correct teenage terminology these days, it would have been goth back in my day (which l was at 16), emo in DD1’s day (which she was) ..so whatever word now fits kids who wear black and listen to deeply miserable music and find it personally meaningful!

Smiggle pencil cases haven't been a feature of either of my DDs' lives at any point but they would definitely not want something so pink/purple/busy for secondary school. They each have a regular pencil case from somewhere like Paperchase or Sainsbury that contains the stuff they need for every single lesson and a second one with colouring pencils, scissors, geometry set, Pritt stick etc. They have a duplicate set of everything at home so their pencil cases can stay in their school bags and there's no chance of forgetting equipment because it was being used for homework.

Only the huge messy bun “posh chav” girls (not my description) have totes at our secondary. It really varies. Hype backpack for dd yr 7 and Nike ds yr9.

@SJaneS49 dd doesn’t have any obvious goths in her year - not seen many round this way actually. Dd is a skater girl - jeans, sweater, beanie hat. We’re in the West Country. I think schools do massively vary.

VANS backpack bought for the start of YR7 & still going strong in YR9. Definitely big enough for all the books plus A4 folder, Chilly's water bottle, etc. Lots of pockets. Extremely practical/comfortable/strong wide padded straps. Not showing signs of wear & tear so very impressed. Definitely got our money's worth out of it so far!

Skate shops sell a good variety of rucksacks. Always had Vans for either boys or girls in this house. Seem to get at least 2-3 years out of each one.

Mines in YR8 now and started YR7 with a tote bag (even though I warned her how impracticable is was) but it’s what all the cool girls have apparently. Anyway, she soon ditched it in favour of a Kanken as the tote bag was too heavy to carry with everything in.

Although I suspect there are ruck sack brands she would actively avoid.

Dd has hardly changed her rucksacks during secondary - only when they wear out. There are some who have the totes/handbags - especially those into K pop. Dd couldn’t care less

My yr8 has a Kanken laptop 13 which is slightly bigger than the kanken. It's not huge but fits lunchbox, water bottle, pencil case and all her books.
Pencil case is like this one; https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WCM4DKC/ref=cmswwrcppapiglccfabc0Z3BG0JA2STRV4PG7G74

My y8 DD has a grey Eastpak backpack. But actually Amazon do an unbranded Amazon basics rucksack in loads of different colours that's very similar, still sturdy and comfy, and much cheaper. Younger DC uses that.

@m0therofdragons, yikes! My pseudo goth Wednesday Adams Year 8 would be mortified to classed an orange wannabe TikTok girl for her tote. They all carry them at her all girls. It really does vary school but school then!

Dd's is Nike, I think. We got it from Deichmann and paid a bit extra for them to put it in a machine at the till to waterproof it. She has a half hour walk home, so it was worth doing.

I'd say at her school about half the girls have totes and half rucksacks.

Dd did want a tote before starting but has now seen what a pain they are to carry and is glad I talked her out of it.

Dd has a navy blue superdry back pack (year 8) which is really well made but not garish. She says some have “handbags” but only the “Tiktok girls” who are all orange and dd has no desire to fit in with. Having a bag like them would be “try hard” and make people think she wants to be in their group... it’s a minefield and differs between schools.

We have just bought DD y7 rucksack today. We've bought this. Big brother has a very similar one and is year 8. It is big enough to fit books, lunch and PE kit. But cheap enough that if all the girls have something other than a ruck sack she can get something else for her birthday in December.

At my dd1's school, they have to have the school logo back pack. So thankfully, we don't have to worry about which brand to buy 👌🏼

They all seem to have rucksacks at my DD school. But they do mostly walk/catch a bus, & there aren’t any lockers. It must vary from school to school.