Where do you buy children's backpacks for school?

[Puffinshop]

My son is starting school next autumn and he'll need a backpack big enough to fit an A4 reading folder plus swimming/sports kit, but bags seem to be so expensive where we live. It's hard to get one for under 80 pounds and I'm not exaggerating. We'll be in the UK this summer before he starts (we don't live in the UK) so I was thinking we could maybe order one online to my parents' house and take it home with us.

Where is good for school bags? Ideally one that is good enough quality to last several years and is comfortable etc, but costs less than 80 pounds. He will be 6 and he likes very typical things I would say: Spiderman, Super Mario, Ninjago... but it definitely doesn't have to have a character on it! It can be colourful, though, no rules about plain backpacks.

Smiggle, my two both have them and they seem really good quality so far. Also have the matching lunch bags.

Definitely I am pre-approving choices this time round. I did the same thing except my daughter's cost more like 100 pounds 😬And it was fucking 20% off and all.

Our Asda ones lasted years.
The character ones will likely be too small for you. The size you want is likely to come in slightly older designs. Can you can add the characters he likes with keyrings etc?

Lands' End do good quality backpacks at a reasonable price. They don't have a huge choice at the moment but it will probably be better at the start of a new school year gets closer. My DC had them when they were in junior school.

My daughter has this bag and its lasting really well, I'm impressed. This size is probably a bit big for a 6yr old but they have smaller ones and patterns you'd just need to check they would fit a folder.
VASCHY School Bag, 21L Lightweight School Backpack for Teen Boys Girls Water Resistant Unisex 15.6inch Backpack for Mens Womens Casual Rucksack for College Work Travel Sports,Purple amzn.eu/d/7hp8Rh

Smaller size
VASCHY Kids Backpack, 13L School Bag for Boys and Girls 4-6Years Water Resistant Toddler Rucksack Children's Backpack with Elastic Water Bottle Pockets for Elementary School(Ocean Sharks) amzn.eu/d/ebcHL6v

I agree with pp's re Hype bags. Plenty of designs. Decent size and quality. Sports Direct have some and they have lots of other brands too that might be worth a look.

Smiggle bags are big and our’s have lasted ages. Had a Hype bag once and it didn’t last 5 minutes.

One trick is to get a plain bag and then order some iron on character transfers. I think you might have to sew them on though to avoid messing up the waterproofing with the iron.

DS1 is quite a bit older at 15, he uses an Adidas bag from Amazon.

DS2 (11) and DD (9) have bags from Smiggle. I bought in the sale and found them to be comparable to other places in price and the DC love them.

Hype bags are good. Only downside is that the ones we have don't have a side pocket for water bottles

Also came on to say smiggle. They are way more sturdy and long lasting than any others we've bought, but the main selling point had been the zip which reslly opens up the top if the bag, rather than just going side to side. It makes it so much easier for them getting all their things in and out by themselves.

For 5 year olds school bags it's definitely all about Smiggle!

Our smiggle has prices on everything! I'd be annoyed if it didn't.

Decathlon are great for backpacks that actually last, are easy on the back, and look neutral. We've been through so many from other shops over the years, but my kids have all been very pleased with the decathlon ones we've had this year.

My son has had one of these bags for the last 3 years - he carrys a lot of books daily and cycles 5 miles to and from school each way and it's still going strong. www.tenfoundations.org/collections/all?page=2

Don't forget about reflective stripes. If you're in a country where DC walk to school alone from an early age, school bags and coats usually have something reflective designed k to them (logo, zips etc). Clothes and bags you buy in the UK won't.

DS has a Minecraft bag from Next which has lasted far longer than I expected. It's not waterproof though.

Another vote here for smiggle. My kids love theirs and they are a good size for school. My son has a marvel one.

Have a look on Vinted - lots get sold on there and you could deliver to your mums?

Smiggle was a disaster here, broke very soon.

Hype was ok.

The best one we have and it survived several day trips, can be washed in the washing machine and has a rain cover is one from Vaude:

www.vaude.com/en-GB/Equipment/Backpacks/Children-s-Backpacks/Puck-14-Children-s-backpack?number=154779690

It fits an A4 folder.

I am from Germany and do think their school bags are better, more stable and especially if the children walk a lot, the support for the back is there. This is missing in most of the soft structure bags we have in the UK.

Oh, really! Absolutely nothing had the price on in ours and I double checked the tags when I got home to show DH. In the shop, I felt very awkward asking the prices as you could just tell that the shop assistant was annoyed at literally just having to do her actual job. They did have signs up showing a list of what the different price points were with a 20% discount but that's not very helpful when you don't know how much the individual item you want is. DS had 2 that he was choosing from, and I was very relieved when I checked their website later on, to see that the one he didn't choose was just as expensive as the one that he ended up with. I'd have been a bit peeved otherwise haha. Saying that, it does seem very good quality and I expect it to last a good while.

I attach reflectors to their zips and add reflective stickers to clothes and bags regardless, so I don't particularly need that to be a feature.

I agree that the 'premium' backpacks in the Nordic countries (and Germany I presume) are very good and sturdy, light with nice padding. But I do think they are a bit unnecessarily fancy, really, for a primary age child carrying, at most, a few folders, sports kit and swimming stuff for stretches of less than 30 minutes.

I'm not looking to buy something very cheap anyway. I don't mind paying a bit for something decent. Just I'd rather not go as high as 80 pounds!

My kids have whatever was currently on sale at Smiggle. It's much more reasonable than looking the the full price options.

My son has a black north face one and daughter has a navy fjallraven one which is in its fifth year?? now. ( just have to wax it every now and again). When they’re little I’d buy hype or similar but I’d try to get one with a chest strap. Choose a dark colour which won’t show the dirt!

I got all my kids a Jansport big student backpack, they last forever. Dd got hers in year 7 and she'll be taking it to Uni this September.
I got the last one from ePacks online, cheapest I've found the same backpack is £50 at M&S and £35 on ePacks

DD got a Jansport last September and it's the only brand which survives so far the huge amount of textbooks and workbooks plus PE kit and lunch in Y11.

I have high hope it goes to 6th form in September.

Choose a dark colour which won't show the dirt!

Haha this thread is like a litany of all the stuff I did wrong with my PFB. I did try to steer DD towards the navy blue one because I knew the pale lilac one would look grubby in about five minutes. I was unsuccessful and it did.

Number one tip for anyone reading this - never take children physically into a shop with the idea of allowing them to choose something themselves unless you have heavily vetted the shop in advance or are prepared to break their little hearts when they choose 'wrong'. Pre-approved choices only. I know this now.