What rucksack has your DS got?

[listsandbudgets]

Honestly not sure what to buy DS - he's about to go into year 7.

Something tough that won't stand out too much - he's been bullied at primary so wants to "blend in" a bit now if he can

When your son goes to his new secondary school for an introduction day at the end of year 6 can you look to see what bags the older boys have and buy something similar?

Agree with @Claray. Would he be carrying a laptop? Books etc. Boys in our school seems to go with safe option of Adidas, Nike, Eastpak, etc in black, navy with minimal colour details. Multiple zippered compartments and water bottle holder on side. Some schools have their own bags you need to buy.

As it's only April, there's plenty of time to look and see what the boys at that school have. It varies so much from school to school, even in the same area.

This varies so much from school to school.

Hold off buying a new one until he’s done half a term at the new school

Agree with others. Use something plain and unremarkable until you get an idea what others use at his school.
Something that is in vogue at one random MNetter's school may be totally out of fashion at your school.

Otherwise enlist the help of another parent with a child already at the school in question.

Thank you. I'll have to buy something as up to now Primary have insisted on a particular bag. Reading this it occurs to me that i see boys from the school every day when waiting for the bus. I suppose I'll have to eye up the bags

Walk past at start or finish time and there'll be loads of kids hanging about so you can see what they use.

See also coats and shoes

Check the regulations. Our school only allows plain navy or black with no big logos etc. Most of them have Eastpak or Vans but as others have said it is really localised as to what is in!

Good point about coats and shoes - thank you.

Thankfully he's going to a different school than the bullies (one of whom has now been excluded thank goodness) but he's understandably worried about it. I know bags, coats etc. won't stop it but he's keen to get it right.

Eastpak popular here, very hard wearing. In black or grey

otherwise Nike. Seems the safe option

For boys at local high school they just have black backpacks, adidas/Nike/vans/under armour (I think) and various outdoor brands like tresspass etc

I agree, definitely look at what seems to be in vogue at that particular school

DD's school seems to favour Fjallraven backpacks for both boys and girls, which really surprised me because they're quite expensive and our area is really not affluent, but they're everywhere.

There is also a subset of the female student body who use handbags, and I had to veto DD using one (year 7!!) but that's a whole other thread

Definitely watch the current cohort and what they wear. Both of mine had plain black laptop rucksacks as they have padded backs and would be walking to school with it full of A4 school books. Also look at what they all carry their PE kits in.

Check the uniform policy on their website for strictness on certain shoes. We went to a parents' induction in July with our child where they had students catwalk the accepted uniform for both every day and PE/games. They send us a colour document every year clearly showing yes and no to different shoes, what jewellery is allowed etc just to remind us in case we have "forgotten".

Bullying should be dealt with very differently in secondary, we had children go from losing 5 minutes of their play time in year 6 to detention and isolation in year 7. It is a big shock for them and hopefully his new school will come down on it hard.

Safe option - black with small Nike logo. Water resistant, though my DS also has a plastic bag in there in case there is a downpour and he needs to cover books with a large plastic bag before doing back up.

My DS is also in y7 and this is what he has. School says it has to be black, so choices were limited anyway. However, he started off with a black Trespass one which fell apart by Xmas!

It's nike or north face backpacks round here. I agree with looking at what the majority are carrying when you look at the school.

I totally get where you're coming from, wanting them to fly under the radar when they've often been a target before. I hope your ds has a better time in secondary school.

The major prerequisite here seems to be that it's black and large - PE kit, food tech etc all take up space!

Main brands are Nike, Under Armour, Air Jordan, a little bit of Adidas and Berghaus seems to be a new one coming into fashion that DS wants for September.

I'd a) scope out the bags at your particular school if you can or b) go for something minimal but branded, like black with a smallish Nike logo.

Although I have to say at our High School, it seems to matter less than I thought it would.

mine have eastpack laptop backpacks.

I think most have those at dc school.
they are roomy and comfortable to wear on the bike journey to school.

DS has a Berghaus black backpack, previously had a North Face one but the zip broke after 3 months.
Berghaus seems to be holding up so far!

DD has plain black adidas as safe option in y7 but quality was rubbish. A few years ago bought the bullet and got a fjallraven for DD and Herschel for DS. He has loads of books to carry so it has been good (I mean he chose one with tropical flowers on, but that's his personality) Tbh they both look as good as new and they are happy to use them for holidays etc so I'd say worth investing in. But maybe good to get cheap safe option at first.
But maybe get him to choose over summer , I guess it's part of letting him make decisions for secondary school .

DD has a plain black Hype rucksack. I visit quite a few secondaries, you can’t go wrong with a plain black rucksack - Nike or something. PE kit is in a plain Nike drawstring bag or gets stuffed in a carrier. Lunch in just plain box, or she now has a insulated bag style one - looks like a brown paper bag.

Anything black is norm for 95%

We bought DS a north face rucksack when he started secondary school back in 2019. This was before north face became as big as it later did, but it was still in the region of £90. DH was adamant that he would need something waterproof which would last. And it has - he is now nearly at the end of y10 and it will definitely do him for another year.

I remember having a new rucksack for school at the start of each year. Usually a sports grand like head or reebok. And they were £15 each 30+ years ago, so we’ve probably done ok with the north face one despite the high initial outlay.

This. Ds' bag is a Slazenger in dark navy. The last one was a Nike in black. They are all the same size, £15-£30 in Sports Direct.

Black / navy Adidas or North face here. My DS has two bags - one for general school stuff and one for PE. Check if you can opt for a locker - the PE bag gets put in there, so not carrying lots all day / books don't get muddy, wrecked.

DS broke the zip on his Berghaus one after a term! That's the second bag he's broken beyond repair in Y7!

First one was very cheap, so I went with a Berghaus as I thought it would last a bit longer ... I think the issue is they have to cram so much stuff in there (no lockers). I think I am going back to cheap again.