PBK Backpacks - quality?

[emoflamingo]

They're on sale today and my oldest has his Target backpack on its last legs and I really don't want to buy a new one now and hope it makes it to next year, but they're 20-40% off so I figured if they last awhile I would just go ahead and get a new one. (Holy run on sentence, sorry.)

I was thinking either the Mackenzie in small (he's not a very big kid) and let him pick the pattern, but I think he'd probably pick the dino print or the Colton Blue.

I'm frugal enough I don't want to waste my money on a backpack for the label but I am tired of buying a new bag every year so I'm willing to spend the money on something if it'll last awhile, so I'm open to suggestions!

[redheadk]

We've used DD's for 2 years and it still looks new. It holds up very well.

DD has the small and it's fine for now and probably all the way through K but I'd go with the large for your older son (2nd grade, maybe, based on age?).

[schrodinger]

I prefer the Land's End ones. SDs both have PBK and the straps are shredding and all the internal pockets have broken. Not worth the price, IMO.

[emoflamingo]

Apr 24, 2015 9:04:02 GMT -5 redheadk said:

We've used DD's for 2 years and it still looks new. It holds up very well.

DD has the small and it's fine for now and probably all the way through K but I'd go with the large for your older son (2nd grade, maybe, based on age?).

Yep, he's in 2nd. He is fairly tiny for his age (my 2.5 year old is about 2/3 as tall as him lol), but I'll measure him before I order anything just to be sure I get the right size. And there's a good chance I'm cheap enough that I won't get a name on it so I can reuse it for DS2 lol.

[emoflamingo]

Apr 24, 2015 9:06:03 GMT -5 schrodinger said:

I prefer the Land's End ones. SDs both have PBK and the straps are shredding and all the internal pockets have broken. Not worth the price, IMO.

The one he has now has shredded where the strap meets the backpack, is that where your PBK ones are shredding?

He's a boy and he's a space case (just like his mom lol) so he's hard on things sometimes.

[redheadk]

Apr 24, 2015 9:06:16 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

Apr 24, 2015 9:04:02 GMT -5 redheadk said:

We've used DD's for 2 years and it still looks new. It holds up very well.

DD has the small and it's fine for now and probably all the way through K but I'd go with the large for your older son (2nd grade, maybe, based on age?).

Yep, he's in 2nd. He is fairly tiny for his age (my 2.5 year old is about 2/3 as tall as him lol), but I'll measure him before I order anything just to be sure I get the right size. And there's a good chance I'm cheap enough that I won't get a name on it so I can reuse it for DS2 lol.

My concern would be fitting in folders and binders. I can fit a regular folder in DD's but it bends the corners just a bit.

[schrodinger]

The girls are also hard on things. The nylon straps themselves are coming apart. The seams where they attach are still holding up. But other seams are destroyed (the water bottle pocket in particular). Other backpacks they've had have fared no better, but for the price I don't think the quality is worth it.

[emoflamingo]

Apr 24, 2015 9:07:54 GMT -5 redheadk said:

Apr 24, 2015 9:06:16 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

Yep, he's in 2nd. He is fairly tiny for his age (my 2.5 year old is about 2/3 as tall as him lol), but I'll measure him before I order anything just to be sure I get the right size. And there's a good chance I'm cheap enough that I won't get a name on it so I can reuse it for DS2 lol.

My concern would be fitting in folders and binders. I can fit a regular folder in DD's but it bends the corners just a bit.

The only thing he carries home right now is 2 regular paper folders, tons of papers just shoved in there and whatever Pokemon book he's picked up at the library lol. The school supply list shows no binders for 3rd grade either. Of course, they do the school supply packs where you can spend $40 and have the supplies bought for you and add a backpack to it for extra, but I don't know how those hold up either.

[ilikedonuts]

We use the mini for a ballet bag. it hasn't gotten a ton of wear though bc her ballet stuff weighs almost nothing. It seems really sturdy though!

[cjeanette]

I ranted about this least year. I bought C one in 2010. It held up great. He would still be using it but he is now in 4th grade and really didn't want the same bag he has has since K.

I bought E's last year for K. It didn't make it to December before it showed wear and ripped at the seams. It is so much thinner than C's for the exact same bag.

So I bought them both Land's End bags this year. They have held up very well. Even to C carrying a huge amount of book in his daily.

[cjeanette]

Apr 24, 2015 9:12:56 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

Apr 24, 2015 9:07:54 GMT -5 redheadk said:

My concern would be fitting in folders and binders. I can fit a regular folder in DD's but it bends the corners just a bit.

The only thing he carries home right now is 2 regular paper folders, tons of papers just shoved in there and whatever Pokemon book he's picked up at the library lol. The school supply list shows no binders for 3rd grade either. Of course, they do the school supply packs where you can spend $40 and have the supplies bought for you and add a backpack to it for extra, but I don't know how those hold up either.

$40??!  Our supply packs are $70 per kid. Please tell me you end up with the dreaded Rose Art crayons or something.

[emoflamingo]

Apr 24, 2015 9:19:41 GMT -5 cjeanette said:

Apr 24, 2015 9:12:56 GMT -5 emoflamingo said:

The only thing he carries home right now is 2 regular paper folders, tons of papers just shoved in there and whatever Pokemon book he's picked up at the library lol. The school supply list shows no binders for 3rd grade either. Of course, they do the school supply packs where you can spend $40 and have the supplies bought for you and add a backpack to it for extra, but I don't know how those hold up either.

$40??!  Our supply packs are $70 per kid. Please tell me you end up with the dreaded Rose Art crayons or something.

LOL no RoseArt (I'd go buy them myself because I'm an art supply snob) but except for the Elmer's glue sticks and bottle of glue, the 24 pack of Crayola crayons and 8 washable Crayola markers, everything else seems to be the Staples brand. Not even Sharpie brand permanent markers, they're getting Sandford. (I should amend my "art supply snob" to "school supply snob" because I love buying these things, even for myself.)

The cheapest bag option is $35 on top of the $40 for the supplies and it doesn't look big at all. The $40 one is bigger. (Our school goes through shopttkits.com.)

[emoflamingo]

I think I'll check out Lands End and if nothing else, I think I have an old Adidas backpack from college he can use in the meantime.

[Deleted]

I won't buy one again. DS has one last year and by November the bag had 2 big rips. Sent me a free relate want and that one ripped, too. 
I bought lands end for 1st grade and it is great. Looks brand new!

[annieh22]

Our LL Bean one is great quality. Check there too.

[granthamite]

The quality is good. DS1 had the preschool size one from about age 2 until he "graduated" to a bigger size in Kindergarten. I made the mistake of buying cheap for Kindy, and the backpack barely made it a year. I bought a Land's End backpack for 1st grade and it looks like new. I chose that over the PBK because it has water bottle pockets and the size was a better fit for early elementary.

[penguingrrl]

My older daighter's is at the end if it's second year and still like new. We'll get at least another 2-3 years of use out of it . My younger daughter got one this year and it's also in great shape. I throw both through the washing machine periodically and they do great with that. I highly recommend them! I suspect we'll have ended up saving money for the number of years we'll use it over buying cheaper backpacks.

I went for Mckenzie large for both and haven't regretted the size. It was big in K and 1 but now in 2 it's getting pretty filled up. It also works as an overnight bag when they stay at the grandparents.

[auntie]

If I were being frugal, I'd do at least a medium LLBean or LandsEnd. That way you could get several years out of them.

I'm just now looking to replace DS's enormous LandsEnd backpack. I bought it at the start of his junior year of high school; he starts his senior year of college in a week.

[tommygirl03]

Agreed - Lands End or L.L.Bean. My kids have had both, and the only reason I've replaced them is due to size. DD2 is on her 3rd year of an L.L.Bean bag and it truly looks new. And she's hard on stuff! DD1's bag is a little dirty from the bus, etc., but is in fantastic shape. She got it this year for 1st (her LE bag from PK/K was too small), and she'll probably use it until it's too small, too. I expect it to last through 3rd or 4th, most likely.

[bugandbibs]

Another vote for Lands End. DD1 is hard on stuff and her backpack is in great shape.

[redpenmama]

Apr 24, 2015 9:17:59 GMT -5 ilikedonuts said:

We use the mini for a ballet bag. it hasn't gotten a ton of wear though bc her ballet stuff weighs almost nothing. It seems really sturdy though!

Same situation here. We've used it for 2 years of dance, and it is like new. It's small, so I would size up if this was for school.

[bcarp30]

I don't love ours. It's already coming apart at the seams and she's only used it for about 8 months. I wouldn't buy a PBK bag again.

[whitepicketfence]

Apr 24, 2015 9:04:02 GMT -5 redheadk said:

We've used DD's for 2 years and it still looks new. It holds up very well.

DD has the small and it's fine for now and probably all the way through K but I'd go with the large for your older son (2nd grade, maybe, based on age?).

Both of my girls have the small as well (DD1's is going on 2 years now and still looks brand new), but I would definitely go with a larger size for 1st grade and up.