Back to School Backpack & Lunchbag New or Reuse?

[rszdtrvl]

My son is not a big backpack user. I got him this one from amazon.com last year :
http://www.amazon.com/JanSport-Stud...7QVO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311692635&sr=8-1

So he will use that this year. It is still in mint condition.

I also found a messenger bag at a yard sale for $.50 that he can use if he wants.

We need to figure out what will fit in his locker - he starts high school this year.

 

[momof1princess]

DD13 wouldn't mind using the same backpack over and over, but her school requires clear backpacks, which are the cheapest made pieces of crap on the planet, and they rarely last more than 2 months. we have to buy 3-4 while they're available in late summer, just so she can make it through the year. ugh, i hate them!

as to the lunch bag...she's had a couple of them that she's carried for more than one year, but, if i have the money, i'll usually buy her a new one each year. i got her a thirty-one thermal tote a couple of months ago with her initials embroidered on it, so that'll be the one she carries this year.

 

[dngnb8]

We buy new back pack each year. Not because we want something new, but because the previous years are torn, zippers are broke etc

The lunch bags are reused.

 

[mom2travel]

I actually just ordered DD a new backpack. She'll need a bigger one for middle school, otherwise wouldn't have gotten a new one. Her retiring one is LLBean and she used it from 1st grade through 5th and it's still in good shape. I hope the new one (jansport) lasts as long.

DS pretty much had one backpack in ES, a messenger bag in MS (easier for him to fit in his locker) and one for HS that he'll have for a while.

Lunch boxes we replace as needed, but definitely not every year. DD used DS' old one last year and had the one before for 3 years. She got a cute Vera Bradley one for next year for her bday

 

[AntePrincess]

I didn't vote because our children aren't in school yet, but we'll be reusing the backpacks. I embroider a little bit, so we might personalize them between years. When the older daughter outgrows her backpack, it'll be time to give it a complete makeover (dye it, embroider it, airbrush it...) and give it to the younger daughter.

 

[monorailsilver]

My kids don't get a new one every year either.

My oldest, going into 5th grade, got her back pack in K. It was a pink LL Bean one. It was so dirty that she hated it. Well it was her own fault for just throwing it on the ground. But I tried to wash it & bleach scrub it & well it ripped at the seam. Someone gave her a back pack from The Children's Place. So she used that on & off but it ripped with in a month (cheap thing it was). She wanted a messenger bag vs a back pack so that is what she is stuck with for now. It is an LL Bean one.

My ds, going into 3rd grade, has a blue LL bean back pack that is still in perfect condition. I have no need to replace it.

My youngest, going into K, just got her first 'real' back pack last week. A purple LL bean one. Of course it has goine everywhere with us this past week-store, grandmas, library. It is currently packed with stuffed animals for our upcoming vacation.

As far as lunch boxes, I do change them out more frequently. My oldest has had hers for the past 2 years. She wanted something new & it had to fit an ice pack was my requirement.

My son has used his for 2 years as well. It is a smaller version of my dh's.

I need to get my youngest one but I am not in the mood to drive to Target.

 

[Minnesota!]

I buy better quality to begin with so we don't need to buy new every year.

yep!

ODS got a backpack - high quality - for Christmas when he was 3. He has used it since - he is now going into 2nd grade. We got a free softsided lunch box somewhere along the way and that is what he uses. But I am thinking of getting him a new one of those. It's not really all that big.

I cannot understand wasting money on new stuff when the old stuff is just fine and dandy...

Like a pp said - I don't go buy myself new clothes just because it's a new season. My jeans from last year (or 10 years ago) are just fine. If something gets worn out, I replace it. If it still works....it still works for me. Anything else is just wasteful, IMO.

My kids do NOT care one iota about if something is not brand new. Maybe it's because they are boys? But I would be upset with them either way if they expected something new just because they are tired of looking at the old thing.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I've used the same backpack since sixth grade. I'm now a junior in high school. I don't see the point in constantly spending money on new things when you have perfectly good stuff from last year, but then again, I'm not popular or 'normal'. xD

You have good sense, though!

Although I buy better quality for myself and reuse my own purses, backpack, etc from year to year, my kids rarely do. When they were younger they wanted the cheap character backpacks, so they'd get worn or a broken zipper and need replacing after a year. Occasionally, a backpack has lasted two years, but never longer than that. I don't mind because I figure they are the ones who have to carry them around every single day, so they should get a bag that appeals to them. Lunch boxes get kind of gross after a year, so they get replaced, though dd13 stopped using those by 6th grade, anyway.

 

[carmiedog]

My answer is somewhere between. My kids get a new backpack every 3 years when they advance to a new school building. We get LL Bean so they *could* keep using them, but we always move up a size (jr, original, deluxe...) AND it's nice for them to start fresh with a new building. We use the old ones for daycamps, etc., but eventually we're going to have TOO many and need to donate.

 

[mjkacmom]

When you have 5 kids, you usually don't get new stuff every year, just because. I buy quality, and when it breaks, you get a new one. I did give in to dd10 last year, because her Lands End backpack that I purchased when she was 5 was looking a little ratty.

 

[HelenePA]

My kids do NOT care one iota about if something is not brand new. Maybe it's because they are boys? But I would be upset with them either way if they expected something new just because they are tired of looking at the old thing.

Nahhh my girls could careless either...

 

[Robinrs]

I've used the same backpack since sixth grade. I'm now a junior in high school. I don't see the point in constantly spending money on new things when you have perfectly good stuff from last year, but then again, I'm not popular or 'normal'. xD

LL Bean is a godsend for those things, and since my mom had their credit card at the time, she got free monogramming. Their stuff lasts forever, and I'm pretty sure this backpack will serve some sort of purpose for a long time coming.

I used to buy my son a new backpack every year, sometimes two.. it was getting expensive and annoying.

My sister bought him an LL Bean backpack in a neutral color when he was in the 7th grade. He is now going to the 12th with the same backpack! Those things are invincible!!

 

[cybrkitn]

After reading everyone's opinion on LL Bean back packs, I think we might want to invest in getting DS9 one as a back up for the upcoming school year.

The NY Yankees is fine, but it probably will break at some point during the new year. He's going into 4th grade and I noticed with 3rd grade, he started to come home with about 2 textbooks (usually when there was a test scheduled) that were putting a strain on the shoulder strap. I don't know if his backpack can withstand holding 2 textbooks with accompaning soft cover workbooks and composition notebooks.

 

[mickeyboat]

I bought a tiny backpack one for DDs when they started pre-k, a larger one for first grade, a rolling one for 3rd grade and a deluxe one sometime on clearance in 4th grade because the rolling ones aren't good for hikes and girl scout trips.

We change lunchboxes every year or two because they get nasty.

I offered to buy both a new backpack to start middle school. DD11 took me up on the offer. DD10 decided she was happy with the clearance backpack from a couple years ago, and couldn't find a new pattern she liked. I did buy new lunch boxes for both of them.

We almost always buy LL Bean backpacks and have ahd great luck with them.

 

[NHdisneylover]

My kids do NOT care one iota about if something is not brand new. Maybe it's because they are boys? But I would be upset with them either way if they expected something new just because they are tired of looking at the old thing.

Not just a boy thing--my DD does not want new ones every year either. In fact, she was annoyed that she had to get a new one when the strap on her landsend pack broke after 7 years (I told her it might have something to do with carrying 5+ library books plus all her school books, I could hardly lift the darn thing She has a kindle now).

 

[NHdisneylover]

After reading everyone's opinion on LL Bean back packs, I think we might want to invest in getting DS9 one as a back up for the upcoming school year.

The NY Yankees is fine, but it probably will break at some point during the new year. He's going into 4th grade and I noticed with 3rd grade, he started to come home with about 2 textbooks (usually when there was a test scheduled) that were putting a strain on the shoulder strap. I don't know if his backpack can withstand holding 2 textbooks with accompaning soft cover workbooks and composition notebooks.

They really are worth every penny The quality is amazing.

 

[debrapagliasotti]

This is the first year we are re-using backpacks. We bought Adidas backpacks last year before school and they have held up really well..no rips, stains. As far as lunch boxes, my oldest (will be in 4th grade) did get new lunch boxes/thermos for this upcoming year. His old one was Scooby Doo and he wanted something a bit "older", so he picked 2 Star Wars lunch boxes. My daughter (will be in 3rd grade) still loves her 2 Hello Kitty lunch boxes and her thermos is still in great condition, so she will re-use.

 

[luvmy3]

My kids do not get new backpacks and lunch boxes each year. they have LL Bean backpacks and lunch boxes and they have held up very well through the years.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

We also went from yearly buyers to LLBean. The younger boys are going into year 3 with their bags. DS15 is on a new bag this year because he got pin holes in the bottom of his old bag. I took it to our local LLBean and while it's not the same color it's the same bag, and I didn't have to pay for it!

We also bought the lunch bags from LLBean too, DH took DS15's since he buys lunch at school but the other 2 will use theirs every day.

DD starts Kindergarten this year and picked out a princess back pack, but we already have an agreement that this will be the last year for character back packs, next year she will also get an LLBean one.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

After reading everyone's opinion on LL Bean back packs, I think we might want to invest in getting DS9 one as a back up for the upcoming school year.

The NY Yankees is fine, but it probably will break at some point during the new year. He's going into 4th grade and I noticed with 3rd grade, he started to come home with about 2 textbooks (usually when there was a test scheduled) that were putting a strain on the shoulder strap. I don't know if his backpack can withstand holding 2 textbooks with accompaning soft cover workbooks and composition notebooks.

They are totally worth it!! And they have a lifetime warranty, the only question they asked me at the store when we replaced DS15's was what month and year we bought the last one. So you might just want to file that info away to have on hand.
My boys are so hard on bags, dragging them, carrying rocks in them, etc. They have held up really really well.