Thread by @rdonoghue

So, the little dude has - unsurprisingly - a great backpack. It's a Red Oxx kids backpack, and it's both indestructible and very well suited to the "Time to go to locker between classes? HA HA HA" lifestyle he lives. It's main flaw is the laptop compartment offers no protection

Design is intended to be used with a separate laptop sleeve or similar (or with no laptop), but adding one more layer of unpacking to his process is not going to end well for computers, as we have some evidence of.

So I am now considering other backpacks which will hold a crapton of textbooks, but also keep his laptop safe. I have some good contenders on hand, but I figured I'd check what recommendations they have out there for students.

Answer: Only crappy ones.

I mean, there are some ok reccs - can't go wrong with a Jansport, honestly - but most of the reccs are very clearly by people who have possibly never met kids, much less considered how much crap they have to carry.

Some of these bags might be reasonable if prefaced by the explanation "if your school has lots of time between classes, so you only need to carry a little at the time, and you're of course using roller luggage for what you take home and bring in, this slimline bag is hyper cool!"

"Hey Kids, I know you're carrying forty pounds of books plus gym clothes, but have you considered this quirky design with a retro aesthetic and zero consideration for ergonomics? It's totally the thing!"

Advice this bad is just infuriating.

Anyway, the challenge here is that there are a LOT of great bags that offer excellent organizational options, and those are good for the office, but less good for textbooks & notebooks. He needs a big, cavernous space.

Which is why I'm not joking at all about not going wrong with a Jansport. The basic Jansport config, with a good laptop compartment added, is all about cavernous space. It sets the bar, and the number of other bags that clear the bar is...low.

Yes, a GoRuck could do the job, but there are to considerations.

1. Clamshell open is great for access, but requires space that is frequently unavailable at school. A large top load is going to be better.

2. Gorucks are too dang expensive for this.

That said, I think he wants to hijack my CPL24, which has some structural similarities to the GR-1, but is less military in look. He has described it as feeling like an adventurer's backpack, so that may trump all other considerations.

But in terms of things in the house, the main contenders are the CPL, A Jansport Tech, and an ebags Slim Traveller. I have a couple maybes, but since my own tastes run towards slim bags, they're iffy.

We've also had a few disqualifications for lack of coolness. Had a Briggs & Stratton carryon backpack that was perfect in terms of how much it could hold, but it was blocky and super uncool. And I could not fault his judgement.

Anyway, fun problem to have. :)

Verdict Is in and the winner is the CPL24 by a mile. He immediately started running around and shadow boxing in it. The rigid back and super comfortable straps mean the excessive weight stays comfortable, and the laptop protection rocks.