ll bean big, looks great and has a life time warranty

ll bean bags go in the washing machine for cleaning too!

OP here - thanks for all your suggestions!

DS is tiny, so I bought the Jansport Right Pack, even though it's not the most capacious one on the market. It does hold a 3inch binder plus a lunchbox.

Anonymous wrote:The LL Bean large ones are indestructible. We bought one for DC in 6th and it's still going strong 3+ years later.

We are on year 7 for my DDs - she's now in HS - offered to get her a new one, but she didn't want to swap, and honestly, it's still good as new.

My dd got a black Jansport from Walmart. She's in 7th grade.

Anonymous wrote:The LL Bean large ones are indestructible. We bought one for DC in 6th and it's still going strong 3+ years later.

+1

We bought the Turbo Transit Pack this year for DC#2 based on our prior experience with the Super Deluxe Book Pack.

LL Bean deluxe -- no laptop sleeve, which is wasted space for my kids. Got them for all three kids this year and they fit both the big honkin' binders plus their lunch boxes with room to spare.

The LL Bean large ones are indestructible. We bought one for DC in 6th and it's still going strong 3+ years later.

I got my DD a High Sierra, and I think it might even be the "college" size, that has a laptop sleeve inside the main pocket. I worried it would be too big, but I mean, that thing is stuffed to the gills! I totally agree about the 3-inch binder – they really have to have it, and even though we bought a Case It binder with a shoulder strap and a zip closure, my kid really likes being able to fit it in her backpack so she can carry her lunchbox and backpack and not have a third thing dragging off one shoulder. You can not go wrong getting the larger sizes – they'll need it in high school even more.

Agree big enough for 3 inch binder + lunch. We have an LL bean large sized one.

We went with the basic JanSport Right Pack (with the leather on the bottom). Seemed neutral and more grown up than some options.

Something big! My DS's middle school told them to get a big 3-inch binder to hold all their papers. It just barely fit in his ES backpack but didn't leave any room for lunch, jacket, etc. I don't recall what brand of backpack he got -- something from Sports Authority.

My 5th grader's beloved Harry Potter backpack just gave way - he'd used it since Kindergarten.
What's a good style/brand to get for middle school?