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$450 for a School Bag?

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Re: $450 for a School Bag?

#71

Post by eru »

JohnBooty wrote: post #34

I'd love to know the relative environmental impact of buying: 1. A single high-quality $400 leather randoseru to last six years 2. A single high-quality $200-$400 ripstop nylon bag with high quality zippers, etc (essentially, GoRuck quality level) to last for life 3. Six years' worth of $50 Jansports that last maybe ~3 years each 4. Six years' worth of cheapass $15 Amazon Essentials level nylon bags that last ~1 year…

For the more expensive, higher quality items you also have to factor in the probability that your kid might lose them.

Re: $450 for a School Bag?

#72

Post by dmamills »

kstrauser wrote: post #22
dmamills wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What am I missing? Likely a disrespect for a living wage for a common craftsman, and a misunderstanding of what quality goods actually are. Certainly a lot of kids here survived on cheap $25 jansports, but did the people making them?

It's not my moral duty to keep the makers of expensive bags employed. I mean, I do that anyway as a hobby, but I don't owe it to anyone.

Certainly not, and I don't mean to speak for you.

But lets just say that I exist within the FANG dystopia where at any moment I can be wrangled into a meeting with a half dozen people, that if you actually consider the salaries, headcount, and time, racks up to hundreds, maybe thousands of dollars burned. For the takeaway that the modal should be fullscreen, or that we are dramatically adjusting our "design system", or whatever may have been so mission critical. Real tangible goods.

But perhaps what I do is worth more, I mean, we are talkin' computers here! we are the true craftsmen!

Re: $450 for a School Bag?

#74

Post by JohnBooty »

TimTheTinker wrote: post #61
JohnBooty wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was in school in the 80s-90s I pretty much nevvvverrrr saw kids reusing bags for multiple years. I think cheap bags were just crappier back then But even the Jansports seemed to get replaced. I think kids were just rougher on their bags back then. I remember my bags absolutely bulging with 4-5 big hardbound textbooks. Don't see that much any more.

Cheap Jansport backpack zippers didn't last long.

Stitching-related zipper failure, or the zipper itself?

I feel like stitching in general is where Jansports fail first.... you have to abuse them pretty hard to wear out the material or bust a zipper directly, but the stitching on Jansports is not amazing.

Don't get me wrong... the price/performance/durability of Jansports is INSANE

but they maybe are venerated a little too hard

Re: $450 for a School Bag?

#75

Post by csa »

martyvis wrote: post #13

While I think Japanese society has lots of good traits and outcomes such as a low crime rate, and a ethic to involve everyone in process improvements, this is another clear example of what the English call "keeping up appearances". It seems Japanese call it "tatemae" - https://japan-dev.com/blog/honne-and-tatemae

> what the English call "keeping up appearances". It seems Japanese call it "tatemae"

Definitely not the same, unless I don’t understand the English usage (I’m American, but I’ve spent a lot of time around Brits and British English).

Tatemae can run deep in complexity and nuance.

Re: $450 for a School Bag?

#76

Post by paulmd »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #37

Seems like a great way to ensure money is spent within the local economy. The backpacks look amazing. In Canada catholic high schools students still wear uniforms. The uniforms are made to last. And the Canadian company that makes them has been in business for 50 years.

Ah, another commentator rediscovers Keynesianism from first principles ;)

It turns out the broken window fallacy is not really a fallacy, under many economic conditions!

Re: $450 for a School Bag?

#77

Post by JohnBooty »

peruvian wrote: post #67
JohnBooty wrote: post #34

I'd love to know the relative environmental impact of buying: 1. A single high-quality $400 leather randoseru to last six years 2. A single high-quality $200-$400 ripstop nylon bag with high quality zippers, etc (essentially, GoRuck quality level) to last for life 3. Six years' worth of $50 Jansports that last maybe ~3 years each 4. Six years' worth of cheapass $15 Amazon Essentials level nylon bags that last ~1 year…

This is BIFL culture math that doesn’t make sense IRL. Plenty of people use the same JanSport $50 backpack for a decade just fine for school.

I know what you mean about BIFL culture. IMHO r/buyitforlife is full of people who clearly seem to be jumping through hoops in order to justify some pretty expensive and overkill purchases they've already got their heart set on.

But that is not the angle I'm thinking from.

I did not see Jansports lasting people ten years when I was in school.

If anything... there's probably some generation gap stuff going on here. $50 Jansports did not typically last people that long when I went to school. But they also made us carry way more heavy-ass books than today I think.

Re: $450 for a School Bag?

#78

Post by Rudism »

metadat wrote: post #2

The article tries to articulate the value add through attention to detail in manufacturing "so the bags survive 6 years of rough and tumble ", but I'm not really getting it. What am I missing? I had a $60-in-1995 northface backpack that lasted through hauling 5+ periods of textbooks every day, walking and biking to middle school and highschool. It worked fine, in fact my dad still uses it (30 years later) to hold and…

> Today, kids in the U.S. don't even tote many (or any) books, most of the content and schoolwork takes place on a lightweight Chromebook that stays in the classroom.

This may be a regional thing, because my kids have to lug heavier loads back and forth to school every day than I ever had to when I was a kid, and that's on top of their Chromebooks and sometimes an instrument for band. They also don't get lockers big enough to store anything substantial so they've got to carry everything all the time. We pretty much go through a new backpack each year for each kid because they get so worn down from having their capacity continuously stretched to the limit.

Re: $450 for a School Bag?

#79

Post by JohnBooty »

eru wrote: post #71
JohnBooty wrote: post #34

I'd love to know the relative environmental impact of buying: 1. A single high-quality $400 leather randoseru to last six years 2. A single high-quality $200-$400 ripstop nylon bag with high quality zippers, etc (essentially, GoRuck quality level) to last for life 3. Six years' worth of $50 Jansports that last maybe ~3 years each 4. Six years' worth of cheapass $15 Amazon Essentials level nylon bags that last ~1 year…

For the more expensive, higher quality items you also have to factor in the probability that your kid might lose them.

in general: hell yeah

although something tells me this is NOT a problem for randoseru in Japan

Re: $450 for a School Bag?

#80

Post by bane »

kraig911 wrote: post #3

I ran with the same Jansport bag from 1989-2000. I wonder if they still offer that awesome warranty? As a kid my family really didn't know about it and it was pre-internet. My grandma was amazing repairing it. These bags do look pretty cool IMO but I feel there's more to the price that is essentially the generational guilt-trip of a custom that makes it that price.

I was going to say something similar, I think I had the same cheap Jansport pack from the mid-80s until well into college. Replaced it with another The free backpacks I get every so often from work are "ok". My employer gave me a Unless that pack comes with a bit of gold in it, or part of a college degree, I have no idea what makes it worth it.
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