Backpacks for children

[Gumba]

For those who have walked with children - what backpacks did they use? My boys will be very tall 9 and 12 year olds. Have had a bit of a look on-line, the ones for under 10's don't seem to have much support and it looks like the 12 y.o might need to look at adult bags but the smaller sizes are day packs and offer little support plus don't seem suitable due to the many compartments.

As I am buying 4 of everything, cost will come into it a bit - unless it is one of those things that you need to spend the money to get quality...

thanks

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Deuter Fox, either the 30 or 40 depending on the size of the youth.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Unless it is impossible then buy your packs (and footwear) in store and try several for a good fit. We did for our Camino, then bought a replacement on-line. Same brand and type and it did not fit well. Useful here at home only and the old one kept for Spain.
We were advised to load the pack, either take things or borrow a sleeping bag etc in the shop to give an idea of how the pack fits with a load. If I was buying for a youngster I would also consider if they might grow significantly between buying the pack and going on the Camino.

 

[pvh]

It depends on where you are based. If you are in the UK, my 12 year old used a 25 litre day sack from Tesco, it's their own brand but has a padded, properly fitted hip belt and facility for adding a bladder if necessary. It also has lots of accessible storage pockets and mesh pockets, is well balanced and lightweight. Best of all only cost about £15. My 10 year old used a 18 litre one from Mountain Warehouse, again with a proper hip belt and bladder facility, I think it's supposed to be for cycling or fell running but fit her well and was again very lightweight. It was a little more expensive, around £22 a couple of years ago.
Also in the UK and mainland Europe, including Spain, there are branches of Decathlon all over. They have some excellent gear and do some great small rucksacks. Again they are their own brand but good quality and definitely suitable for the Camino and are extremely reasonably priced.

 

[gerardcarey]

I bought, on special, 28 litre Deuter packs for 15 & 16 yr olds. Plenty of room for them with carrying sleeping bag, toiletries, undies, shorts, t-shirts, fleece and rain coats. And electronics of course.
Good quality so they are getting plenty of use after the Camino.
Regards
Gerard

 

[Katherine Fugate]

My most important note would be buy in person not on the internet. We tried on at least 6 before my 10 year old found one that fit her around the arms, straps didn't cut or irritate, she liked the feeling, pockets, zipper, etc. We ended up at REI and after trying all the typical name brands, she chose their brand. The hiking backpack is different than a typical school backpack and I am glad we bought it how we did.

Same for me. So glad I fit all them first.

 

[dougfitz]

When my then 14 yo granddaughter walked the Milford Track with my wife and I some years ago, she used a Salewa Summit 30. It was an older design with a divided main compartment with zip access to the bottom section of the main compartment, two side pockets and an internal and external pocket in the lid. The things that were important was that it had a good harness and waist belt for load transfer.

We weighed her school bag while we were planning the load division between the three of us. While I cannot now remember how much it weighed, we were never going to get close to that weight, even with food and water.

 

[Gumba]

Thanks for all of the input. Definitely wont buy online. It was helpful to find out the size pack/age of the child and the functions you/child found useful. Good point about not buying too early lol - will put it on hold for a few months as we are going next March.

Thanks again