How long can a binder last?

Our child's return to primary school is a time full of emotions for him but also for us as parents! If the excitement is at its height, the stress can also be invited to the party and spoil those moments. Indeed, many elements must be taken into account and for our child to start on the best basis, the purchase of school materials is an indispensable step that will have to be thought of beforehand! Apart from the various small supplies, the choice of binder should attract your full attention to meet the needs of the child, his class but also his morphology and his tastes. It is essential to focus on the selection of the school bag because it will be worn every day and will also, at best, have to withstand several years and therefore meet the needs of the years to come. However, this question of the length of time school school bag seems to be sometimes very abstract: isn't it better to buy a new one every year? Isn't wear likely to render it unusable after a few months? Should trends be taken into account? Our specialists dissect the issue for you and give you concrete leads to find out how long to actually last your child's binder and when it's time to replace it with a new one.

What are the keys to a binder that lasts?

When purchasing a school bag that can last at least the entire school year and at best several years, it is imperative to consider several criteria when choosing it. Here are some concrete illustrations.

Select a solid binder

This is one of the first criteria to consider when choosing your child's schoolbag if you want your child to do more than a year. Indeed, there are many references on the market and, depending on the brands and materials, not all are equal. While some will already see their first traces of wear in the first few months, others will remain in perfect condition long after their purchase date. If it also depends greatly on the care your child will give him, the quality of the materials is a very important criterion to look at carefully. To make no mistake, you must pay attention to the strength of the fabric, the strength of the zipper, which will also be in great demand, and various other details that can make the difference in the image of the reinforcement below the binder. This reinforcement will also provide an additional security for the fabric so that it does not crack prematurely. Also consider looking at the strength of the straps and observe the "weakness points" that may be there.

Choose a binder that fits the child's morphology

For a binder to last over time, it is also essential that it can easily adapt to your child's evolutionary morphology. Indeed, carrying his schoolbag on his back for a good part of the day and being growing, this criterion is very important. Also, make sure that there are different settings that can allow you to adapt the carrying of the bag to the morphology of its small owner. So, over the years and in terms of your child's growth, you can then adapt it so that it stays comfortable and does not cause back pain.

Note that it is imperative that your child be free of movement by carrying his bag on his back and that the bag should never exceed 10% of his weight. Finally, the load must be properly distributed so as not to weigh on one shoulder more than the other and not to "camber" the posture. 

Don't neglect comfort

For a binder to last, it is obvious that the criterion of comfort is important. More and more manufacturers have understood this and offer bags with wide straps, a padded back and alternatives to carrying the binder on the back including an increasing number of wheeled binders.

Good to know: specialists generally advise to wait for the fourth grade class before opting for a wheeled binder. Indeed, before this age, this type of model can promote the arch of the youngest.

Choose a school bag that appeals to the child

If your child doesn't like the school bag right from the moment he buys it, chances are they want to change it very quickly. For this reason in particular, you must choose the binder accompanied by your little blonde head and listen to his tastes! Even if you obviously have to take into account the criteria mentioned above, your child should not be excluded from the choice of his school bag.

Prefer boxe models with multiple compartments

Between notebooks, kits, pens, books or even the essential snack during recess, our children carry many things on their backs. To help them organize well but also to be able to easily accommodate all this, it is advisable to choose from the start a binder with several compartments that will prevent your child from having to empty his entire bag to find a particular supply. Moreover, even if not all the compartments will necessarily be useful for the first primary classes, they will undoubtedly serve him for the upper classes!

To sum up: if you want your child's schoolbag to last several years, the key word is anticipation. You need to think about its future needs and the evolution of its morphology in order to hope to keep it as long as possible.

Should trends be taken into account?

Added to the difficulty of choosing the binder, its shape, its strength and its practical aspects is added a new thorn: that of trends. Fashion has always been an important part of choosing school supplies in the eyes of our children, and the school bag is no exception. If you want to please your child, you should therefore take into account the trends of the moment. On the other hand, with tastes and colors changing with age, it is recommended not to choose an overly stylized binder that could quickly tire your child. To keep it as long as possible, try to bet on a trendy but sober model.

How long does a binder last?

In view of these criteria, how long can we hope to keep our children's schoolbags? If the answer to this question also takes into account the conditions of care given to the backpack, it is estimated that the binder can last an average of 3 years.