Customer Reviews L.L.Bean Kids Deluxe Backpack

Bag arrived with the stitches on the right shoulder strap not securing the strap to the bag. Quality control evidently missed it when the bag was made and when the bag was monogrammed. It's still a "good" L.L. Bean book pack but the company is better than this. Their standards are higher and these types of issues are unacceptable. The L.L. Bean I grew up with is sadly becoming a thing of the past.

It is a great pack...but the material scratches quite easily, leaving marks.....After 2 days of use (I am super careful), I have scratch marks on the fabric.

It fits a great deal of items and is light weight to carry, but we have had to replace it twice for broken pulls. Quality is dropping.

This should be a 5 star backpack; we've bought them in the past, and they are still good. This one we received (it was backordered) had a flaw in the zipper pull that has rendered one side useless. It is monogrammed. My son didn't want to be without it, so we kept it. I blame the manufacturing flaw on the general problems all manufacturers are having--and trust me, they are all having them.

Great bag except for the zippers. Basically it's brand new and where the zippers take a turn at the corners they are already getting stuck. It's not as good as it's predecessor. Those bags lasted 20 years of daily use.

This is overall a good backpack. Quite large with multiple sections. We had one a few years ago that did start to tear on the bottom. It was replaced by LL. We decided to order a new one this year because the zipper got stuck on the original one. (It seems to be a design flaw.) Now the mesh pockets on the side are tearing with only 2 months of use.

The bag is great except for the top zipper. It was for a 12 year old and I had to constantly try and unstuck it when he zipped it close or tried to unzip. The last time I was trying to unzip and it got stuck so badly I had to cut the flap above the zipper to get it open. The bag material is to close to the zipper and you have to move it out of the way when closing or opening.

This is the third LL Bean backpack my son has owned and to be honest the quality has gone down over the years. The zipper on this is more flimsy and kept getting stuck. Had to cut through the zipper to get his books out at school.

Plenty of room for all of my middle schoolers things but the two outside pockets ripped within a month of her using it.

Bought 4 backpacks for my kids for school and one of them has a broken piece already. I couldn't believe that for what I paid for them, that the one didn't even make it a full month.

The only reason I'm giving it 3 stars is because I've had 4+ llbean bags, and I love loved them and almost never had any problems. After using this at school for 3 weeks, as I went to zip up my large zippers, they BOTH got stuck on the "decorative fabric". I had several family, friends, and teachers try to help me, but the zipper won't even more. We will be sending this back to llbean, and getting a a new bag.

L.L. Bean backpacks are a 7th grade tradition in my family. My son got his brand new pack going into 7th grade this year and in the first week of school his zipper was stuck in the fabric and that side is now unusable. I got mine in 7th grade and still use it to this day, so I am surprised and disappointed that my sons pack is already broken. I don't know if the quality maybe isn't what it used to be, or if the design has changed. Everything else about the pack is still awesome. Great storage solutions, big pockets, and I love the addition of the electronics pouch. Would be five stars except for the zipper problem.

We love these backpacks but the newest order for my third child was a disappointment. We already have a water bottle holder tear.

Shortly after my grandchildren used their backpacks the reflective strips were wearing out from rubbing up against things. Since they only use them for school I figured they would last for a few years. They did not. The zippers are getting stuck on the seam material that has come off the seams. This is the first time I've been disappointed with anything I've ever purchased from LLBean.

If you're expecting to get a backpack as trusty and reliable as the one you grew up with, check resell sites, because this is NOT the backpack you're looking for. After only one school year, we had to replace it, as BOTH zippers were caught on the zipper cover and would no longer work. The straps were frayed at the shoulders, and the lining of the main compartment was peeling off. The padded straps, which are now curved, seem shorter and make for a strange fit on your back. They're also wider and stiffer. The keyhook, or USB hook on the interior is now plastic and breaks easier than the old metal ones. My backpack from 1996 is still being used, and we've had none of the issues listed above.

It was difficult to determine the actual size of the bag based on the information available on the website. I have rubbed raw spots on my wrists trying to put the bag on my back. The bag is bigger than I actually need, but the color wasn't available in other sizes.

This is a fantastic basic backpack. The biggest complaint is that the side pockets don't properly hold a decent size water bottle. My middle schooler can't carry his nice LL Bean stainless steel water bottle because it is constantly falling out, and when it falls out, it is very loud. The last think you want in middle school is to draw unwanted attention to yourself, even if it is just from your water bottle hitting the floor in the middle of class. His water bottle isn't even that big. Just a 20 oz Kleen Kanteen. I might try to rig an elastic loop so he can start carrying his water bottle again. For now, he is using a smaller plastic (gasp!) one. Aside from the lousy water bottle pocket, it is a good bag.

I am a third year college student. I have had my LL Bean backpack for a year and a half now, so I feel like I have a good grasp on the quality and practicality. Pros: Cute - The backpack itself is very cute, I got mine monogrammed with my initials and it looks great. Durable - Nothing on my backpack has broken. My straps are in tact and so is the handle. It does get tossed around quite a bit, thrown in my car, thrown on the ground, etc. My laptop has also not broken through those things. Cons: Uncomfortable: I store my laptop in the sleeve provided, and it is constantly digging into my back when I walk. Not weatherproof: The backpack is advertised as weatherproof. Now I know this does not mean waterproof, but I think even weatherproof is a stretch. My campus has buses that take us from building to building, and when it is raining, even the 50 foot walk from the building to the bus stop in a light drizzle has the contents of my backpack wet. My laptop gets wet constantly, and the tops of my notebooks are always wet when I pull them out in the next class. One time, I opened up my laptop and there was water all over my keyboard. TL;DR: It's cute. It's durable. It hasn't broken on me after 1.5 years; however, laptop digs into your back when walking across campus. If it rains even a little, your stuff will get wet. For these reasons, I do not think it is a practical buy for a college campus despite its advertised "lecture hall" readiness.

Already has a hole in the side pocket, super upset as these were suppose to "made to last". I have mine still from over 15 years ago in perfect condition and my bag has been through the wringer, thought the same bag would be perfect for my incoming middle schooler and 3 days in and the side mesh pocket is already ripped.

I love this backpack. I had one when I went to college 25 years ago. Believe it or not, I still use the bookbag! So, I decided to purchase one for my son. After the 3rd day of using it, the zipper broke. Needless to say, I am disappointed. So, I spent $60 plus dollars on a bag and the zipper breaks.

We have been buying backpacks from LL Bean for over 20 years. The quality isn't what it used to be. My daughter's backpack that we purchased for this school year (July 2023), and my daughter hardly uses, has the stitching of both bottle holders coming apart. Luckily, she took it on a plane trip this week and I saw it. Many other purchasers have the same issue. This is a quality control issue in the manufacturing process. It will be going back, but they are out of stock in the same color.

School stared in Aug,by Sept the zipper had already come off track that I've had to rig many times & zipper is constantly getting stuck on the fabric flap over the zipper. costumer service said I could mail in and exchange but it could be a 2-3 week processing time. That's not feasible for a student who has a lot of books/laptop to carry around.This bag likely won't last one full school year.Would not recommend this bag!

I have bought my boys this backpack in the past and it lasted them both several years. My oldest had his from 8th grade through high school graduation. I bought this one the end of October 2022 and the strap has already broken and that is with a 3 week break from school. My son is a junior in high school and I expected this one to last him this year and next based on the performance of the previous back packs. I would not recommend this for high schoolers and probably not middle schoolers either.

Pretty disappointed. The water bottle holders are already tearing and my son has only had this a month. Not the quality I was expecting for llbean or the price.

Absolute disappointment. I bought two of these backpacks this summer and the zipper is constantly sticking on both of them. Zipper keeps getting stuck on the fabric that covers the zipper. It's a bad design! Why does a zipper need to be covered anyway? So disappointing for how much these backpacks cost!