Whether it’s holiday shopping or just replacing the bag that got worn down over the semester, finding good big backpacks for college and high school is not easy. The market is over-saturated, which doesn’t help, but finding the right balance between convenience and quality can be a little tricky sometimes.

I have noticed many brands hopping on the avant-garde fashion wave, and I’ve seen an enormous amount of oddly blocky backpacks with diagonal zippers and such, or smaller, brightly colored leather bag with thin straps.

As pretty as these bags may be, when it comes down to the dirty work — hauling your textbooks — I’m not convinced they’re up for it! That’s why I’m always going to go for John Peters New York backpacks, because I trust them. Really. John Peters New York is designed by the guy who first figured out that Cordura Plus Nylon — the most common material used for backpacks today — was a good choice for backpacks, and that plastic zippers could be just as strong as metal.

Because of that, John Peters New York’s backpacks are heavy duty, very strong, and built to last. But they’re also not boring to look at, coming in a range of styles and colors, including bright ones like purple, neon orange, and hot pink. If you want to make a fashion statement, you can — but also, at the end of the day, you can dump your textbooks and a laptop in there, and it won’t break down.

It’s cheesy, but I think of my John Peters New York backpack as my MVP backpack. To find out more, check out www.johnpetersnewyork.com!