Mountain Sports

Full review
There is something about a full book bag that makes it impossible to carry the way it was intended. No, it must be symbolically dragged, kicking and screaming to school. The very act shows your parents how you feel about having to get up and be hustled out the door. By year’s end, the bottom of the book bag is fully ventilated. Kids are trailing bits of whatever fits through the torn bottom of the bag to and from school. With book bags, Hansel and Gretel would have found their way home with ease, for no one would disturb a trail of homework.

When the multiple holes become one huge hole and the book bag must be carried upside down to be functional, I guess it’s time to buy a new one. And so it was. All three school age children needed book bags for the coming school year.

At ages 14, 12 and 7 the kids have outgrown the cutesy selections offered at Wal-Mart. No more pink plastic Barbie totes or Blue’s Clues bag with two useless fabric ears dangling from the sides.The best place to search out acceptable and affordable choices to please both a child’s heart and a parent’s wallet is on-line.

I first found my way to the JanSport website (manufacturer of bags, packs, etc.) that showed their line of backpacks and such. I chose the style I thought would fit all three kids’ needs. JanSport only makes the book bags so they do no direct selling on their site. What they do offer is a link to each of the on-line retailers that offer their goods.

I was able to visit each of these retailers and check on price, availability and shipping costs. Those three things led me to Mountain Sports Online (www.mountainsports.com). Mountain Sports had the same low price on the model book bag that I wanted as two other sellers. What it offered that those other two didn’t was FREE shipping on orders over $50. With three book bags I was more than able to reach that threshold.

The one thing lacking on the Mountain Sports site were illustrations of the various design/color choices that were available. There they were listed in a drop-down menu, “Chopper, Peace Out, Flower Power,” but if I hadn’t surfed the other stores sites I wouldn’t have known that the “Peace Out” was the perfect tie-dye motif for my 12 yr-old daughter.

The box arrived two days later and everyone was excited to see what ‘mature’ designs I had picked out for each of them. That was until they realized that they are going to have to find their own way home.

Mountain Sports Online had the best price, free shipping and speedy delivery.