mainly used for carrying around a pencil case, water, folders, laptop and odd bits. While I understand durability comes at a cost, I have a budget of £50. Thanks and I look foward to responding to your suggestions

My experience with Jansport has been solid. I think I've had the same J bag for over 20 years now, daily pack ala manpurse. Been through the washer/dryer a couple times, but I try to minimize that.

Jansport 20 years ago must be a lot different than Jansport today. My experience with them has been paying $60 for a bag that lasts as long as a $20 one.

Swiss Gear makes bags that last buy holy shit $200 for a backpack is outrageous. I only have one because it was gifted to me.

I've had my Timbuk2 for maybe 15 years now. I use it more weekly now than daily, but aside from some cosmetic scrapes nothing's fallen apart.

if it's to bifl you should avoid synthetic bags and go for canvas.

any old bag from an army surplus shop would outlive you.

buy a lightweight deuter, osprey &c and you will need to buy another one in 5 years. They're well made, yes, but not for "bifl"

Fjallraven?

I've had an Eddie Bauer vantage point for probably 26 years and taken it all over the world. Its a wee bit frayed in places but still holding up well. Almost daily usage except for weekends.

Chrome industries makes really high quality bags. I have two roll top backpacks and they’re indestructible

I have a Kipling and an Osprey and i really like them both. Both have been used for a couple of years with no real signs of wear. Light and durable.

Herschel Supply makes great quality backpacks. I've bad mine for near 10 years and it's in perfect shape still

I don't think that I've ever used any backpack that I'd say wasn't reasonably durable. But...I also don't think that I've ever used a backpack that I'd believe would last my life, if it's going to get steady use. I just replaced a backpack that was still usable, but getting pretty frayed, and I don't give my backpacks that much hard use compared to some. Zippers do die. Nylon's pretty durable as fabric goes, but it does wear through over time, and I'd guess that nylon alternatives that might last longer (maybe leather?) may come with tradeoffs (price, weight, breathability) that one may not want.

EDIT: I carry a laptop in mine, and I will say that one thing that I'd look for is padding in the backpack --- a lot of them have a large, slim compartment that's padded for backpacks. I have damaged laptops by carrying them in backpacks without a padded laptop compartment.

My Deuter has been going for twenty years. All my Jansports disintegrated.

The JanSport that has a leather bottom

If you're looking for a non-American/EU option, I've had good experiences with Fjallraven's Kanken Totepack. That's the only product of theirs I own, but I assume one of their regular backpacks would be even better since there are fewer moving parts to it. Has a lifetime warranty.

Otherwise, and bias fully acknowledged lol, anything from Duluth Pack is amazing since all those use a heavy canvas. It's on the pricier end, but worth it. The Scoutmaster model has a laptop pouch and is beautiful. Has a lifetime warranty but will stand up for decades before you'd need it.

Try to find one from 15 years ago.

The watchtower or lighthouse model is GOAT. (tower-something)

EDIT: I just looked at a couple of online pictures, and the ones listed look like standard-cheap-backpack-fabric, not the rip-stop that I got 15yrs ago. YMMV

The squares on the fabric in this picture, is the ripstop.

I bought a Fjallraven and was disappointed. It's fine, but for the price I was looking for something like Wenger from 20 years ago, and it was not that good.

Eddie Bauer announced bankruptcy a couple of months ago. I'm not too sure if they are still in business or what the future is for the brand.

I totally get what you mean. It's great that they have a lifetime warranty, but some of the threadwork isn't the best, and a lot of people just won't send their bag over international mail versus buying a new one. It feels like the warranty is more to cover their butts than providing a guarantee of high quality. But if you're in England/the EU, which the OP appears to be, it's a good deal.

I'm pretty good at sewing, so I bought mine knowing in advance about the inconsistent quality because I wanted the high-quality canvas and, honestly, the aesthetics. If I have any issues, I'll just do my own repairs.

Duluth Pack have got some bad press for being friendly to Trump. I buy from Frost River instead and their gear is locally made and excellent quality.

https://frostriver.com/

Ugh, really? Minnesota is usually better about that kind of thing. Thank you for the alternative.

For more info, the Raven 28 liter is not great. My partners backpack is falling apart at the base - mine is the same product and hasn't but I baby it more. Under four years of use. The stitching has come apart and you can see the interior structure, like of the laptop sleeve

This would be my suggestion as well. A Fjällräven Kånken will outlive you

My osprey is 9yo and has been going on airplanes and hikes constantly in that time. No signs of wear and tear.

They sometimes get a bad rap for going mass market and weakening their warranty, but I really think the quality is still excellent.

Wow, my experience was the opposite. Years ago, I wanted a slightly larger bag, so I stopped using my jansport that had lasted forever and got an expensive swissgear, and all the zippers broke in a couple years, so I went back to the jansport.

same with eastpak, jansport and tnf?