I know what you mean about BIFL culture. IMHO r/buyitforlife is full of people who clearly seem to be jumping through hoops in order to justify some pretty expensive and overkill purchases they've already got their heart set on.
But that is not the angle I'm thinking from.
I did not see Jansports lasting people ten years when I was in school.
If anything... there's probably some generation gap stuff going on here. $50 Jansports did not typically last people that long when I went to school. But they also made us carry way more heavy-ass books than today I think.
My solution to heavy-ass books was to re-bind individual chapters in 50¢ report covers after paying a copy shop about $2/book to cut out and three-hole punch the pages, and only carry the chapters I was actively using, which easily fit in a vertical messenger bag designed for small laptops.
That's, uh, not exactly universally applicable is it?
Or have they finally quashed the used book market entirely? Most fellow college/uni students valued getting a few bucks back for their books at the end of a semester.
Also this obviously can't work for primary school students who can't destroy their books at will.
Also, more to the point: I suspect that the environmental impact of this "BIFL" leather bag absolutely dwarfs the impact of multiple nylon bags so I did not have some BIFL-y agenda... =)
But that is not the angle I'm thinking from.
I did not see Jansports lasting people ten years when I was in school.
If anything... there's probably some generation gap stuff going on here. $50 Jansports did not typically last people that long when I went to school. But they also made us carry way more heavy-ass books than today I think.