Methodology

How we keep this catalogue current

What gets re-read, how often, and what happens to a bag that sells out.

Prices

Every price on this site comes out of our own product data and is rewritten when it moves. The catalogue was last updated on October 6, 2026, and at that update it held 41 bags in stock across 251 colour and height combinations. Where a figure here and the figure at the till disagree, the till is the one that counts.

A bag we cannot currently buy does not appear at all. It is not hidden behind a “currently unavailable” label: it comes off the site at the next build and comes back by itself when it returns to stock, because the catalogue behind these pages keeps asking about it either way.

Heights, litres, sleeves and colourways

These come from the same product data and are rebuilt from it on every pass, so nobody types a litre figure into a paragraph by hand. A height on a card is the height that bag is cut in at our last update, and a laptop sleeve size is the diagonal the sleeve was built for. Where a bag gives no litre figure, the line is left blank rather than guessed.

Pictures

Every photograph on this site shows the colourway being sold. A frame with a size chart, an award or a claim printed into it is cropped to the photograph or left out, and a picture that argues with what is written beside it is pulled instead of captioned around.

Claims about backs, chemicals and gates

Anything on this site that touches a child's back, what a product made for a child may contain, or what a venue will admit through a gate is written under a published source rather than over one. The register below is the whole of it, and every entry was opened and read on September 5, 2026 before a link was put on it.

Corrections

If a height or a litre figure on this site argues with the bag in your hands, write to satchel@abshoo.net with the page and the figure. It gets fixed at the next update, and we say what changed. The rest of what abshoo will and will not print about itself is set out in the editorial standards.

Where this comes from

School Backpack Safety: Proper Fit, Smart Packing & Preventing Back Pain · American Academy of Pediatrics. A packed school bag should not exceed 15 per cent of a child's body weight, and a bigger bag is not a better one because it gets filled. Look for two broad padded straps kept even in length, a padded back, a chest strap or waist belt, and separate compartments; pack the heaviest things low and closest to the back. If a child leans forward to carry it, it is too heavy. Read September 5, 2026.
Backpack Safety · American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (OrthoInfo). Two wide padded shoulder straps, a padded back, a waist strap when the load is heavy and a lightweight bag to start with. Heavy backpacks do not cause scoliosis, which develops in about five per cent of children during adolescence whatever they carry; what a heavy bag worn badly does cause is back, neck and shoulder pain. Read September 5, 2026.
Total Lead Content · US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Section 101 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act bans any children's product with more than 100 ppm of lead in an accessible component, and the importer must issue a Children's Product Certificate. An exemption from testing is not an exemption from the limit: a firm is liable if the product as received by the buyer exceeds it. Read September 5, 2026.
Phthalates Business Guidance · US Consumer Product Safety Commission. Eight named phthalates are capped at 0.1 per cent in an accessible plasticised component — of a children's toy, meaning something a child of twelve or under plays with, or a child care article for sleeping, feeding, sucking or teething under the age of three. A backpack is neither, so the cap is not a badge a bag can wear. Read September 5, 2026.
Clear Bag Policy · National Football League. The published rule is a clear plastic, vinyl or PVC bag no larger than 12" x 6" x 12", which covers clear backpacks, fanny packs and cinch bags. No buckle, grommet, hardware or decoration may conceal any part of the bag, and a logo may appear on one side only. One small non-clear bag up to 4.5" x 6.5" is allowed alongside it, and individual stadiums may be stricter. Read September 5, 2026.