This is our second State backpack. Our first one (Kane Double Pocket) has been in daily use since last year, and it still looks great. My daughter got onto her middle school tennis team this year. We got this backpack so she could carry her books/notebooks, her tennis rackets and tennis shoes to school. She also takes a school bus to get to school, so we needed something really durable to protect her expensive rackets.
THE GOOD: The quality is amazing, just like we expected, based on our first backpack experience. The color is beautiful, and the backpack has plenty of padded pockets. It also came in super quick – we got it in about a week, and we ordered it customized.
WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT:
- The ad for the Lenox tennis backpack says it “fits up to 2 rackets.” Since my kid is on a competitive team, she always carries 2 rackets with her (if anything happens to your first one, you don’t want to play with a borrowed racket you’re not familiar with). Here is the problem: even empty (without any school books/gear in the main compartment), there is no way to fit 2 rackets into the racket compartment. It is simply too shallow and narrow. She plays with standard 27” rackets (which are also mentioned in the ad). For now, we had to take just one racket to her school practices, hoping the strings would hold up. However, for tournaments, we will still have to carry two bags, since we need to bring 2 rackets, which is a huge inconvenience. The point of getting this backpack was to consolidate the number of bags she takes on her school bus (they go to tournaments right after her classes).
- The shoe compartment is tiny as well. My kid wears size 6 big kid shoes. If you lay them flat on their sides inside the compartment, you could barely zip up the shoe compartment. There is a way to stand them upright, but then they’ll be poking in between her school books, which is awkward.
- Fully loaded, there is absolutely no space for her large water bottle. She has to carry her water bottle and her lunch box separately.
Overall, I think this backpack needs a little re-design to make it perfect. The racket compartment needs to be extended to accommodate two standard rackets (since it’s advertised as a very specialized tennis backpack). The shoe compartment needs to be wider as well.
We’re going to keep it, since we ordered it personalized, and there is no returns for personalized items. It is super cute, and will probably be an ideal backpack for someone just starting out in tennis, who needs to fit 1 small junior racket, and who has a smaller shoe size. For a competitive middle schooler who carries 2 rackets, it is quite small.
