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In this guide
The SuperBreak is the JanSport most people can draw from memory: one big zipped compartment, one front pocket, two padded straps, a woven label. The SuperBreak Plus keeps that outline and adds a padded laptop sleeve inside and a bottle pocket on the side. On JanSport's UK store the Black version (style EK0A5BAO) is £38.
The additions matter more than they sound. A school bag now carries a Chromebook or laptop nearly every day, and the original SuperBreak had nowhere to put one except loose among the books. The question for a parent is whether a soft, frameless bag with a sleeve is enough, or whether the load has grown into something that needs a bigger, stiffer pack like JanSport's own Big Student.
Our verdict
A £38 one-compartment school pack that adds a laptop sleeve and a bottle pocket without adding structure or much weight; buy it for a secondary-school student with a laptop and a normal load of books.
- A good fit for
- A student from about Year 7 up who carries a Chromebook or a 13- to 15-inch laptop, a water bottle and a few exercise books, and whose family wants a bag to outlast the year.
- We would skip it if
- The child is in early primary and 42 cm will hang below their hips, or the daily load is big enough to call for a hip belt, a sternum strap or a stiff frame.
Reasons to consider it
- Padded internal sleeve fits a 15-inch laptop (40 by 32 cm) inside a 26 L compartment, at 0.4 kg total weight
- Side bottle pocket and a front utility pocket with an organiser, plus cord zip pulls and a haul handle
- A 30-year warranty for manufacturing defects, with zips and discoloration covered under the legal warranty term, and free returns within 30 days
The compromises
- One main compartment with no divider, so books, lunch and a laptop share the same space
- No sternum strap, hip belt or frame; the padded back panel and straight-cut straps are the whole suspension
- The page gives no fabric composition or water rating, so how the shell copes with a wet walk to school is unstated
What we have not verified: The pack was not loaded or worn here. Zip life under a school year of daily use, how the shell copes with rain, and whether the sleeve padding survives a hallway drop were not assessed, and the product page does not name the fabric.
The things in this guide
A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.
SuperBreak Plus Backpack, 26 L, Black
A 26 L compartment with a padded sleeve for a 15-inch laptop, a bottle pocket, a front organiser pocket and a padded back panel, in a 0.4 kg pack covered by a 30-year manufacturing-defect warranty.
Before you buy: No divider inside the main compartment, no sternum strap or hip belt, and the pack was not carried or loaded for this review.
Price checked 17 October 2026. Retailer prices can change.A sleeve and a bottle pocket on the same old shell
JanSport's own description is a single sentence: the Plus is the classic SuperBreak with an internal laptop sleeve and side water bottle pocket. The feature list fills that out. The sleeve is padded and fits a 15-inch laptop, with a stated laptop area of 40 by 32 cm, and it sits inside the main compartment against the fully padded back panel. The front utility pocket has an organiser for pens and small items, the top has a web haul handle, and the zip pulls are cord with a metal JS stamp.
Capacity is 26 litres in a body measuring 42 by 32 by 14 cm. Weight is 0.4 kg, the number that separates this from bigger student packs: it is a bag that disappears when empty. The main compartment has no divider, so a laptop in the sleeve shares the space with books, lunch and whatever else went in, and the bottle pocket is the only pocket outside the two zips.
Wipe it down, keep it out of the wash
The UK page does not say what the shell is made of. It lists features, dimensions and weight, and it states no water rating for the fabric or the zips, so nothing on it supports a claim about rain. Anyone buying for a walk to school in a British autumn should assume a fabric shell with a wet-weather limit, and a rain cover or a bin bag in the base is a cheap hedge.
Care is simple and restrictive. JanSport says to clean the outside with a slightly wet cloth, not to bleach or soak the pack, and to hang it in a shady place; for a deep stain, use water and neutral soap with a cloth or soft brush. A washing machine is not on the list.
Thirty years on paper, and what the legal term covers
The warranty is a thirty-year one, not a lifetime one, and it has two layers. Under the legal warranty term, manufacturing and component defects are covered, and JanSport's list includes faulty zips and buckles, fabric discoloration and a coating that peels off. From year three to year thirty, the warranty covers manufacturing defects such as open seams or fabric cut too short. The remedy is a fix or a replacement at JanSport's discretion, for the buyer or whoever received the pack as a gift.
Misuse is excluded, and the page's own example is carrying heavy or unusual items; neglect, extreme heat, water and wear and tear are out too. A claim starts with an email and three photographs, one of them the internal label with the product number, and an approved claim leads to a repair form that goes in the parcel. Separate from all that, an online order can go back within 30 days with a free label or drop-off code, and JanSport says the refund is processed within two to three business days of the parcel arriving.
£38 against the £53 Big Student
At £38 the Black SuperBreak Plus sits £15 under the Black Big Student at £53. The Big Student is the comparison worth making because it is the pack a parent buys when the SuperBreak stops being enough: 34 litres against 26, a body of 43.5 by 32.5 by 19 cm, 0.65 kg, two main compartments, S-curve straps and a dedicated 15-inch laptop compartment.
The extra £15 buys eight litres, five centimetres of depth, a second compartment and better straps, at a cost of 0.25 kg on the child's back before anything goes in. For a student whose daily load is a laptop, two exercise books and a bottle, the SuperBreak Plus is the lighter and cheaper answer. For a load of textbooks and a lunch box, the smaller pack will be full every morning, and the money saved goes on a replacement sooner.
Skip it for small children and heavy loads
The SuperBreak Plus is a teenager's bag in proportion. A pack 42 cm high will sit low on a Year 2 child, and a 26-litre compartment with a laptop sleeve is more bag than a child that age carries. Younger children are better served by a smaller pack with a chest clip.
It is also the wrong bag for weight. There is no sternum strap, no hip belt and no frame, so a load of books hangs from two padded straps and a padded panel. If the school day involves a full set of textbooks, or a long walk with the pack loaded, step up to a pack with real suspension. Buy the SuperBreak Plus for a light daily load and a laptop, and for a warranty written to outlast the school years.
How we put this together
Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.
- JanSport UK: SuperBreak Plus product page (Black) (opens in a new tab)
- JanSport UK: Warranty (opens in a new tab)
- JanSport UK: Returns policy (opens in a new tab)
- JanSport UK: Big Student product page (Black) (opens in a new tab)
