I feel like if I bought him a good 1000d or maybe even 500d cordura backpack it would last significantly longer that the cheap nylon ones I always used in school is all. I'm sure there's options that don't totally break the bank but idk maybe I'm a backpackaholic but $100 is like an entry level backpack for what I usually look for. I'm sure you could find a Korean cordura equivalent product manufactured in china for like $40-50 even. Vietnam idk as much about because I've only worked with ISO9001 backpack companies out of that country.