The backpack isn’t just for students anymore. According to Teen Vogue, the backpack is a "Spring Fashion Top 10." With so many companies that manufacture backpacks it can be confusing when trying to select which brand to purchase. I’m here to solve that problem for you.

One brand that sticks out for us is Yak Pak, which has been creating durable and water resistant bags for 20 years. But the best part is that they offer a lifetime warranty on all of their bags. Every backpack also features an easy access zippered front pocket, Yak Pak logo zipper pulls, reinforced straps and seams, and a padded back panel. Yak Pak backpacks are sold at boutiques and popular retailers around the country including Journeys, Hot Topic, and Spencer Gifts. The backpacks allow you to be fashion forward without breaking the bank; the bags retail between $25 and $45.

"At Yak Pak, backpacks just happen to be our specialty. We’ve pioneered the trend in bringing fashionable prints to the backpack market, thus transforming these bags that were once simply schoolyard staples into a fashion accessory that’s meant to be more than carried…it’s meant to be worn!" said Yak Pak spokesman Katie Murphy. "Yak Pak has consistently provided stylish and savvy consumers with innovative items to simplify the chaos of daily life, including purses, messenger bags, diaper bags, backpacks, laptop sleeves, and accessories.”

So last month, Yak Pak launched a new line that includes soft-sided coolers, lunch bags, reusable hydration bottles, insulated hydration bottle sleeves, and market and beach umbrellas. The new line will be available as soon as the warm weather arrives — so very soon, we hope.

For their 20th anniversary, Yak Pak put out a collection of “upcycled” bags are environmentally friendly, long-lasting, and affordable. Most of the bags in this collection retail for less than $35.

"Upcycling is the practice of transforming disposable materials and giving that material new, more meaningful life,” said Murphy. "This imaginative and eco-friendly achievement launches Yak Pak into its third decade, where it will continue to push the artistic boundary of bag design and strive to create a wealth of environmental and social opportunity to help solve serious problems."

Stephen Holt, founder and president of Yak Pak, came up with the idea of starting his own business while hiking in Lake Nam Co, Tibet; the term "yak" comes from the herd of yak that graze Lake Nam Co. "Our logo was actually inspired by the imprint that a yak’s hoof leaves," explains Murphy.

Currently, Yak Pak offers 57 swatches for all of their bags. Check them out online.

Three young Boston women, ages 18, 21, and 17, face charges of receiving stolen property after they were found carrying merchandise stolen from several stores in the Braintree South Shore Plaza, police said.

A mall cop told police on Thursday that he watched the women, a fourth women, and a man, stealing from Hollister. Police caught up to the group in Macy’s after security told them they entered Hollister with empty bags and left with full ones.

Several security sensor tags were later discovered discarded on the floor inside the store.

Three of the women had shopping bags that were searched and found to contain stolen merchandise. One woman had $247 worth of merchandise from American Eagle and Hollister. A second woman had $218 worth of merchandise from Hot Topic, Hollister, Abercrombie and American Eagle and the third had $231 worth of merchandise from Hot Topic and Hollister.

They will be summonsed to court on multiple charges of receiving stolen property under $250.

No word on fashion police charges stemming from the blatant clashing of fashion styles.

The fourth woman wasn’t charged. The man, identified as Kalieshe A. Brown, 28, of Dorchester was arrested on an outstanding traffic warrant. When he was being booked he was discovered to be wearing two pairs of jeans — one of them was stolen from American Eagle.

NEW YORK – Eli Szasz and Aaron Rasmussen created the perfect gamer invention in 2007 – an energy drink worth two Red Bulls packed in a potion-shaped bottle and titled “Mana.” It doesn’t get any better than that.

Now, a year after their initial release of the “Mana Energy Potion,” Szasz and Rasmussen introduced their new “Health Energy Potion,” a companion to “Mana,” at New York Comic-con.

The guys were nice enough to let me test a bottle of each of the energy drinks. Both are about a shot’s worth of liquid. “Mana” is blue and has a sour, berry flavor while “Health” is red and is flavored apple-cinnamon.

The “Mana” potion was probably the best thing that happened to me during the entire Con. Blast cohort Kellen Rice and I split a bottle after the “Up” screening and started talking about 100 miles per hour in less than five minutes. While the initial boost of energy eventually died down, we remained coherent and aware for the rest of the night after an exhausting day and little sleep the night before.

Because I cannot do justice to how the “Mana” and “Health” potions were described in their press release, I will just quote directly from it:

“While Mana Energy Potion gets you pumped up for a fight, quest or adventure, Health Energy Potion restores you after battle so you can get back into the heat of the action.”

Rasmussen described the new “Health” potion to me as a gradual boost of energy spread out over a five to eight hour period. “Mana” packs an initial burst of energy (that Zac Turgeon had to listen to while he, Kellen and I had dinner at a nearby pizza joint) and then levels out for the same length of time.

“Health” might work well for gamers, who need a continuous flow of energy to stay awake. But for a quick pick-me-up, “Health” didn’t make too much of a difference, and maybe it was just the exhausted state I was in, but I didn’t feel much more aware after the bottle of “Health” that I drank.

“Mana” combines a variety of vitamins like Vitamin C, Vitamins B1, B3, B6 and B12 and Pantothenic Acid with their own special “energy potion” and enzyme blend to come up with their drink. “Health” uses Vitamin C, Vitamins B1, B6 and B12 and adds Elderberry, ginseng, biotin and folic acid to make a constant flow of energy.

Each potion is 25 calories and contains 1.69 ounces of liquid.

The potions are $3.45 a bottle and can be purchased at Hot Topic, ThinkGeek.com or at the ManaPotions.com webstore.

Twilight fans, it is only three days and 11 hours until the long awaited release of “Twilight.” To keep you on your toes, Blast has a special issue for this last week to help sate your “Twilight” needs.

Today we post our interview with Robert Pattinson from the Saugus Hot Topic event.

A review of “Twilight” by myself will be up Wednesday, November 19. Kellen Rice, one of Blast’s bloggers and a critic of the “Twilight” series, will have her own review up later in the week.

Expect a “Top 10 Things the Movie Did Right” and “Top 10 Things the Movie Did Wrong” on Friday, as to avoid spoiling the movie for anyone.

Until then, enjoy our video from the Saugus event with clips of Robert Pattinson himself.

Blast releases a special TWILIGHT EXTRA issue of the magazine on Monday with photos and video from the event, a longer interview with Robert Pattinson, our movie review, and more!

SAUGUS, Mass. — The teenage girl came out of the Hot Topic store, eyes glazed with a silly smile on her face. Her mother ran up to meet her, just as the words started tumbling out of the daughter’s lips.

“He talked to me,” she gasped, as her mother smiled along but tried to calm the teen down.

“She has epilepsy,” the mother explained, “and I don’t want her to seize.”

Then she scooped up her daughter and hurried away, without giving her name, to make room for the next giggling girl.

Fan dedication: defined.

She was just one of hundreds who flocked to the Square One Mall north of Boston on Friday. The object of their fanaticism wasn’t one of the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus, but rather a soft-spoken, spiky-haired Brit named Robert Pattinson.

In the words of one indignant passerby who was turned away from shopping at the barricaded Hot Topic: “He isn’t even famous.”

Though Pattinson, 22, may not be a household name yet, to the fan community of Stephenie Meyer’s vampire “Twilight” series, (and hardcore Harry Potter fans who remember he played Cedric Diggory) he is second to none. Playing the lead male character Edward in the upcoming vampire film “Twilight,” the fan hysteria has reached peak heights.

“At first I thought maybe he wasn’t as good for Edward, but now I think he’s perfect,” said Selys Rivera, 14, of Worcester. “He’s completely perfect for Edward. He’s amazing.”

Pattinson, along with co-stars Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Edi Gathegi and Rachelle Lefavre, is headlining the Hot Topic-sponsored movie tour to promote “Twilight” in the final days before the film’s release on November 21. The Saugus event was Pattinson’s third and final stop on the tour after the event scheduled in San Francisco was canceled after fans mobbed the mall.

Pattinson, Stewart, and the trio of Lautner, Gathegi and Lefavre toured to 13 cities across the U.S. from November 10 through November 15.

“[The hysteria] hasn’t died down at all,” Pattinson told Blast in a brief interview at the Saugus Hot Topic. “It happened in [Italy], it happened in Mexico. It’s completely ridiculous.”

Here in Saugus, the crowd was much tamer than the events in San Francisco and Chicago. Wristbands were given, starting at 9 p.m. Thursday, to the first 500 people who bought the Hot Topic official “Twilight” tour T-shirt. The Saugus police were no-nonsense about the event and were a steady presence around the mall throughout the night.

“We got here at about 9 p.m. yesterday and we were there like all night long,” said Attleboro resident Amanda Pease, 20. “We only left to go to Starbucks.”

At 5 p.m. Friday, a crowd of a couple hundred girls had gathered around a stage that was set up for Pattinson to speak to the fans for the question and answer portion of the event. Some had camped out for more than 20 hours just for the chance to meet their beloved “Edward,” while others had arrived only moments before to wait around until Pattinson spoke at on the stage.

A security presence was felt. A barricade was set up like a moat around the stage to protect Pattinson from the overzealousness of any rabid fan-girls.

SAUGUS, Mass. — A couple hundred girls in your stereotypical Hot Topic style black band t-shirts and their moms have swarmed a stage set for a question and answer session with “Twilight” star Robert Pattinson that’s scheduled for about three hours from now.

Half are standing, and half are sitting. But they all look comfortable preparing to see their beloved “Edward” and have him possibly answer one of their own questions.

Scattered among the crowd you can see the lucky few people with their special “Twilight” t-shirts that signify that they will be one of the 500 who get to see Pattinson in person and get an exclusive poster signed by him.

The crowd this afternoon is tame compared to uncontrollable scenes reported in San Francisco and Chicago earlier.

This isn’t really the mob scene we were expecting, but it’s still early.

Blast met Pattinson this afternoon at a photo shoot in Boston and we’re here at the Square One Mall. Blast will bring you more, including a special TWILIGHT EXTRA issue of Blast Magazine featuring our Twilight coverage, movie review, interviews, photos and more!

WERE YOU THERE??? Blast wants to hear from you! Email us!

Reports are coming out of California that the Robert Pattinson “Twilight” event had to be canceled after more than 3,000 screaming girls showed up instead of the 500 the organizers expected and were ready for.

A 911 call came in Monday, and early reports say that one girl fainted and another got her nose broken from being trampled.

This all happened early Monday, but the event was not supposed to start until 6 p.m.

A report in the San Jose Mercury News says that the unruly crowd at the Stonestown Galleria mall gathered early in the morning, hoping to get a glimpse of the 22-year-old star. A line formed around the mall building.

Lieutenant Neville Gittens, spokesman for the San Francisco police, told Blast in a brief interview that mall management shut down the event after asking police their advice on the crowd situation. Gittens said there were no arrests but could not comment on any of the alleged injuries.

An employee at the Hot Topic store that was hosting the event told the paper that the event was shut down by the police.

And just a reminder: Boston has the exact same event planned for Friday at the Hot Topic store at the Square One Mall.

Blast Magazine’s intern, Liz McClendon, and Blast’s Entertainment Editor, Terri Schwartz, contributed to this report

And you were worried we wouldn’t tell you exactly where and how to get your chance to meet the Twilight cast.

Hot Topic just released the names of the malls the cast will be visiting. Now, before you scroll down, there are a few conditions. To meet Rob Pattinson or Kristen Stewart, you must be one of the first 500 people at the store and buy the $30 Twilight Tour T-shirt to get a wristband. For Taylor Lautner, Edi Gathegi, and Rachelle Lefavre, you need to be one of the first 750 people. No cameras will be allowed, but you can get one autograph on a poster Hot Topic provides.

If you’re thinking you might have to sleep outside of the mall the night before, you’re probably not far off.

For more information, visit http://community.hottopic.com/buzz/default.asp

11/10 – San Francisco, CA at Stonestown Galleria with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/10 – Seattle, WA at Southcenter Mall with Taylor Lautner “Jacob,” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/11 – Dallas, TX at Dallas Galleria with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/11 – Denver, CO at Park Meadows Mall with Taylor Lautner “Jacob,” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/12 – Chicago, IL at Orland Square Mall with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/12 – Scottsdale, AZ at Fashion Square Mall with Taylor Lautner “Jacob,” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/13 – Philadelphia, PA at Plaza at King of Prussia with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/13 – Houston, TX (Location TBA) with Taylor Lautner “Jacob,” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/13 – Fairfax, VA at Fair Oaks Mall with Kristen Stewart “Bella”

11/14 – Boston MA at Square One Mall with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/14 – Minneapolis, MN at Mall of America with Taylor Lautner “Jacob,” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/14 – Paramus, NJ at Garden State Plaza with Kristen Stewart “Bella”

11/15 – Miami, FL at Shops at Sunset with Taylor Lautner “Jacob,” Edi Gathegi “Laurent”

If you’re counting — and we know you are — there are only 20 days left until Twilight is released in theaters everywhere. (16 if you’re one of the lucky ones going to the premiere in California)

Thought you couldn’t get more pumped about the movie? Think again.

Hot Topic is hosting a Twilight Tour in November, bringing cast members to their stores across the country to promote the release. The tour dates and locations have just been confirmed -”" check them out! One of the stars just might be coming to your mall!

11/10 – San Francisco, CA with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/10 “" Seattle, WA with Taylor Lautner “Jacob” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/11 “" Dallas, TX with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/11 “" Denver, CO with Taylor Lautner “Jacob” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/12 “" Chicago, IL with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/12 “" Scottsdale, AZ with Taylor Lautner “Jacob” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/13 “" Philadelphia, PA with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/13 “" Houston, TX with Taylor Lautner “Jacob” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/13 “" Fairfax, VA with Kristen Stewart “Bella”

11/14 “" Boston MA with Robert Pattinson “Edward”

11/14 “" Minneapolis, MN with Taylor Lautner “Jacob” Edi Gathegi “Laurent” & Rachelle Lefevre “Victoria”

11/14 “" NY/NJ with Kristen Stewart “Bella”

11/15 “" Miami, FL with Taylor Lautner “Jacob” Edi Gathegi “Laurent”

Bummed because you can’t get to any of these locations? Don’t worry, some of your very own Blast Magazine reporters will be there in Boston and Virginia. We’ll bring a little Twilight back to you.