Saturday, July 16, 2011

More impressions


Exterior:
The outside is very simple in terms of functionality- there are no side pockets to put a to-go coffee mug or anything like that.  The only pocket on the outside is the sleeve that Saddleback calls a "newspaper pocket."  But you may say, "The D-rings!  What about the D-rings?"  The website states you can attach umbrellas or anything else you like to it, but that's a bit too let's go camping for me.  And since I'm using it more for the office rather than hacking my way through a jungle in South America looking for Inca gold, well I won't be using them much.  But hey, if I go hiking or something, why not use them?

The shoulder strap is hefty.  That thing is going to last a life time.  The only thing I worry about is the little attachments at the end.  I've had bags with those kinds of attachments, only to fail a few years later. But with a 100yr warranty and the claims of toughness, I'm hoping I'll be proven wrong.  It's a bit odd to have two shoulder straps, but there is a reason for that- you can convert it into a backpack.  This bag is relegated to office work, so that's not gonna happen and I'm not even gonna try it.  You can remove one of them if you are just going to use it as a shoulder strap.  They seem comfortable, but then again I just tried it out in my apartment and haven't slogged through Manhattan with it all day.

The main buckle that gives access to the compartments is going to take awhile to get used to.  Again, the leather is brand new and it's gonna take some time to loosen up.  I've read on other reports that it gets easier and eventually it can be done with one hand.


Interior:
On the inside, the space is divided into two compartments which are both 2.25" thick.  One compartment has two pen holders on both ends, a huge pocket, and a leather strap with a keystrap.  Pockets in briefcases are a good thing.  But the one pocket is huge, I think it would have been better to have two pockets that were smaller.  Another problem, which I expect to be a short-term problem is that interior pocket is supposedly "collapsable".  Um, not now... the entire bag is stiff due to the thick leather used.  That pocket is not collapsing anytime soon.  In fact, I feel that for now, the pocket blocks off half of the space in this compartment.  The keystrap is a fantastic idea.  And attached to the keystrap... was a FREE keychain!  Why am I so excited for a tiny black leather keychain?  Because I needed a new one and my prayers were answered!  Prayer you say?  There has been some controversy about the Saddleback Leather company putting in slips of paper with a Bible verse on it, but I saw no such thing in the box or in the bag.  I did get 3 business cards for the Saddleback Leather company.  

The strap, 3 business cards, and a keychain


Interior has pigskin lining,
whatever it is, high quality stuff.
Overall:
Quality wise, it looks like a solidly built bag.  I can't say how awesome the seams are and that the threading they use is 103.5% stronger than the thread that is built to SEAL team 6 specifications, because, well I don't know much about that.  If you're into all that, then go to their website.  All I can say is that feels like it's built well, and feels that the leather is high quality and it looks like it is built well... with one little niggle.  If you see the pic below, you'll see that are two really, tiny holes where they put the leather bits to hold the D rings that stick out at the botton of the bag.  Tiny openings.  Fortunately I don't carry sewing needles, so this shouldn't be a problem.  But I thought it would be sewed up tight.  Well, we'll see how it goes over time.  I really, really like the design of the bag, no second thoughts on buying it.




Bottom of the bag
Hold it up to the light, and you'll see the tiny gap


Final Thoughts:
With shipping from Amazon, this was $440.  People say these bags are expensive, and yeah they are, but... go to Tumi (I always think of the army of dudes dressed in business casual at the airport, and I do not want to look like the masses) and you can easily get a bag more expensive than this.  The Zero Halliburtons are around $300 unless you want their Carbon Fiber briefcase, which will set you back a cool $2,500.  Either way, you'll get that nice drug dealer look.  Go to Barney's or Saks Fifth Avenue, and you can easily find bags that will make Saddleback prices look like thrift store prices.  So it's really not too expensive for a nice briefcase.

There has been a lot of hype with these bags online, I think it's a bit of that hard to get kind of mentality that makes people interested in these bags.  Not everybody has one and they're not sold in stores.  I haven't heard of these guys until I started looking for a briefcase.  This is one of the reasons why I decided to start this blog/review.  Anybody can review a product once- and there are lots of brief reviews on the box-fresh Saddleback bags.  But this is going to be a long-term review.  Every month I'll post up a picture and briefly comment on it- maybe I'll write nothing but glowing reviews down the road, maybe it will fall apart 1yr later, who knows?

If you really want a new Saddleback Leather bag, I will give you two options to save a bit of money when the time comes to buy one:
1) Start checking their Dave's Deals section on their website as you save up.  Basically they are a bit cheaper because of imperfections in the bag.  Click on the bag you're interested in and it will tell you what the defect is- i.e. a wrinkle on the front flap, some odd stain on the back panel, etc.  I totally would have done this had it not been for the second option.

2) If you have an American Express, link the bonus points to Amazon.com.  Then use the points to buy the bag.  I did it this way and ended up paying $23.50 for the bag.

It's the weekend, so unfortunately it's just sitting in my apartment.  On the bright side, that area has that lovely smell of leather.  

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