Quality, leather briefcases & luggage

[Graemsay]

I was in LA a few weeks back, and found a Lotuff tote at Club Monaco.

Relative to the Frank Clegg bags I've seen, it feels a lot softer and probably a bit lighter. Lotuff's designs, particularly the newer stuff, feels more contemporary. Their older products seem a bit more fiddly.

I've got my eye on the Duffle Backpack, probably in natural leather. Unfortunately I'm about $1200 short right now.

 

[Sonero]

I’ve been through a fair selection of leather messenger bags over the years, all abandoned for one reason or another. But recently I picked up a Satchel and Page slim mail bag. It’s small and light enough for every day carry items, not as ponderous as my heavy full size leather US Mail bag.

Pros-
Domestically handmade
Italian vegetable tanned leather
Copper rivets
Low profile handle
Divider inside with misc. compartments
Buckles on side for expansion
Handy exterior pocket on back
Mail bag design

Cons
Top flap could extend further down and over both sides for more protection
Shoulder strap pad slips out of place
Pricey

All in all, this one really has become my favorite daily carry all- with just the right size and sturdiness.

View attachment 106285

Is the front buckle BRASS or stainless steel ? Hard to tell. Thanks

 

[technovox]

Is the front buckle BRASS or stainless steel ? Hard to tell. Thanks

Brass.

 

[Sonero]

Brass.

Thanks. Now that you have owned it for a while do you feel the slim version is the right size for daily use and do you know of the apparent leather changes made by Satchel and Page ?

 

[Hobbes1]

Bump to see what people might be carrying these days.
I have been toying with the idea of getting a nice weekender bag...a little off-put by the weight of them....but realizing that one must tolerate the heft of these bags, if one wants something higher quality for the long haul.

Any updates or new brands, etc that anyone cares to post?
Thanks

 

[Turnip]

How about Zirkeltraining, Made In Germany from recycled gym apparatuses, page is bilingual.

https://www.zirkeltraining.biz/taschen.html

 

[Edward]

Some lovely stuff on here. After all these years, I still have my eye on some Saddleback pieces, but that will have to wait until the pound is no longer so weak as it is now (if ever). I'm also looking at canvas laptop backpacks... it's amazing how true the 'two out of three' rule is here - as in you can have luggage which is durable, which looks good, which is affordable - but you can't have luggage which is more than two of those!

Interesting how many of us keep coming back to leather. Is it only style, or something else? For me it's partly style but also durability and knowing that if I get caught in the rain everything in my bag won't get soaked. I know many don't like the weight of leather bags; for me, I find it reassuring - though my old shoulders are the reason I'm increasingly looking at bags that give the option of spreading the weight over both shoulders.

 

[byronic]

Some lovely stuff on here. After all these years, I still have my eye on some Saddleback pieces, but that will have to wait until the pound is no longer so weak as it is now (if ever). I'm also looking at canvas laptop backpacks... it's amazing how true the 'two out of three' rule is here - as in you can have luggage which is durable, which looks good, which is affordable - but you can't have luggage which is more than two of those!

Interesting how many of us keep coming back to leather. Is it only style, or something else? For me it's partly style but also durability and knowing that if I get caught in the rain everything in my bag won't get soaked. I know many don't like the weight of leather bags; for me, I find it reassuring - though my old shoulders are the reason I'm increasingly looking at bags that give the option of spreading the weight over both shoulders.

I've got a bag that looks good and is durable, the Tilley Intrepid. It holds around 600c.i. and fits under an airline seat. It wasn't what I'd call affordable but seems to be a 'buy it for life' kind of thing. Here it is after five years hard use:

It still looks more or less the same as the day I got it - I just can't get it show signs of distress.

However, I'm also getting older, and I noticed this when I went on a trip abroad and used it as a day bag. I tend to overload it and my shoulders and back were often aching after a day walking around with it.

A backpack is the way to go, for me anyway.

I like the waxed cotton and leather look which to me seems timeless and looks good whether you're hiking up a mountain or wandering the boulevards of a major city.
I recently discovered a one-man operation in Belgium who works exclusively with leather, canvas and waxed cotton and also repurposes material to use in the luggage (so it's good for the environment too). Considering that his stuff seems well-made as well as being made to order I'd say the prices are reasonable, YMMV. The company name is Treelistverse.

I've ordered a backpack and a sling bag from him which should cover my immediate needs. He's also undertaking a few additional modifications to the backpack which I requested. Now I just have to bite my nails for three weeks until they arrive:

 

[Edward]

I've got a bag that looks good and is durable, the Tilley Intrepid. It holds around 600c.i. and fits under an airline seat. It wasn't what I'd call affordable but seems to be a 'buy it for life' kind of thing. Here it is after five years hard use:

View attachment 371884

It still looks more or less the same as the day I got it - I just can't get it show signs of distress.

However, I'm also getting older, and I noticed this when I went on a trip abroad and used it as a day bag. I tend to overload it and my shoulders and back were often aching after a day walking around with it.

A backpack is the way to go, for me anyway.

I like the waxed cotton and leather look which to me seems timeless and looks good whether you're hiking up a mountain or wandering the boulevards of a major city.
I recently discovered a one-man operation in Belgium who works exclusively with leather, canvas and waxed cotton and also repurposes material to use in the luggage (so it's good for the environment too). Considering that his stuff seems well-made as well as being made to order I'd say the prices are reasonable, YMMV. The company name is Treelistverse.

I've ordered a backpack and a sling bag from him which should cover my immediate needs. He's also undertaking a few additional modifications to the backpack which I requested. Now I just have to bite my nails for three weeks until they arrive:

View attachment 371885

View attachment 371886

Very nice. Just at the start of the Summer there I bought a rucksack type from 79Street on etsy, which has been really nice. Mostly leather, but with a canvas back to it. Don't photos of mine as of yet, but these are the stock images they use:

Got mine in the green colour below:

The aeroplane seatbelt buckle as a main fastener is a little clumpy aesthetically, but in practice it's a dream. Those things you see on a lot of bags with the buckle on the front but it's hiding a quick release clip behind I really dislike. This one looks much better than a faux buckle to my eye, but retains the advantage of being quick-release. I order the larger size, which is not big enough for an overnight bag, but plenty big enough for average briefcase / hand-luggage duties on the move. Only drawback is the shoulder straps fit nicely over a blazer or jacket, but I think they'll prove a few inches too short to be manageable with a Winter overcoat. Nice balance, though, between something I can take to the office and something that doesn't look odd with denim.

 

[Juhani]

I’m looking for a vintage style back bag / messenger / briefcase. The other day, my eyes were caught by Treelistverse (Belgium) and 79Street (Ukraine) mentioned above.

There are actually quite a few suppliers on Etsy selling products of similar aesthetics. Many of them are located in Eastern Europe countries such as Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine.

I listed some of them here, all of them priced under USD (EUR) 250, but there are many more of them in higher price category.

https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/shop/Tram21 (Romania)

https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/shop/SharkyFriendsUA (Ukraine)

https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/shop/LeatherPhoneCaseCo (Ukraine)

https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/shop/79street (Ukraine)

https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/shop/InnesBags (Slovakia)

https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/shop/LeatherStrata (Greece)

https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/shop/LeatherMySkin (Poland)

https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/shop/SplurgdStudio (Canada)

https://www.etsy.com/fi-en/shop/MoodVok (USA)

However, in some cases I’m doubtful about the real origin of the products. At least these seem to offer the very same product from different location, as seen here and here.

Similar photos are used here too, as one is shipping from China (here), and the other one is shipping from the UK (here).

EDIT: Actually it turned out that UrbanCommuterBags from Germany looks very similar to RealLeatherWonder from Moldova and IrakliShop from Ukraine. So I guess that somewhere in China there is a factory that makes these hipster backpacks, which are then sold under different brands in different countries.


I think I'm going to avoid any product that can be found elsewhere on the net by reverse image search.

I'm not sure about the origin of leathers used any of these manufacturers.

Now the question is, is there any compelling reason not to buy a bag that costs less than 200?