many options, choose best
There’s a cool new belt from the Ohio based leather belt company aptly named, A Simple Leather Belt Co.. You may not have seen this kind of interesting belt buckle before. Continue reading “New Belt From A Simple Leather Belt Co. – The Cinch Belt – $49”
This is a continuation of my ongoing review of the Saddleback Leather Squared Backpack which I am doing in video form. The text below is the transcript of the video. You can see/read episode one here.
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I have been out hiking for a few hours now. You can see the sun is starting to go down. It’s really gorgeous down here in the middle of this stream bed. I wanted to give you some details on the Saddleback Leather Squared Backpack.
It’s been impressive so far, the Saddleback Leather Squared Backpack, especially compared to the last Classic Backpack. These straps here are a major improvement over the classic. You notice when I bend this shoulder strap there’s no giant nodules. Those nodules would have made things pretty painful when you’re hiking or going for long distances with the Classic Backpack, the tank. But this, there’s a lot less of that leather scrunching up. And this leather is also a lot softer. It’s a much more comfortable shoulder strap.
They’ve got some padding right there that they’ve sown in (on the bottom of the backpack for your lower back) and it is a massive help. I have not noticed, really, any discomfort except for a shoulder scapula injury that I’ve got but unless you’ve got that sort of injury you shouldn’t be having much of a problem.
Leather products aren’t known for being ultra-comfortable. This is no sophisticated hiking backpack. I’m using it outside of the normal realm in which people would use it, but I wanted to give it a good test.
I’ve got about 15 pounds of gear in here with food and water for a couple of hours of hiking and it is doing really well as far as comfort goes. And obviously there’s plenty of space to get more stuff in here. You could travel for a few days out of this backpack. Over time you will get soreness in the tops of your shoulders. I think some of my pain is from a lack of hiking lately.
The build quality is just showing itself to be quite immaculate. They have really done a great job. You notice that this front flap of leather goes around to the back and all the way to the bottom. This is all one piece of leather, which is just remarkable. That’s a large piece of leather. In the classic there is a seam and this right here, along with this extra piece of padding—you can kind of see an outline there—is much more comfortable. No seam digging into your back and much more flexibility.
I’ve got a friend with a Classic Backpack (we’ll be comparing these two backpacks soon) and he’s used his for a year now or more than a year —this back area has formed to his back given enough time. But with the added flexibility of this Squared backpack, and extra width, I’ve noticed that the Squared Backpack just forms far more easily to your back, much more easily than the Classic Backpack. So there’s none of these big seams that are digging into your back.
The leather is just doing really well. You’ll notice it’s acquiring some scratches just from use. Another thing which is interesting is when it’s sitting up, because it’s not as rigid as the Classic Backpack. See how the top flap is crooked. That’s because of this strap adjustment here so you can close up the top. This is now more flexible than the Saddleback Leather Classic Backpack. And sometimes when the front flap is buckled over it it will sit crooked, depending on how you’ve got this top strap tightened down. So I don’t have it tight at all but I did want to mention that because some people have asked me if it was actually made incorrectly or if it was sewed crooked but no. It’s not sewed crooked, it just collapses the top of the main compartment a bit which makes the front flap buckle down crooked (as shown in the photo below).
UPDATE: I have since decided I do not like the leather strap on the main compartment since I cannot determine any good purpose for it. The front flap sufficiently covers the main opening so that water can’t drip in so I don’t know why one would want to tighten the main compartment up. It’s not going to make the backpack any smaller since the front flap is still the same size. The strap and the flexibility just makes that front flap crooked way too much of the time. I was going through a lot of my photos of the backpack and noticed it is crooked in a majority of them.
So yeah, the Saddleback Leather Squared Backpack is doing well. I’ve got another couple of hours to go on my hike so we’ll see how she does. Perhaps I’ll have more thoughts. I would say, basically what they’ve done here is they’ve taken the classic and the benefits of it, the good pockets and what not, and they fixed all of the problems—limited capacity. It’s very narrow yet deep so you could put stuff way down into it and you kind of have to stack your stuff. Another problem with it was that seam on the back. That was a major comfort issue. And the shoulder straps. But I’ve think they’ve done a good job of fixing these problems.
You can tell that there’s a lot of design and a lot of thought that’s gone into fixing those issues.
If you have any questions, feel free to put it in the comments and I’ll try and answer you on any questions that you might have for the use and comfort of it.
I hope you guys find this useful and if you have any questions, feel free to be giving me a call. ‘Til then, I’ll catch you guys later!
This is the first video review in a series reviewing the Saddleback Leather Squared Backpack. The text below is the transcript of the video. You can see/read episode here two here.
Hi folks! This is TJ with Best Leather and for this review I’m going to do something a little bit different. I received a Saddleback Squared Backpack. Saddleback sent me one to review and I think I’m going to do some videos and walk you through what it looks like to live with it, to use it frequently, the pros and the cons—there are always cons when you’re buying something this expensive. Hopefully it will give you a really good understanding of why you’d want to spend so much money, nearly $600, on an item like this, or you wouldn’t.
So this is also a backpack with the new tobacco leather and there’s been some controversy as to the quality of the leather and whether or not Saddleback is saving money and not passing those costs onto consumers. So we’ll also take a look at the quality and see how that stacks up against some of the older stuff. I have access to a Tank Backpack, Saddleback’s classic backpack, and will be able to compare it there. So let’s dive in.
This is the Saddleback Squared Backpack and I want to go through and show you guys a few details on it. This backpack retails for $582 and I’ll show you some of the features and reasons why it’s quite so expensive. The classic backpack was actually what got me into Saddleback leather and quality leather products elsewhere. I had a friend who had one and I couldn’t believe that it was $600. The more I researched into it, the more I realized it cost a lot to make these bags. I think there’s—maybe this is a little bit of a guesstimate – 12 square feet of leather here.
If you are looking at leather prices, you could be spending $100 just on leather, not to mention hardware and the time to make it. These people have to be craftsmen because there’s a very high level of precision required for leather working. You don’t want to waste this leather.
So let’s go into some of the details on this. I’ve had this backpack for two days now and so far it’s been a very enjoyable process. The first thing I want to show you is the straps. Now these straps are different than the Saddleback classic backpack straps. A little bit different design there. I’ll show a picture of the old straps there. The problems that they had was they were very thick, they were very padded and they would scrunch up so you can see how it’s scrunched up there. You’ll notice that those bumps there can get really uncomfortable. It’s worse on the old one. So that’s nice. Those are pretty comfortable straps, surprisingly. The first day that I was using it I was kind of stretching it and twisting with my hands to help it break in a little bit quicker, but it’s been very comfortable so far.
Another aspect that’s helping the comfort, as opposed to the tank, the classic backpack, is right here there was a seam. That seam would irritate your lower back if you wore it quite a bit and people would get pretty severe chaffing. So this is actually one piece of leather that just goes right around that corner. And that has not posed a problem whatsoever. Now I haven’t worn this for an extended period of time. I’m going to try and do some hiking with it. I’ll go out with 4 or 5 hours and see what kind of issues may come up but so far I’m really enjoying the straps.
Another detail on the straps is the flexibility and how easy it is to change the strap sizes. So on the old one there was all sorts of straps to undo, one strap that was very long and you’d end up with—if this is the old one you’d have layers and layers and layers of strap, a lot of extra weight. So they’ve really trimmed that down. These are very easy to change and adjust. It took me about 10 seconds to get it right for my size. So definitely the shoulder straps are very nice. I haven’t noticed any problems with them at all.
So the next thing, the elephant in the room for some people, is the new leather. This is the new tobacco leather. You’ll notice if I do a close-up here that it comes with kind of a patina. Now I like this. I like this patina because as much as the backpack looks used, it’s still in very good condition. The leather is just as strong as it’s ever been. I don’t notice any things that I would consider blemishes—deep scarring or anything like that. It’s just unique. You see stuff in leather that I think you should see. It’s not one mass-produced product and I kind of felt like the older leather that they were using; it looked like it had been coated in plastic. It didn’t feel that great. Well their tobacco was just kind of a muted yellow color. So this is kind of a more true tobacco and I quite like it.
Now like I said, there are no scars. Part of the controversy is that scars are decreasing the value of the product and Saddleback isn’t lowering the price of their products. I don’t think I can speak to that because I haven’t seen any scarring or anything on this. So maybe in another product we’ll get to check that out. But I’d say as far as the quality of the leather goes, it’s top notch. However, when I first got it, you’ll notice there are some spots here. Those are actually bug bites but when I first got them I thought, “Oh boy. This backpack has had water damage.” It hasn’t. These are just bug bites but it is something to note. If you’re looking to have a leather product that doesn’t have a unique character to it in the leather, something like the old tobacco, then you’re better served by going on e-bay or going on one of the Facebook pages and buying one on there. You can buy some really great, lightly used, older tobacco-colored leather. It pretty much looks immaculate when it comes. It takes quite a bit to wear it in. This looks very nice. I really enjoy this leather.
So the last thing I wanted to talk about here was the pockets. Now when it comes to backpacks, Saddleback is I think one of the best in terms of options. You’ve got a lot of pockets. You’ve got 7 pockets total. You’ve got this one here and a matching one on the other side. This front pocket here will hold a small laptop. I don’t think I can get this off of my hand. There we go. Alright. So we’ve got this front pocket here and that will fit an 11” laptop, maybe a 12” and a mouse pad. That one’s from Urban Cow on Etsy. They did a great job with that. So you’ve got a lot of pockets. You’ve got one, two, three, four interior pockets. And I like this because you can really use this usably, every day. So if you’re going to class or you’re going to work and you’re looking for something that has a lot of class, a lot of style and is going to last a long time looking good, this is a good option.
I should also mention the pigskin. This is very interesting pigskin compared to what it was. It used to be very dark and I thought it looked rather inorganic. I think it had been treated, died, most likely. But this has a very nice, soft feeling to it. It’s not very rigid like the older pigskin. And I very much like it. You can see little spots, not only the hair spots. I’ll try to fix it so you can see there that there’s some little hair spots where it’s been de-haired but if we look carefully we can find a bit of scarring. I don’t know. I can’t tell if that’s a scar or not but there are slight, minor issues but that’s what happens when you work with leather and animals that run into fences and whatnot.
You can see we’ve got lots of rivets everywhere. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to tear leather that’s riveted together. I encourage you to try, but don’t get a hernia doing it because it is tough. This leather is thick and these are big rivets. So I don’t know what the world’s going to look like in a hundred years but I think if any leather product that I’ve seen so far is capable of lasting a hundred years, it would be the Saddleback products because they’re pretty much just over-engineered. That’s ridiculous. They’re using high-quality thread here, they’re double-stitching it. I think they’re going to do a good job of lasting. They are using hollow rivets and that’s so that you can apply them more easily. They go on with a foot press and these aren’t solid rivets. I don’t think that’s going to be a strength issue. If you had a lot of sheer force on these rivets it might be an issue but it shouldn’t be an issue at all with these. It also makes it a little bit lighter. Lightness is kind of an issue. Once again, it goes to pros and cons.
So if you want a really light bag, don’t get this bag. It’s 8.5 pounds or so which honestly I think is well worth the cost but carrying leather items there’s always pros and there’s cons. The pros are it looks really classy, it will last a long time, and you won’t need to buy a new item for very long. But the downside is you don’t want to get it stolen because the replacement cost is really high and it’s heavy and it can be a little bit bulky or awkward. You have to decide whether or not you want to put up with something like that in order to have a bag like this.
So those are my first initial thoughts on the bag. I’ll be doing more as the coming weeks come up and hopefully you’ll enjoy it. So feel free to put comments and tell me what you’d like to see. If you have any suggestions on video editing or cinematography I’d love to hear them.
Check out the Saddleback Leather Squared Backpack here.
Continue to episode two of the Saddleback Leather Squared Backpack Review.
Hello! BestLeather.org is going to have a new Leather Company Directory soon and we would like your company in it with updated information to help our readers choose a company to buy from. This month 2,200 people visited the directory.
This update will enhance abilities for customers to sort and search for the right company instead of browsing through companies till they find the right one.
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Most leather mouse pads are crap. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of good options on the market. But for some reason since they are so simple it allows for a lot of shortcuts to be taken. Most of the mouse pads you see on Amazon take the shortcuts. The easiest way to see this is if they say genuine leather.
Genuine leather is essentially reconstituted leather. Leather that gets shaved off other hides is collected and pressed together with glue to form sheets of “genuine leather”. In my opinion it is desperately poor form to be calling this cheap imitation of leather “genuine”, but that is the state of our system right now. Anyways, avoid everything marked as “genuine leather”. It’s crap.
Anyways, UrbanCow on Etsy sells a pretty thick REAL leather mousepad. Pretty simple construction with two pieces of 3 oz stone oil leather sewn together with a single nylon thread. Double stitching would just be overkill.
If you haven’t tried a leather mouse pad I really recommend it. One of the great features of leather is its wonderful tactility. It feels good. I don’t know of any other leather products that I have my hands on nearly all day. UrbanCow’s mouse pad is made with this stone oil leather that I haven’t touched much of. It feels wonderful. It’s not exactly a pull-up leather since it doesn’t mark when you fold it but the feeling is very similar. Very rich in leather fragrance and feeling.
At $22, it’s a good deal. Fancier mouse pads are available from Bexar and Saddleback Leather but I’d rather just keep the dough.
Check out the UrbanCow, they are well rated with many sales on Etsy and shipping was pretty fast.
There is a small company on Kickstarter called Opus. They are selling, amoung some other really neat things, a leather wrapped journal. Kate Burrow from Opus sent me one to check out and share with you guys.
I’ve seen these hand bound notebooks but moleskines have always been my choice notebook because of how many pages they hold. What pops out to me with this Opus journal is the heavy paper and coptic stitching (here is a guide on doing your own coptic stitch binding notebook) for the binding which gives fantastic flexibility, unlike glued bindings. Several pages are already tearing off on my latest moleskin because of inflexibility in the glued binding.
So, with a coptic stitch binding you can do things like this without damaging the journal:
While the journal is bound in leather it isn’t full grain. There is a light 1 oz stamped (for texture) leather sheet wrapped around book board, commonly used in hardbacks. It feels nice. It’s soft and the texture is nice. Nice but not full grain grade.
The inside of the journal covers are glued down to the book board with a linen cloth lining.
The one problem that Kate assured me they were fixing was the weakness of the glue holding the interior fabric down to the backboard. I was able to gently tear the fabric away from the book board revealing the secret message; “Your determination will bring much success.”
The paper is heavy weight at 98 lbs and it is pretty nice to write on. My pen, a Pilot G-2 and a Parker fountain pen, glide right over the heavy paper.
If I were more of an artist I could use this journal more completely since the heavy paper allows you to draw and paint quite easily. If you paint in the journal I suppose you can’t close it, but a journal of paintings would be cool. Point is; you can use it for a lot more than journaling about your annoying boss.
Dimensions are the standard journal size, 5.5 inches by 8.25 inches. Normal.
I think this journal is for a lot more than just daily journaling. It deserves an artist with cool handwriting and an eye for pastel colors. Or use it for a special event where you write a series of meaningful letters that you want to save.
With the improvements to the book board adhesive that Kate is going to make I would recommend this journal for serious writers, artists, and people who want a memorable notebook to hold special memories (which is exactly what Opus designed it for).
Check out the other rewards Opus is offering as well. Some of them are pretty intriguing. Handwritten Shakespear scroll anyone?
The three easiest ways to identify a quality leather product right out of the box are stiffness, squeak, and smell. This is a stiff, squeaky, and smelly wallet.
Continue reading “Blackthorn Leather Bifold Wallet Review – $85”
This is a guest post written by Peter who is a drafter at a foundry. He has been using the Sahara bag for six months.
You can read the original review of the Far Horizon Traders Sahara Bag here.
Even in the intense environment of foundry work and the dirt and grime that can be acquired there, this bag has stood the test of toughness and continually demonstrated a hardy design. There has been no fraying of the leather around any edges and the only real sign of degradation is the missing button on the left side of the bag, which fell out after a few months.
The functionality of the bag is impressive. Every book needed for school, a laptop, and even some lunch can be contained in the bag and nothing would be protruding, yet still easily accessible. The shoulder strap guard is inconveniently placed, as it cannot be adjust to be used on both sides, only one.
The amount of pockets and dividers inside the back is convenient, allowing for separation and protection of goods placed inside, while the same time, not being too much. The thickness of the leather gives great protection for anything placed inside.
Due to me taking this bag to a multitude of places, i.e. a foundry, coffee shops, and school, it has acquired a unique look, from metal dust staining the bottom and back, to the worn look of everyday use. None of the acquired characteristics in any way diminish the bags looks or functionality, but instead add to the character of it and make it more enjoyable to use. This bag’s sturdy construction and how it can handle the wear and tear make it fit in perfectly in my working environment, yet it’s style allow it to stand out.
This bag has brought me compliments left and right, it has great functionality, a beautiful look, and a tough character that earn my respect for it. It is definitely a bag I would recommend.
I am surprised that it has already stood up to so much, in the rough conditions it’s used in, and still in the shape that it is.
If the small durability problems are ironed out; this will be a great bag.
These boots haven’t seen conditioner for months. Shame on me. It’s about time they get some attention. I figured I would document the process photographically so you can see the transformation and effect produced by the products. Continue reading “Conditioning / Refreshing Wolverine 1000 Mile Boots With Lexol Leather Cleaner And Obenaufs Conditioner”
I treated my tan leather motorcycle jacket entirely with Neatsfoot Oil to condition and darken it.
The transition was from a very light tan dry leather to a rich honey colored leather which looks very desirable. If you don’t want your leather to darken do not use Neatsfoot Oil.
Here is how it turned out:
one week later
John Neeman, a boutique durable goods maker in Latvia, has produced this lovely video of their process to make a leather belt. Video after the jump. Continue reading “Beautifully Made Leather Belt Advertisement from John Neeman”
DSLR leather camera straps are abundant. Here’s a pretty good option from Viveo for a shooter who doesn’t need to transition between straps often. Continue reading “Viveo Leather Camera Strap Review – $45”
I just received this “Government Shutdown Sale” email from Renaissance Leather. Not a bad time to pick up a few things. They have excellent prices their laptop bags. Continue reading “21.8% Off At Renaissance Leather”
A characteristic to watch for on Etsy, a region replete with copycats and low quality, is creativity and a passion for quality. I present to you W Durable Goods, a creative company passionate about quality and sustainability. Continue reading “Best of Etsy: W Durable Goods On Product Design”
Did you know you can buy leather bags that are up to 100+ years old? It’s true. The Swiss Army used leather bags on their army pack horses, particularly the Freiberger breed which were known for their endurance. The horses and mules lightened the load for soldiers and allowed them to cover much more ground in strong fighting condition.
While soldiers were never relieved of carrying their own personal fighting equipment, the horses carried the more substantial armament, such as extra ammunition, mortars, and light artillery.
These bags were well made to endure the demanding circumstances of heavy loads in wartime and often used over and over as Swiss citizens served their time and returned their issued military equipment. Hence they often served for decades and acquire a beautiful patina.
The Swiss Army uses a conditioner called FIX which stays in the leather for a very long time and frequently all the bags need is a good cleaning to rid it of mold and dirt.
Now, in these more sophisticated times, pack animals are much more rare in the military. Consequently the bag market sees vintage Swiss Army bags for sale. Here are some of the types of vintage swiss army bags in repair and original unrepaired condition, courtesy of Men A Werro from Leatherwerk, who is an excellent source for purchasing an original swiss army bag. Here are a selection of swiss army bags you can find.
As you browse through the selection of photos spend a moment to contemplate how old and how much abuse these leather bags have endured. Can you imagine a messenger bag from Target doing the same thing?
Here is mine, made in 1945. As I told you before, they were used by the pack train and attached with chains on the packsaddle. These come with chains but no strap so I custom made a strap from either Swiss Army rifle slings of the same age or leather straps that who knows what they were used for. I make optional straps or there is the desirable horse bit handle. Sometimes folks want a coin concho on the hinged flap. Oldest one I had in my hands was stamped 1918 I think, youngest one 1945.
It has a thick rear wall and thick leather hinged lid. Around 70 years old and tons of real patina that shows up only after many many moons of hard use!
Size is about 16″ x 12″ x 3 1/2″. It can carry bulky stuff too that is deeper than 3.5″. The picture below shows mine today in the rain.
You can easily see the functionality of the medic bag. Required medical equipment is easily at hand without digging through things or having your bag fall closed while treating a wounded soldier. That would be a difficult problem to have while controlling bleeding.
I’m not exactly sure what these bags were used for. The officer’s bags were smaller so it is likely these were used by infantry, but for what purpose? Anyone know?
Fuses and explosives go in here. This has got to be one of the coolest bags.
The horses had packsaddles designed specifically for carrying their veterinarian equipment. Some of these leather packsaddles are from 1895!
Earlier versions of the Packsaddle bag were put over the horses neck. Earliest one I had between my fingers was made 1895, latest one 1917. 2 versions as far as I know. The earlier once were a bit larger and slightly more boxy looking.
The large Gunsmith bag is actually a Packsaddle bag with added flaps on the sides (inside) and two pockets for small grease tins. It has an alloy badge too and the added straps system (no more chains for the horses) makes the bag either a messenger or a backpack. I guess the Swiss Army copied it from SBL – just kidding!
small gunsmith bagSize: 4.0″ by 12.0″ by 9-10″ tall. Under the flap pocket is 7.5″ x 5.5″
Many are stamped with MP41 and some with MP43 when used by gunsmiths that were working in the field on the machine pistols 41 or the updated version 43. Very early version didn’t have a MP stamp. Some were used again in the late 50s for the “Sturmgewehr 57” (automatic rifle) by the gunsmiths. Those got K14.1.110 stamped on the alloy badge. It’s a pretty small bag for a gunsmith, especially for working on that automatic rifle.
These are one of my favorite styles, few were made through 1937 – 1945.
These are made of Swiss Military grade heavy duty green canvas with thick leather. Alloy bottom plate, reinforcements at all stress points. About 40 years old in like new condition. Will last a lifetime or two! Very tough stuff.
These bags have specific individual stamps that indicate things like the name of the maker and the year.
I could not have put this information together without Men A. Werro from Leatherwerk. He sells these bags which are individually sourced in Switzerland. You can check out his current stock of Swiss bags on his site, www.leatherwerk.blogspot.com. Men also makes several other leather goods from scratch such as the Pouchun and accessories for Saddleback Leather bags.
Chromexcel is a massively popular leather right now. I asked Phil Kalas from Horween about Chromexcel and what makes it so unique and desirable on wearable products. Continue reading “All About the Famous Chromexcel Leather from Horween Tannery”
Wrist straps for cameras are a great way to keep your kit minimal for a stroll around the city, and this one is quite an impressive option. Continue reading “E3 Supply Co Camera Wrist Strap Review – $35”
The keychain is a simple device. Its sole purpose in life is to hold your keys together. While each of us use some variance of a ring or clasp, they generally all have the same thing in common: they make a racket. Not this one. Continue reading “Thrux Lawrence Launches KeyPost Kickstarter”