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Saddleback Leather ID Wallet Review

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Every boy admires his father’s wallet. We remember the worn and torn, battle scarred sheaths for our father’s hard-earned bills, and perhaps much more. A wallet endures a great amount of abuse being regularly slipped in and out of the pocket, sat on, soaked, washed, and stretched. It has to be tough enough. Otherwise, what is the point?

construction

Saddleback Leather’s ID Wallet is built around a core of two 4mm 4 1/8″ wide and 2 7/8″ high tough pigskin leather rectangles. The side pockets and ID slot are 2mm full grain leather. The whole kaboodle is sewn together with Saddleback’s notable heavy thread. The thread is kept away from the very edge to protect it from abrasion with your pocket.

The wallet does not seem ready to last 100 years due to the slimmer leather used, however, the price is low and the slimness affords convenient use and also minimizes back issues, to an ambiguous extent. In the below photos you can see where the raising printing on cards has imprinted on the leather, giving evidence for its thinness. Not that this is bad thinness, it is just thinness not common for Saddleback Leather products.

The greatest risk for wear and tear seems to be in the two card slots. These slots see lots of use and have thinner leather than is normal for Saddleback Leather products. However, the model reviewed here has been used rigorously for six months with very little visible wear beyond expectable patina around the edges of the wallet. So, time will tell. Expect a follow up review later.

aesthetic

Let the photos convince you.

It’s great, obviously.

functionality

Between the swaths of leather is a slot for your cash, not much, not too much, just right. There are two card pockets on one side with 2mm leather which will easily accomodate two cards each. On the other side is the ID slot. There is no chinsy plastic covering it so pulling your ID out is exceptionally easy. Between the ID slot and the center is another slot where business cards fit well.

This is not a wallet for receipt savers, business card hoarders, and those obsessed with back tweaking wallets. Tri-fold wallets were designed by chiropractors to do you know what (not really, but you get the point).

All you need to carry is your few cards (simplify), ID, a bit of cash (money clip is also an option), and maybe a few of your business cards. All the other bits of paper that sometimes get jammed into our lower vertebrae belong elsewhere.

It is enjoyable to slip cards in and out. Once the leather is broken in to how many cards you use you can grab a card with your thumb and slip it out with ease. Vice-versa for putting the card back in.

For the simplicity, the Saddleback Leather ID Wallet preforms perfectly.

Best Leather conclusion

If you want a simple durable wallet, get this.

If you want a more hefty wallet, get the bi-fold.

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Saddleback Leather Macbook Air Sleeve Review

If you are heading out to door for a flight, to the coffee shop, or Machu Picchu, the Apple MacBook Air is perfect for its fantastic portability. If you walk around with your computer outside of a messenger bag or briefcase then it is wise for you to get a sleeve, and therein lies the question. Should you get this one from Saddleback Leather?

In keeping with the minimal design of the Apple MacBook Air, here we have the Saddleback Leather MacBook Air Sleeve, minimal extraordinair. Like the Macbook Air, we will see how long it remains useful since its usefulness is intrinsically related to the lifespan of the MacBook Air.

construction

The Saddleback Leather MacBook Air Sleeve is one piece of 4-5 oz. full grain leather which is bent around and double stitched on the other side. The interior is lined with pigskin which is very durable and thin. Pigskin is most often seen in luxury leather goods, which this absolutely is. There is a strip of neoprene stitched between the leather layers on the spine of the sleeve to help cushion a fall on the spine.

function 

While its durability is not questioned, the long term functionality of the Air Sleeve is certainly questionable and therefore perhaps categorizes itself as a luxury item. If you replace your Air with anything else in the future, what will you use your case for? What if the Air gets even slimmer (which it will)? Then your sleeve won’t work at all! And then what? You are going to sell it? Maybe. But everyone else bought the new Air and has no need for the old version. The resale value is going to plummet because there will be no market demand. The iPhone and iPad cases have the same problem because of their updates every year. Seems it is.

Another problem is the open ended design of the sleeve. While the design protects the laptop from three sides, the open side makes the Air vulnerable to either slipping out accidentally or hitting the front corner of the sleeve in a fall and quite forcefully ejecting the Air. The design would be much safer, and bulkier, if there was a buttoned-down wrap-around strip of leather which secured the Air into the sleeve it would be more recommendable.

aesthetic

The simplicity of the Air Sleeve is elegant. One swath of leather with a pigskin liner and double stitched with polystyrene (super-strong) thread.

On one side the cursive Saddleback Leather logo is branded into the leather quite pleasingly.

Functionally though, the Air Sleeve lacks elegance. The above mentioned foibles detract from the overall usefulness of the design because they force you to constantly worry that the design issues are going to lead to the downfall of your lovely Air.

Best Leather conclusion

If you have money to spend on each new iteration, you are not concerned about your Air slipping out or being ejected in a fall, and the extra bulk and weight of the sleeve does not ruin the simple appeal of the MacBook Air, then by all means get the Saddleback Leather MacBook Air Sleeve, in Chestnut. Because that is the best color.

Check them out here on the Saddleback Leather Website.

If you are relatively frugal, you want your sleeve to be functionally perfect, or the idea of obsolete leather does not appeal to you, then carry your Air in the Saddleback Leather Messenger Bag (for durability) or the Colonel Littleton No. 42 (for refinement), instead of the Saddleback Air Sleeve. Which is what they should have called it.

You could opt for a cheaper sleeve you won’t mind replacing when you get a new version, check out something like this.

Saddleback Leather MacBook Air Sleeves can be on found on Ebay, although they seem to be appropriately rare.

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Personalized Brass Luggage Tag Review

Imagine the panic of losing your precious luggage in the airport with no way for the finder to return it… If they would be so honest. This luggage tag is a classy ticket to getting your precious travel bag back at a pretty fair price.

The tag is stamped from a solid piece of .4 gauge brass. It looks and feels substantial, there is no doubt it will last just as long as the bag. The small leather strap that comes with it probably won’t last a long time but at the price an alternative can be found. On the Saddleback Leather Thin Briefcase it looks stunning and receives constant attention.

Click on the box below to go to Ebay, purchase the tag, fill out the seller’s custom form, and soon receive this excellent luggage tag.

Photos taken by Kristin Kastning.

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New: The Saddleback Leather Simple Backpack

For quite a while Saddleback Leather has produced one backpack, The Backpack. Now there are three Saddleback Leather Backpacks. Behold, the Simple Backpack.

This new creation aims differently than The Backpack at being a more casual and easier to use backpack. Instead of being internally strong it is more collapsable and moldable. This will lend itself to travel and the diverse demands of the “stuff” that may need to be carried. One of the downfalls of The Backpack, despite its beauty, is the difficulty in efficiently using all its space. Although the cubic capacity of The Backpack is greater, one can fit just as much  “stuff” into the Thin Briefcase because it is easier to fill the horizontally arranged compartments as opposed the vertically arranged compartments of The Backpack.

This bag will be popular with travelers, as Dave demonstrates in his video, for its flexibility, lightness, and capacity due to the simple interior design. It is to be hoped that this design lends itself to more efficient use of space then The Backpack.

Check it out here.

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