Buffalo Jackson, based just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, is a men’s shop for, as they put it, the rugged gentleman. Their founder, Xan Hood, wanted to harken back to the time when you could get formalwear and a gun from the same store (and both would look gooood). They design and stock a wide range of clothing and accessories, from bow ties to bison leather boat shoes to wallets and carry items. We will be looking at one of their bags, the Elkton Small Duffle Gym Bag.
construction/materials
The duffle is made from heavy-duty waxed canvas and trimmed with a light brown, full-grain leather, and it is constructed at the TrueBlue leather production facility in Mexico. It has two very sturdy, padded leather handles, as well as a leather shoulder strap that fastens with thick, hearty dog-leash clasps. It also features a double layer of leather on the bottom, to help protect the duffle’s contents. Finally, there is a quick-grab handle on one end.
The interior, which opens courtesy of a gigantic YKK zipper, has three narrow pockets; one on each end, and one running along the middle of the bag. These are just cut into one layer of the canvas, so they are not deep. They are great for cords or stashing a passport or papers; they will not fit anything of great size (such as my MacBook Pro’s power adapter).
design
It is basically an overnight/small day bag. My first impression is that it was too small to be of any great use, but I have actually found it to be very handy. I manage a bar, so I always have a bunch of bar tools, random books, and a fresh shirt or two with me, and this small duffle turned out to be the perfect size to stuff these random items into without getting too heavy. Being one basic compartment, it is not great for a day at the coffee shop if you are one who likes to keep your books, adapters, notebooks, headphones, and such organized and handy, but for just grabbing a few things and stuffing them into a bag–it is perfect. If I don’t continue to use it as my bar bag, I may turn it into a nifty little tool bag to carry around my house. In this case, its small size will keep it from being too overloaded; I could only carry around my essentials.
My two quibbles with the bag come from the leather shoulder strap. Number one: it is quite needlessly long, which creates my second problem. It has a second ring, similar to the one your belt has, for keeping the excess strap attached to itself. This ring is too large, so it slides to the bottom and out flaps the excess (loooong) strap–it is a bit sloppy. I solved this problem by simply removing the strap and using the handles, tote-style.
final impression
I was not expecting to like this little bag nearly as much as I do. It is constructed nearly as well as my Filson briefcase, and at just $169, it is definitely worth checking out.
Click here to check out the Buffalo Jackson Elkton Small Duffle Bag.
