There are four leather smiths at Colsen Keane Custom Leather Goods. They make leather products to order. They take pride in paying attention to detail and taking the time to get it right. On their website, they have written, “Time leaves its mark on us… We believe that your personal time-mark is art.”
When I first saw the No 213 Tech Case by Colsen Keane, I thought it looked pretty handy. It is designed to handle all or most of your computer tech gear. We tested it and found it holds the Mac computer charger and extension cord, the iPhone charger and cord and ear pods, and a splitter to boot. This is good news for Mac users, but I’ve seen some PC chargers that would make this bag choke.
The case measures roughly 5 1/2 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches high, and it is 3 inches deep. You might want to measure all your stuff and see if it fits. If you have a large charger, you might want to consider keeping it in your backpack, briefcase or satchel–or you might want to consider getting a Mac.
CONSTRUCTION
The leather used to make the 213 Tech Case is 5 to 6 ounces of Chocolate Crazy Horse hide. Besides Crazy Horse, which is a twenty dollar option, the Tech Case is also available in Natural Tan and Deep Black. The grade is Tannery Run (TR). When a tannery first culls the best and the worst from the lot, Tannery Run is what is left. This means the Tech Case is made from good leather–not the best, but it doesn’t need to be.
When you see leather that looks like a three-part lamination, this is because the dye did not go all the way through, which is the situation with the Crazy Horse leather. The process to get the color all the way through is costly, both in time and money, and is reserved for the more expensive leathers. This does not affect the quality, and you will never wear through to the un-dyed grain unless you drag it behind your truck for a couple miles.
The Tech Case is hand stitched together using a 4 ounce waxed thread. This is heavy; I don’t think it will come apart or wear through unless you use a sharp knife or attack the case with an axe.
There is no hardware on the Colsen Keane Tech Case. The lid is long and tucks behind a strap across the front of the case. It seems appropriate to blend a utilitarian function into a utility case. The case wasn’t designed for or with bling; this simplicity of style is what accounts for its beauty.
FUNCTION
In the past, it was often necessary to pull my backpack apart to get to the cords I needed. This was because the backpack pockets for the tech gear did not expand, but would contour to the backpack and I could not see what I had inside–especially if I was looking for something small. This was time-consuming and irritating but, for all I knew, it was part of life and I accepted it. The Colsen Keane Tech Case has a wide throat. So now, my backpack stays orderly while needed cords and gear are always close at hand.
What also was frustrating with the backpack was the difficulty to get the pockets zipped once I had all the tech gear loaded. So, I was forced to leave them unzipped; sometimes small gear would fall out, such as the plugin module for the iPhone charger. How many times did I have to buy a new one? This is no longer a problem with the Tech Case. Even with the case full of gear, the lid is easy to close and reopen, if I need to grab something quickly.
The daily use for me is a MacBook Pro computer charger, remote Mouse, a custom PCMCIA card adapter and cord for a small CNC machine, iPhone to Mac cord, and ear pods. The most used tools are now conveniently accessible.
The case seems to become more relaxed with each day’s use. As a bonus, it does not fall over, as I expected, but stands upright on the desk, even with the lid open and folded back, as if waiting for me to reach in for another cord.
BEST LEATHER CONCLUSION
You have probably heard the popular phrase, “Time is Money.” Well, the new meme is “Time is Art.” The Colsen Keane No 213 Tech Case is well constructed with simplicity in the design. It is useful for organizing tech gear, but it looks and feels more elegant than a mere utility bag. The product is good and this writer has found the bag useful and attractive. The Crazy Horse is a good looking upgrade and well worth the extra twenty bucks. You can say the Tech Case is a work of art.
