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New: Saddleback Leather iPhone 5 Leather Sleeve

Saddleback Leather iPhone 5 case in Dark Coffee Brown top view with phone

If you buy a phone case, especially an expensive one, it can be a pain when the next phone comes out with different dimensions. I am always uncertain about buying leather cases and sleeves for gadgets that change dimensions and ports as new iterations come out, like the MacBook Air Sleeve.

The latest iPhone comes out as too tall for the iPhone 4 sleeves so manufacturers are cranking out iPhone 5 designs. Hopefully those who bought iPhone 4 sleeves can find something to do with them or someone to sell them to. Continue reading “New: Saddleback Leather iPhone 5 Leather Sleeve”

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Saddleback Leather

about

Saddleback Leather dominates the market with their high quality leather goods.

The story of Saddleback starts with Dave Munson, the president of the company, who had a leather briefcase made for him in Mexico to kick his idea off. People liked it and here we are now. Saddleback Leather is a private company but estimates of their gross revenue range in the high teen millions. Saddleback manufactures a wide range of leather goods and has maintained a steady pace of innovation.

All products are made with:

  • 4-5 oz. full grain leather (as opposed to corrected genuine or bonded leather that is weaker)
  • fully tanned leather (Yes, you still have to oil it like any other leather)
  • the same threads used in airbags and sails
  • as few seams as possible, large pieces of leather
  • hidden nylon straps reinforcing the interior by taking load
  • nickel plated brass hardware
  • strong rivets
  • many items such as the briefcases and messenger bags convert to backpacks
  • shoulder straps have pads and are fully adjustable

reviewed products 

(so far)

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film reviews of Saddleback Leather goods

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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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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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