Review: Saddleback Leather Co.
A small suite of timeless travel bags for the discerning traveler.
There’s no denying the practical advantages of synthetic fabrics: light weight, weather-resistance, and affordability, to name a few. But despite their popularity, modern textiles have never managed to replace traditional materials. Canvas, leather, and wool are as popular as ever, and for good reason: they’ve proven themselves, through the ages, to be reliable, durable, and dependable. And they continue to do so, year after year, as today’s companies honor the materials’ illustrious past while adapting it to contemporary usage.
Take Saddleback Leather Co., for example, which produces a vast line of leather goods, many of them suitable for outdoor recreation and adventure travel. Their Side Pocket Leather Duffle ($679) is the last travel bag you’ll ever buy—this baby’s made to take a beating, with nary a zipper, snap, or button throughout, so no worries about damage when the bag gets dropped from a traincar or stuffed into an overhead bin. Nope, burly straps and buckles, rugged rivets, and minimal reinforced seams are what this bag’s all about. That and style, of course—for those formal occasions, or when you want to make an impression, a nylon duffel is pretty much the luggage equivalent of dirty jeans, a wrinkled shirt, or other incongruous accoutrement. The Side Pocket Duffle, on the other hand, fits right in.
For lugging gear to the trailhead, campsite, or gun range, the Range & Tool Tote ($179) offers the same benefits: durability and style. The oversized handles are easy to grab, and the stiff sidewalls lock the tote open for convenient loading and unloading. Climbing gear, fishing equipment, guns & ammo… whatever, just toss it in and go. And keep going, year after year—when your nylon tote starts falling apart, this sucker will be softening up and settling in for a long, happy life as your number-one equipment-hauling companion.
Saddleback’s All-in-One Leather Backpack ($379) is aptly named, being equally adept in the great outdoors and around town. Grab and go with the rigid top handle, then shoulder it for hands-free carry. With plenty of room for extra layers, snacks, water, even a laptop, this pack moves easily from the trail to the coffee shop for some après-outdoor work or leisure time. Interior and exterior compartments keep smaller items organized, and the padded straps go easy on your shoulders. As a travel pack, the rigid floor holds it upright when placed on the ground, and it stows nicely under your airline seat. And once again, you’ll enjoy the inimitable look and feel (and smell, for a while) of leather, rather than tawdry, humdrum, same-old synthetics.
As Teddy Roosevelt famously noted, “Unless we keep the barbarian virtues, gaining the civilized ones will be of little avail.” So it is with textiles, too. Like the wool, cotton, and silk products that evolved alongside us over thousands of years, leather sets the standard for synthetics to follow—or try to, anyway.
