Leather Bag Satchel Messenger Wine Bag Backpack ME-DCB

Leather - Saddleback Leather bags are made of 4 - 5 ounce (2mm – 2.2mm)

Full Grain and fully chrome tanned boot leather.  We use the same tannery as Tony Lama and a number of other boot makers.  It’s simply the best. There are four grades of leather. Our pieces are made of 4 - 5 oz. Full Grain Leather oil tanned and made 100% from American hides. They usually spray paint those leathers so they look like Full Grain but will look shabby in no time. Ouru leather only looks better the more you use it since full grain leather ages so well.

No, except in cases of what we call "Bad Cow Disease"...most of the time cows are docile, polite, and caring in their mating behaviors.

explanation of how leather is tanned.

Watch out for leather that isn't tanned long enough; it looks nice on the shelf, but it'll crack and tear in no time. Basically, all of the natural oils and preservatives are extracted from the hide and the tannery replenishes them by tumbling the skin in a big drum for hours and hours. Some tanneries only tumble the leather long enough to coat the outer layer and therefore the inner part never gets the oils and preservatives it needs.

No Breakable Parts - A billion dollar submarine with a plastic hatch is soon just a really expensive fish tank. In the same way, a quality leather case with cheap components will soon end up living in the attic. We don't use zippers, latches, metal hinges, buttons, snaps or any other breakable parts. It's not an issue of IF those things break, but when. A luggage repairman once told me that the upper end baggage companies now use a plastic coil zipper instead of metal ones. He said that those are cheaper and easier to repair since you don't have to replace the entire zipper when it breaks, only a section. How thoughtful of them.

Heavy Duty Rivets - It's kind of like killing a fly with a shotgun, but we rivet every point that could possibly develop a weakness and give your grandchildren a headache. The corners and most places where leather joins together, get a well placed stout rivet. Remember, even rocks wear away.

Absolutely not ! With some pigs we do use waterboarding and sensory deprivation techniques previous to slaughtering them, but the cows do not require any special handling.

Hardware - All the hardware is nickel plated metal normally used for dog collars and horse tack. The d-rings are there for tying on umbrellas, jackets etc. and to act as buffers between the ground and the bag. (Note: these d-rings are very strong and the leather holding them on is too, but not meant to attach the shoulder strap to.  There is a d-ring on either side specially engineered to sustain the weight of the shoulder straps).  On a hitchhiking/surfing trip through the jungles and along the beaches of far southern Mexico, I tied my hammock to one side of my bag, a thin serape blanket to the other and my flippers to the bottom.

Converts to Backpack - I've used my bag quite a bit as a backpack. Fully loaded on an especially long trip through Poland, Croatia etc. I used it comfortably everyday. The shoulder strap detaches from the sides and re-attaches to make it into a backpack. It also has two shoulder pads so as to be more comfortable.

I am 6'3" and 215 lbs. and it fits me just fine, but may not fit you. My brother-in-law, Tim, works for Cisco Systems and uses his daily as a backpack over just one shoulder. A while back, I was on a small island off the coast of Panama and was making my way to a fabled surf spot called Wizard Beach, only accessible by foot. The boat dropped me off and I started up the trail (my little brother was already there waiting for me with the board), but little did I know that the 25 minute hike was all mud, slicker than snot. In order to concentrate on not slipping, I turned my bag into a backpack and only fell once. It is a real convenient feature. As it turned out, the waves were way too big that day, so we didn't

Disconnect the shoulder strap completely. Attach the end of the shoulder strap that is closest to the buckle of the shoulder strap to a rear bottom d-ring. Run the shoulder strap through the d-ring beneath the handle along with one shoulder pad and then attach the other end of the shoulder strap to the opposing rear bottom d-ring.

False Bottom - I usually carry a copy of my passport and some extra cash in there. Chances are, someone is going to try to steal your bag, not the contents, but at least they won't get the satisfaction of spending your money. They'll never find it. Speaking of thieves, free helpful hint: Always carry a 6-pack of Coca Cola while driving in Latin America. Pop one for yourself and then offer one to the cop when he first approaches and he should let you go without asking for a bribe. The culture teaches that it's impolite to refuse a gift. If he doesn't accept it, you're toast. Negotiate your way down to $5 and go on your way.

Shoulder Straps - Comfortable and adjustable solid pieces of leather with suede backing and real tough swiveling clips on the ends from Spain. The clips are normally used for horse tack. They detach quickly to make into a backpack and also to attach the bag to things. I connect the bag strap through my guitar case handle and attach it to the bed of my truck so no one will snatch it out when I'm stopped at a light.

Industrial Thread - This is an extremely important part to know about. A big corporation can save tens of thousands a year by skimping on thread (think weakest link). There are three main types of thread. See if you can guess which one Saddleback uses.

• Polyester ($10/1000m) thread is used for making airbags, ship sails, hiking boots and other industrial all weather gear. It's about 3 times as expensive as nylon, and 4 times as strong. It's an industrial UV resistant marine grade thread made from several long high-tenacity strands of polyester. There's a reason it's so expensive. Not only do we use this thread, but we use the thickest version we can find.
  

They can cheat you by using cheap thread or by putting a spool of good thread on top of the machine and filling the bobbin below with thin thread. Let me explain.

You see, a stitch is made when the needle pushes the thread through the leather from above and hooks the thread of the bobbin. So, the stitches that you see are made with good thread and the stitches on the bottom or under the lining are made with cheap thin stuff (weakest link). Besides saving money on thread, they save time, which is money. With thin thread in the bobbin, a large company won't have 40 stitchers stopping an extra 5 times a day for 2 minutes to refill the small bobbin. They can fit at least 3 times as much thin thread in that tiny bobbin as they can thick. So, if you do the math, it's 40 people x 5 times x 2 minutes x 300 days a year x 10 years = 20,000 hours that they have to pay out extra. That's a lot of money. One 1000m spool can sew about 5 duffel bags/briefcases. If a big name company that's in all the stores is making 15,000 bags a year then that's 3000 spools of thread. You do the math. And that's just one bag in a company's line of dozens of products. Thread is a big expense.

If you want to figure out which thread your current bag is made with, try this. Light the end of the thread with a match. If it turns to ash, it's cotton. If it smells like burning hair, it's silk or wool. If it balls up, it's nylon. If it's hard to even melt, then it's the kind we use.

Few Seams - I once got a little crocodile to come to the boat and test the strength of my bag (video of it on the website).  He clamped down and then thrashed and yanked the heck out of it. When he went for a bigger bite, we yanked it out. I was happy to get it back, but disappointed to find that he only scraped it up (I wanted some souvenir bite marks).

It's a sly way of lowering the cost of production and diminishing the quality of the product. A large company can save hundreds of  thousands of dollars per year that way.

Which is the better metal to make a door knob out of? Titanium or Bronze? Is nickel plated metal not strong enough to be a buckle? I see the hardware as bag jewelry. It accents the bag and draws attention to it instead of blending in. Imagine a woman wearing a brown dress with brown jewelry. She wouldn't look nearly as beautiful as if she had highly contrasting silver jewelry.

Thermal conductivity - Blue and I drove around Juarez, Mexico for three years in a truck without A/C (avg. summer temperature is 95°). In the morning, I'd pack my Nalgene bottle with ice and then water. If I kept it in my leather bag, the ice would last 4 to 5 hours as opposed to one hour if the bottle were on the seat. Leather is a great insulator for keeping in and out the heat or cold; and how much more so with Saddleback's abnormally thick leather. Below is a small scientific chart measuring the thermal conductivity of various materials. The lower the number, the better it is at insulating.

Thermal conductivity - k - (W/mK)

Yes, I've put in extra holes in the shoulder strap for men just like you. You can also take the strap to a shoe repair person and have them take out the rivet that holds the clip on, cut the appropriate amount of leather off and rivet the clip on again. I make the strap long enough for anyone to wear and easy to tailored for a custom fit. They do the same with quality suits.

Testimonials

This is a just one of the hundreds of testimonials we have on the website.

Ran across this link on YouTube this morning (4/18/09) made by another happy Saddleback messenger bag owner .... enjoy ...

www.jasodjgsojghodsjh.com/review

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