24" Waterbag

Leather 24" Waterbag

I was young and stupid when I discontinued this 24” Waterbag a decade ago and I just realized it in March of 2026. We were packing for a 12 day trip to Japan in search of the rarest leather on Earth, the Shironameshi leather and my son, Cross, and I were fighting over who got to use it because it was the absolute perfect size to check in, but also to carry with us on trains. I tell the story at the end of this page. It’s cool and so is this leather travel bag. 

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Super Strong Materials 

Toughest Leather - Our leather is the strongest leather we can buy. It’s called Full Grain leather, and the version we use of it is even thicker than boot leather. They use our mineral tanned leather for 95% of the work boots, carseats and leather jackets of the world. 

Hardest Hardware - Our custom 316 Stainless Steel puts the HARD in hardware. Using it for bag hardware is like killing a fly with a shotgun (please please google 316 Stainless Steel). Somewhere in the world, a lone tear just dropped from the eye of a metallurgist. Our clips were tested and found they can hold up to a 750 lb bag of cats over a 552 ft. cliff without breaking. Not 751 lbs. though. It's the kind of hardware people use when their life depends on it. Open ocean and parachuting stuff. It’s also the metal of upper end watches because it stays so shiny and is so hard to scratch There's no other overnight leather duffle bag or any company, for that matter, that we know of who uses such hardware of consequence.

Superman Thread - Superman would have used this thread to make his suit because it’s super. Our German thread is unbelievably strong industrial strength marine grade thread, and we use the thick version of it. It is commonly used to sew things together like parachutes, industrial cargo nets and other things that the integrity of, is important. It is the most expensive thread on the market for a reason. Because it’s UV resistant polyester thread, it doesn't deteriorate into dust with exposure to UV light and heat, like half priced nylon thread does. Watch out for low quality companies that use nylon thread just to save a few bucks. If your life needs to depend on your leather bag staying together, let your life depend on this thread.

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Over-Engineered Design

No Breakable Parts - No zippers, snaps, buttons, snaps or anything else that can eventually break in the first 100 years.

One Solid Piece of Leather - This duffle bag was designed out of only one solid piece of full grain leather so there are as few seams as possible. The more pieces of leather a bag is made with, the weaker it becomes since the seam is the weakest place. I design all of my Saddleback Leather bags with the fewest pieces of leather possible. This one wears the crown.

Only 5 Stitches Per Inch - We only stitch at 5 stitches per inch so there’s more leather between each of the perforating needle holes and therefore fewer holes to start a tear. It has fewer stitch holes than any leather duffle bag we know of its size. And, the fewer needle holes the less chance of water potentially getting in when it’s folded over.

Extra Reinforced - All stress points are reinforced with rivets, tons of extra stitching or with hidden polyester strapping because polyester straps don’t stretch but leather eventually does with years of heavy stress.

Hard Removable Liner - We include a removable hard pigskin lined liner to give the bag shape. I prefer my own Waterbag without it if I’m just carrying clothes, but now and then I like it when I’m carrying stuff to distribute the direct force of any pointy rocks, shards of glass or any object that may poke the leather bottom of the bag for a prolonged time.

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James Bondish Versatile Design 

Water and Sand Resistant - When this leather duffle bag is rolled down or folded over, it’s hard for water, blowing dust or sand to get into it if you’re on the Deschutes or out in the Sahara. 

Converts Into Backpack - The same shoulder strap can run through an O-ring to convert the whole bag into a backpack. I carried the waterbag as a backpack rolled up empty one time through London with the family. When we got to Hamley’s, the biggest toy store in the world, we stupidly told the kids that they could pick out toys for their upcoming birthdays, but not to expect gifts on the actual day. We filled that leather backpack / leather duffle bag up. But two and four months later, when it came time for their 9th and 11th birthdays, all of those toys they bought were now either broken, used up or boring to them. So, we had to buy new gifts because it would have been lame to just have a birthday cake.

Compression Closure Straps - The three strap configuration is very very cool. You can cinch them down and the air in your clothes and stuff is pressed right out of the bag so you’ll have more room for more stuff in the bag. It can get so densely packed, it gets pretty heavy. But the same three straps can be tucked inside the bag through secret slots for when you’re carrying it in open tote mode. 

Easy and Odd Packing - This leather duffle bag opens wide, and when you roll the top edge back over itself, it forms a stiffer ring that keeps the mouth wide open for easy packing. And because it doesn’t have a zipper, you can stick baseball bats or other oversized objects out of it and still close it securely. One time in Zambia, I put a whole donkey leg into my Waterbag and strapped it closed with the leg sticking out. I then waited at a distance for a lion to tear into it. It was awesome for sure. He still couldn’t open it completely though. That actual Waterbag is in our leather showroom in Texas. It’s a great alternative to the typical leather carry on luggage.

Two Handle Options - This leather travel bag was designed with two handles to balance when carrying. If you roll it more then use the built in handle. If you roll it down tight, then use the second handle sticking up. You’re going to thank me for this. 

Two Shoulder Strap Anchor Options - I designed the Waterbag with two d-rings to attach the shoulder strap to that are up high on the bag so you can carry it when it’s wide open in tote mode and I also put two d-rings down low on each end for the shoulder strap to attach to when the bag is kind of empty and rolled up tightly. It’s hard to explain, but you’ll thank me for this one too. When you have to use it one day and you remember my words, feel free to look up into the trees and say out loud, “Thanks Dave”.

Carry-on Approved Travel Bag - The Waterbag is within all international limits for carry on luggage. This leather duffle bag fits into all overhead compartments and under the seat in front of you. We take this bag all over the world. 

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The 24” Waterbag and the Shironameshi Leather

In March of 2026, I pulled out our family’s only remaining 24” Waterbag, that we had taken all over the world, to pack my things, for a 12 day trip to Japan, in search of the rarest and hardest to get leather on Earth, the mysterious leather of legends, the Shironameshi leather. 

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I set my perfect sized leather duffle bag, made out of just one solid piece of leather, at the foot of our bed and left for a minute to grab something. When I returned to start packing, the leather duffle bag had been disappeared, but it was no mystery who disappeared it. When I walked into my son, Cross’s, room, there it was, getting ready to be packed. Cross had nabbed it to pack his 12 days worth of clothes in since he thought it was the perfect size for a trip like that too. But we only had one. 

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I grabbed it off his bed and so ensued the argument of who pulled it out of our leather bin first. That was when I realized I needed to bring back the 24” Large Waterbag for sale. It was clearly the size we were missing in our line up of leather travel bags. We have the super popular 20” Waterbag, which is great for 5 to 7 days of travel and the 27” Adolescent Beast and 34” Beast duffle bags for month long Africa trips, but we were missing that 24” inbetween size for trips like this. I can’t believe I discontinued it so long ago since it was so popular then too. I don’t do drugs and I don’t remember striking my head against a rock or anything. What was I thinking to discontinue such a perfectly sized bag like that? 

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Our first stop in Japan was at an old antique Samurai warrior suit of armor dealer to see the leather Samurai suit I had heard about. It was SOOOOOOOO awesome. When your whole working life has revolved around leather, stuff like that is beyond cool. It was even cooler than the 1800’s leather peg leg I found at an antique shop the other day. You’ll see it in our leather museum if you come to visit our headquarters made out of 1 million pounds of leather scrap bales.  

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After a few days of wandering, Cross and I left the ladies in Kyoto and went on to the main leather town of Japan, where so much of Japan’s leather had been tanned for thousands of years. I had heard there was something special about the water there. 

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We walked into the tannery I suspected might make the Shironameshi leather and took a tour. It was so interesting to see their different machinery and methods of tanning the hides, unlike anything I had seen in any of the dozens of tanneries I had visited around the world. But when I asked them if they knew anything about the Shironameshi leather, they laughed and told me it was made up and didn’t exist, but I believed them about as far as I could throw them. I actually think they didn’t want me to find it. 

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So, we got in a taxi and tried to explain to the lady through Google Translate about this most elusive leather and she started making some calls. We stopped at a Samurai leather workshop but nobody answered the door. Then we stopped at a horse hide tannery and they pointed us up the road to a building along the river with no signs to be found. Our taxi driver got out and started knocking on some old metal doors until someone finally opened up. She explained to them what we were looking for and I saw that person make a call. About 10 minutes later, a man and his wife pulled up in a car and parked in front of us. We all got out and greeted eachother with bows and then walked in through an industrial looking door into a dark building. 

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We talked for a bit through Google Translate and then he disappeared to another room. When he came back, he had a cream colored whole hide over his shoulder and laid it out on a table in front of me. And there it was. The hardest to find and most special leather on Earth and I was rubbing my hands on it. The maker of the Shironameshi leather went on to explain that 25 years earlier, he had been reading some thousand year old writings about the river that runs through town and in there they talked about how they tanned leather in that river with just salt. No tannins, no brain matter, no chromium or anything else. Just salt. 

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What?!!! Just salt and water? Impossible. Witchcraft? He went on telling the story of how he experimented for years and years of through much trial and error, he finally perfected it. And there it was, the purest and most rare leather on the planet.  

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We went into his office and sat across from eachother while his wife made her husband, Cross, myself and the taxi driver a cup of wonderful tea as we talked back and forth through my phone. We laughed and talked and laughed some more and then he said, “This leather is from Japan and has only ever been for the Japanese people and I won’t sell it to you or anybody who is not Japanese. I’m sorry, but you cannot have my leather”.

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At that moment, I heard a record screech to a halt in my head as all of my dreams of making a few super special bags out of this most amazing leather in the world, were seemingly dashed to pieces on the rocks of disappointment. I couldn’t believe that he just said that. But then I thought, “Hmmm… it’s obvious that he just needs to understand who we are and what we are about first and then maybe he’ll change his mind. 

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So I smiled and said to him, “Let me tell you a little bit about who we are and what we do. We have a leather company and we love the people who work for us. We offer counseling for our employees and also have marriage and parenting classes after work at the factory because we feel like it is something that our creator wants us to do. God doesn’t hug people, but he uses us to hug people.” I went on to share about what Jesus did for us and how that great love motivates us to love others. I told him that we make and sell beautiful leather things too. 

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He put his head down for a minute in silence and then looked over to his wife and said something quickly in Japanese. He then turned back to me and spoke into my phone and then smiled and stuck out his hand to shake. As we were shaking hands, the voice on the phone said that we were now friends and he would allow me to use his leather. 

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There’s a lot more to the story from there and even more to come, but that’s for another time. For now, you should just be happy that I’m relaunching the 24” leather duffle bag a.k.a. The Waterbag. It’s pretty rare too.