Durable, timeless, practical, can dress up or down, handy, comfy(good pillow in a pinch), plenty of space. Leather wears in beautifully, straps are mules, the handle are a beast. I bought mine in 2017 before all the big changes. Honestly, I would not have changed a darn thing. But, this bag is perfect. Want a lifelong article that will never let you down—this is your bag. Thank you Saddleback leather.

I own and love the Indiana Canvas Satchel and decided to purchase the Front Pocket Bag for the larger size and additional front pockets.

Unfortunately, the design of the front pocket bayonet closures only allows for the pocket to be secured at the last rung of the flap even when the pocket is empty. As a result the front pockets cannot hold very much which is disappointing.

Another quality product. Lighter weight then my leather bags and when the weather isn't as good, the wax canvas that is accented with beautiful leather and protects all your gear from any weather. Thoughtful construction with no weak spots to tear or fray. Must have

I purchased the original Mountainback Front Pocket Canvas Gear Bag 2017. This has been my daily bag since 2017. Its been in 30+ countries and I take it everywhere. I've loved the ruggedness, style, size (big enough to serve as only bag on an overnight, not too big for daily office commute), uniqueness, and the usual saddleback quality. Quality is a style of its own and in a world of cheap, disposable items and functional obsolesce, I seek old-world craftsmenship of exquisite quality. Saddleback is that.

The one downside was that the shoulder strap was too long and couldn't be adjusted as short as I wanted, while still having the shoulder pad be where it needed to be (I'm 6'2", so not short).

For additional context, I used a Timbukt2 Messenger bag daily for about a decade before switching to a Saddleback Thin Front Pocket Briefcase (leather) after some trials with lesser quality briefcases. To me, the Thin Front Pocket Briefcase a perfect briefcase for daily commute/business, but suboptimal for weekend/adventure travel, being just a bit too small. I prefer not to not to switch bags and to simply have all my usual EDC items in one spot. Grab and go, whether to office, cabins, intl trips, everywhere. I travel a lot and my EDC bag gets used hard.

After 7 years of constant use of the original Mountainback, the metal hardware on the strap wore out, which was a surprise. Also, the canvas had small holes on the bottom and near the leather reinforcement where the strap attaches to the bag. With the use I gave it, I understood the canvas wearing out over time, but the hardware was a surprise (the metal wore down).

I contacted saddleback for a repair, hoping they'd replace the hardware and thinking I could pay for a repair on the canvas. Instead, Saddleback sent me the new, modified Moutainback bag.

I've yet to get good use with it (they're just out as of this writing), but its clear that Saddleback made some improvements to improve durability, mostly extra leather reinforcements in wear areas. The strap is also better (not as long and more adjustable) and has softer, but still thick, shoulder pad. The inside leather lining is a fantastic touch and the laptop sleeve is also leather, as opposed to canvas on the original. It's an excellent re-design and it's definitely an improvement over the original (which I loved, despite the strap flaw).

Note that this new bag is smaller than the original. 90% of the time that will be good: the daily commute, throwing some additional books/things in for the weekend, etc. However, it will be more difficult to use as the lone overnighter bag, or throwing in a rainjacket or extra shirt on top of the usual items.

Huge kudos to Saddleback. They went above and beyond all expectation with this full replacement of my original Mountainback. I'm happy to give hard-earned money to such companies (few and far between in our world of private equity and corporate conglomerates ruining most small and medium sized businesses). While they've earned my business for life, it seems unlikely I'll need to buy ever buy such a bag from them again.

Bought this as a Dave's Deal for my husband. He wanted a more masculine diaper bag for our 3rd child. This bag has delivered. It looks better than it did when we bought it and has been used daily for 18 months.