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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.
I've had this bag since 10/2018 and have been using it daily for work & personal use since then - current review is being written on 2/2021. It's a lot of money for a bag, but I'd say it was very worth it for me. Here's some info on my experience more than 2 years after purchase: Durability: - This bag has held up very well overall. Waxed canvas and leather are wearing in all the right ways. All leather on this bag starts stiff, but wears in. This is particularly noticeable in the shoulder strap when you first get it. - I thought the thick leather pad on the back of the bag was a little much, but it is absolutely necessary to protect the canvas from belts, badges, and jean rivets. The leather pad is quite scuffed up at this point, but in a good, worked-in way. - I'm getting ready to re-wax this for the first time as the bag is looking a bit faded since I first got it. In fact, coming to saddleback.com to look for care instructions is what lead me to write this review! Quality: - The leather and canvas pieces are all high quality, and are joined securely with heavy gauge thread and rivets - The stitching in points where multiple pieces of canvas meet is a little sloppy here and there. Namely the bottoms of the pockets. But the material is very thick at these points and I suspect that making clean joints is a challenge. It's just neatness complaint, no signs of compromised durability at all. I singe stray threads off with a lighter when I notice them. - The O-rings that allow you to clip on and off the removable shoulder strap are the lightest-duty piece of hardware on this bag. They are not the same type of metal that you see in the clips and D-rings on other parts of the bag. Over the years, my O-rings have bent and deformed a bit, but I think it will be several more years before they need to be replaced. - All metal gear on this bag, besides the o-rings mentioned above, is still shiny, strong, and in great condition. Design: - Form factor is great, it's exactly the right size for an every day bag. - Fold-down front pockets are excellent. I was on the fence about these, but it's a great design and very practical. - The back laptop slot can fit most any ultrabook with a screen >=14" that I've found. 15" Macbook pro's fit as well ( but barely) thanks to the fact that they're so thin. - I also like that the laptop pocket stops ~1" before the bottom of the bag. This means that you can set your bag down and not worry about the laptop impacting the ground. - Side pockets (on the far left and right) are nice, but they don't comfortably hold a phone (I use an iPhone 11 w/ slim case), which is what I envisioned their use as. These pockets are also too deep to carry small, loose items as they fall to the bottom and are a challenge to get at without taking the bag off and squeezing your hand in. I now use a tall rechargeable battery pack in one (i can access the ports without removing it), and a leatherman clipped onto the pocket wall of the other. These could also be good for quick-access pens and pencils as long as they have a clip to keep them from falling in. - The fastening mechanism for the main flap is unique and does take some getting used to if you want to open and close this quickly. That being said, you get used to it quickly and it feels like a very secure mechanism for a bag that I have hanging off my back. It would probably be a challenge for someone to open the bag and swipe something from you when you're using this. - The main shoulder strap is a cool design, but I wish it was designed for a smaller size adjustment. I'm 6'1" and find that when the strap is adjusted to the correct length, the leather pad doesn't align with my shoulder like I'd want. It ended up being fine, but it was an initial concern for me as I prefer to wear this bag so that it hangs at my lower back/upper butt. Most demo videos for this bag show the wearer with the bag at thigh-level, and I don't think this is a realistic usecase for most. - The leather handle design on the top is good, but it tends to scrunch the top of the bag up when you're using it to carry a loaded-up pack. I wish they used a piece of support leather (sewn into the inside) that was thicker, like the one used on the outer back of the bag. What do I carry: - 13" macbook air [laptop slot] - leather folio notebook for paper, business cards, etc [main area] - 32 oz nalgene [main area] - Readywares Waxed Canvas Pencil Case Pouch (8.5"x4") filled with writing utensils, ruler, etc. [main area] - semi-rigid hard case (Smatree Hard Case A90) for electronics, cables, chargers (macbook & iphone), USBs drives, etc [main area] - pocket moleskine notebook [space behind foldover pockets] - keys, wallet, phone, glasses, etc. [foldover pockets] - battery pack & leatherman [left & right side pockets, respectively] - with all of this, I still have some more room in the main area and an open space behind the other foldover pocket for new/temporary items. miscellaneous notes: - the embossed build date on the back leather pad is a cool touch - the bottom leather piece can hide a wallet-sized Tile tracker in the cavity between the rivets. I currently have one on order as I've recently realized how screwed I would be if I lost this bag. Tile can track items in "lost mode", so I'm hoping this will help me sneakily track down a lost or stolen bag. - I haven't needed to contact support since I ordered this bag, although I have bought a satchel for the gf and a leather wallet for myself. Both of those were equally high quality.
Its a great bag, but the 100 year guarantee will need to come into play, because it has developed a whole at the back where the computer goes - the bag works hard, but the leather is definitely a little longer lasting - these are superior products, don't get me wrong .... the best ever, but shoot for the leather if you are serious
I'm extremely happy with this. I wasn't sure I'd love the leather pads on the bottom and side that give the bag shape, but they are the features I never knew I wanted. Not only do they make the bag stand up when you set it down, they allow the bag to slide against your legs with little friction. This makes walking less clunky than with other messenger bags.
