Our hope is that you’ll be proud of your bag because of the compliments you get and how long it lasts. But our deeper hope is that you join our community of those nurturing the vulnerable and loving the unloved. We do more than just quality leather bags; we do quality in all areas of our business.
Our purpose is not to change the world by loving orphans, single moms and ex-prisoners one at a time. It’s to work with a Love 41 community/family of loving and nurturing people to do it. If you want to but you’re not sure how, then join us on Facebook or sign up for our newsletter to learn more. We’ll help you get plugged in.
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The materials in our leather briefcase are full grain leather, pigskin lining, 316 stainless steel hardware, and German industrial marine-grade polyester thread. Our leather is tough and resilient, and our pigskin lining is super strong. Our hardware is 316 stainless steel and is rated to hold up to 750 lbs. Our thread is UV-resistant and German industrial marine-grade polyester thread. In addition, our hidden reinforcing straps ensure that the bag will never stretch and those straps will never deteriorate. This is over-engineering.
Full Grain Leather is the key to a quality leather briefcase. If you take off the top part of the leather (grain) it's like taking the shingles off of the roof. They get rid of the toughest and most resistant layer of the hide. When tanneries get a leather hide from the slaughterhouse, it's really thick. So, the tannery splits the top half with the grain from the bottom half. Now they have two hides to sell. The tough and beasty hide that still has the full amount of grain (full grain) is expensive, and that's what we buy. The bottom half is great for making low quality budget leather briefcases or laptop bags that will dry out and fall apart in a short time.
We glue and sew tough, strong pigskin leather to the cow leather. And the pigskin is even stronger than the cowskin. We've chosen this instead of using a shiny pretty fabric lining. We want all of our real leather bags to be durable, rugged, and sturdy.
Our custom hardware is 316 Stainless Steel. If you are a metallurgist, then I'm sure you just gasped. It's the metal you want to be used when your life depends on it. The testing laboratory told us that our clips were rated to hold up to a 750 lbs. bag of cats.
Our thread is unbelievably strong and UV resistant German industrial marine-grade polyester thread. It doesn't deteriorate when the sun hits it like nylon thread does. And we use the thick double ought version of it. It's the same thread used on ship sails and parachutes (things your life depends on).
Polyester is good and bad. The good is that it doesn't stretch and never deteriorates. The bad is that it never deteriorates. When it comes to polyester in your sheets and blankets, you won't sleep as well. But, when it comes to polyester straps sewn into the stress points of a bag, it's the best there is to get that extra strength.
The classic leather briefcase converts into a laptop backpack with a shoulder strap with two shoulder pads. Clip one end of the strap onto a d-ring on the bottom, run the strap through the o-ring, and clip it to the opposite side and you've got yourself a backpack. Now your hands are free to carry the wife and kid's luggage.
You can remove the side straps to use as an emergency size 36 full grain leather belt, tie-down, or tourniquet (hopefully you won't need that). But on the bag, they are great for holding wet umbrellas and blueprint tubes to the top of the flap.
The d-rings on the bottom are designed to strap on blankets, dirty boots, fly rod tubes, or blueprints. And you'll use these d-rings to convert your leather briefcase into backpack mode. The d-rings up top are great for clipping keychains, carabiners, or extra gear too.
The shoulder strap is adjustable (40" - 65") and it's removable. You can take it off to tie down the Christmas tree to the roof of your car. The shoulder strap comes with two strap pads for backpack mode.
There is a hidden flap on the bottom of this leather briefcase for hiding passports, extra cash, your collection of rubies, or whatever else you don't want anyone to know about. This false bottom can be a lifesaver in itself.
A small detail, but the main center strap has a hole all the way at the tip for closing when your laptop bag is really overstuffed. This gives you that much extra space in your leather briefcase, for "just in case." Comes in handy when you need it.
There is a pocket on the side, a pocket on the back, and pockets on the inside. From a place for your pens to a spot for your wallet in case you lose your pants. With two main compartments inside, you can take two laptops if need be, with room for chargers and accessories. These quality leather briefcases will protect your belongings and your reputation.
Classic Leather Briefcase Explained by Dave
Large Sized Briefcase Comparison
The Classic Briefcase in depth description and explanation on design
How to Knock Off a Saddleback Leather Co. Briefcase
I've had mine about three years now, and I'm a proud owner. However, there are a few things that bother me. But first the good... It's beautiful. It's spacious. Clearly it will last longer than I will. It's unique, different and awesome. But it's not perfect... When you pick it up to take with you, if the flap isn't buckled down, you're picking it up by the open flap. The handle is mounted to the top of the flap, so you either need to stop and buckle it before you grab and go, or pick it up by the strap instead of the handle, which causes it to tip forward. This makes a beautiful graceful product suddenly very awkward, like picking up a swan by its neck. My only other gripe is that it's taking too long to break in! I don't mean that in a complimentary way, either. The front piece of leather that the flap buckles to is so thick that it won't loosen up. It affects the way the bag sits on the floor and makes it hard to put in a trunk, back of a car, etc. I had imagined it softening up over the years, but I'm not sure it ever will. This bag is as prized a treasure as my high-end acoustic guitars. My kids have each laid claim on it when I die. I don't regret buying it at all, but since I mostly use it as a laptop bag, I would probably get a backpack model if I had to do it again. Thanks, Dave, for an awesome product!
I NEVER do reviews on stuff I buy.....that said, I wanted to make sure I do a review on my XL Classic Briefcase that I just received not too long ago....(few weeks). My father bought me a gift certificate for a saddleback product this past Xmas.....took me by surprise because I'm way too old to be receiving gifts like this from my parents!!! Anyway, after looking at all the briefcases, which is what I knew I wanted, I knew I wanted the Classic Briefcase, just didn't know what size I would need. I went back and forth between the Large and XL.....I looked for as many reviews as I could find on the XL, but just couldn't find that many.....and the ones that I did find all seemed to make the XL out to be this enormous bag. Long story short I chose the XL, and I'm glad I did. It's big, but not too big by any stretch. I do carry a lot of stuff with me everyday....laptop, power-cords, binders, work papers and folders, etc......I was worried that the XL would look awkward on me because I'm 5'10, 200 lbs.....and again, all the reviews I read made this bag out to be as big as a hockey bag (exaggeration, but you get the point). It's perfect. The thing about this bag is that it's wide.....but you can pull the straps tighter, as needed, so when you don't have as much stuff packed in the bag, you can narrow it up a bit and it doesn't look like it's always packed......also, it's heavy but nothing about it's weight took me by surprise. I knew it was going to be a good tough long lasting leather, so I knew it was going to be heavier than my Dell computer bag, that barely lasted me 2 years.......everything else about the bag that you have read is true, and then some.....the leather is like nothing I've ever seen or smelled before. Everyone who wrote in their reviews that they received numerous compliments about their bags, it's true. You will get them. It will go noticed. It's just a beautiful bag. Professional yet casual. You can bring it anywhere for any occasion, and it will fit in. Bottom line, if you find yourself carrying a lot of stuff with you most days of the week, and you are going back and forth between Large and XL....go with the XL. Great bag. Hope this helps someone out there!!!
Within 10 minutes of receiving this bag, I stuffed it for a two week trip. It's everything I hoped for and more; rugged, roomy, excellent looking, etc.. I got the Chestnut Classic Briefcase in XL and I do not understand the whining about size and weight. I'm not a big guy; 5'-9"/190 pounds, and I have no problem carrying it. If anything, I wish it was larger, but then I wouldn't be able to use it as a carry on, which was one of my main criteria. There is no way I'd check this bag because there's no way I'm letting it out of my sight. I believe in Dave's motto of buying quality and crying once. This is the most expensive piece of luggage I have ever purchased and I wrung my hands for months before buying but I'm so glad I finally did. It is also my fifth Saddleback purchase, and based on my previous four, I'm sure it will not be my last.
First off, the briefcase is awesome. I've got some tips if your on the fence about ordering, or confused about which color to pick. First the gripe, and its not about the bag, its about customer service. If you don't care about my gripe, skip to the next paragraph. The customer service folks, are nice. Seems like they work pretty hard. Maybe the business is just growing faster than the current staffing can keep up with. I had some returns and I called in the return, I was assured I'd receive an email confirmation that day, or the next day. I didn't received any email. It took another two calls, and an online chat, for a total of 1.5 weeks for me to get my return auth. Then I placed two separate return requests through the website, received one in less than a week, but the other one fell through the cracks and no one got back to me for 2.5 weeks. I called in that last return today, a nice lady told me she would send a confirmation email by the end of the day; I've heard that before, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, today is the last day to make the return (30th day)(but she did confirm verbally that I don't have to worry about going over the 30 day mark). Now for the bag. Its awesome. I've been using it for about a two weeks, and its wearing in beautifully. I chose the chestnut color, it was difficult to pick the color. I liked the tobacco color, and thought the coffee brown was nice also. I read about the personality traits relating to the briefcase color, and the coffee brown probably best fits my personality, and tobacco does also. The chestnut color fits my personality the least, I don't drive a Jaguar lol. But I like the elegant look of the color, and it breaks in beautifully. Chestnut was my first gut choice when deciding on color. Then I confused myself by over thinking it. I like the idea of the tobacco color being an old western style color, but I think the chestnut is a more mature color and fits the office setting better (but some people can make the tobacco work in the office setting). So if your on the fence about which color to choose, go with your first gut reaction. Always follow your gut. The price is very steep also. I'm pretty cheap, I don't like to spend money on things that I don't need. Honestly I don't neeeeedddd this briefcase, I could manage with a backpack or something cheaper. But its pretty awesome! My wife, she's awesome, bought it for my birthday, because she knew I wouldn't ever buy it. This briefcase definitely looks way more professional than carrying around a backpack. I recommend you work extra hard for what time you need to, and splurge on this briefcase, its well worth it, looks like this briefcase will last a lifetime, and in that case, consider it an investment. Hope this was helpful!
I bought my Classic Leather Briefcase in 2012, when these bags still cost $500. What I got was what was advertised. It's a beautiful bag, well-constructed. It's a bit huge against me, as I am all of 5'3", but for the most part it balances well on my shoulder. I hauled it through a tour of Åland, carried it through the Gamla stan of Stockholm, and humped it through the heavy snow of a Central Finland winter to classes and back.
