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
This is the bag. The one. The holy grail of bags that meets that duality of working professional that shifts into the hiking trail wanderer at will. This bag looks incredible hanging off your shoulder in a tailored suit or with a polar fleece pullover and Timberland boots. It's tough, it's suave, it's class, it's wicked bad (in a good way)! There are few things that bring as much pleasure as tossing this bad boy from my sedan to the front seat of an old CJ7 Jeep and taking off into the woods. This bag speaks volumes about you. Confidence, rugged, reliable, adventurous, clever, practical, tasteful, and well you get the idea. It is all things that you loved about the characters you read about and watched - Jack London books, Daniel Boone, Jeremiah Johnson, etc. Indiana Jones would buy this bag! I used to business travel quite a bit on planes and trains. When I walked down the aisle to take my seat, I would see peoples' eyes lock onto my bag and the expression of admiration (and envy) on their faces. This bag literally announces you in a room, office, plane, forest, zoo, or lodge. I have received literally HUNDREDS of compliments since I bought this two years ago. Everyone wants this bag when they see it and touch it. It has power. It has presence. It is everything you always wanted and more. I'm on here to get one as a Christmas present for a dear friend as you only need one as it will outlast you and be passed down through your children to your grandchildren. Dave isn't kidding with a 100 year guarantee and that they "will fight over it when you're dead". It's a treasure but a treasure that goes out with you everywhere to chew gum and kick ass. And we are all out of gum. Buy it! It will be the best purchase you've ever made! A Bentley takes a distant second.
I am the proud owner of a medium-sized briefcase in "dark coffee brown." My wife purchased this briefcase for our tenth wedding anniversary while I was away in Afghanistan. Talk about being surprised when I got home. Holy cow this thing is awesome! I love the feel and smell of the leather. It just exudes an aura of quality, classic style and simplicity. As I carry it around on a day-to-day basis, it gathers it's fair share of scrapes, scuffs and creases which only adds to the character of the bag. It only looks better with use each day. At 6' tall and 190 lbs., the medium sized bag is sufficient for my stature and needs. Anything larger, in my opinion, would cease to be a briefcase and would become an actual file cabinet. Lastly, I have to say that I am impressed with the folks at Saddleback Leather. Not only do they put out a fantastic product but they are not afraid to share their convictions with their customers. I too am a Christian and think it is fantastic that a ministry can be performed via the production of quality goods from the work of human hands. I look forward to future purchases for my wife and I as we share our lifetime adventure together. God Bless!
I've had my classic briefcase in coffee brown for a few months now and as others have mentioned its ageing beautifully. I recently returned from a trip to Tanzania and received three compliments on the bag from customs officials: The most colorful was from the Tanzanian customs official: "That bag should last you a century, make sure you put it in a museum when you'????re done with it!" -- Dave do you think he's been browsing your site?? I highly recommend this bag to anyone who travels; it??????s a rugged piece of art that will bring back fond memories of your trips whenever you look at it!
Yesterday, we had the worst snowstorm of the season, most people didn't go to work. I went and my 30 minute regular commute took 2 hours. My large classic DCB was delivered to my office in the middle of a Cleveland snowstorm! Now that's a tough bag! I cleaned out my Pleather firm-issued laptop bag and my 'super-nerd audit case' and put everything in this new bag. It's amazing. At the end of the day, I slipped my laptop in and walked out my office door and past a coworker's door and he yelled, "dude, that's a really nice bag!" Five steps Dave...and I received my first compliment! I'm 5' 7" but I'll tell you something, last night I walked a little taller!
Bought a 10% off DCB bag a few weeks back and just got back from a road trip. I wanted to field test it before reviewing it. Firstly, I would highly recommend that you buy off Dave's deals - the blemishes are very minor and probably something you will put on the bag within 1-2 weeks of use anyway. I was debating between DCB and Chestnut a lot. The first bag that appeared on Dave's deal was a DCB and I jumped at it. Funnily enough a Chestnut showed up the next day. :-) I like the DCB, it looks very sober and regal. Classy without attracting too much attention to itself. The leather is of very good quality and looked tough as nails. The construction looked very solid too. The bag is heavy but after a few days of using it, the weight becomes less of an issue. For reference I am slim built - 5'11" and 160lb. Also when I travel, I use a wheeled carry-on bag and attach the briefcase to it. Thus for long hauls (airport walk through), my shoulder gets some respite. The bag is still tight as the leather is new, but will free up some more space in time. There is a pretty impressive amount of room in it. I got a lot of compliments on my trip and at the office. People love it. As do I. Fantastic bag - well worth it!
