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
Had been looking for a satchel for some time, but couldn't find anything that rang my bell. My wife, the shopper that she is, stocked the x-mas tree with with a large Saddleback bag. Came out of the package a little stiff, but my dad was a horseshoer, and the rest of my family was into horses (I got bit and bucked off so I ride a mtn. bike instead), but I understand leather, cleaned a lot over the years - then I read the notes included with the bag - paraphrased herein "this is the bag your kids will fight about after your gone" and "today your bag looks as bad as it ever will". Those are true statements. This thing is sweet, I go out of my way to thrash it, but within reason Dave. My wife kept asking me not to look up the price. That's cool, but I heard it about three times over the next few weeks - so I checked out the site. Gulped initially, but I love this thing. It looks better and better every week, lots of comments complementing my new ride. I figure it'll peak around 47 years, just like me, I may not be around by then but it will still be enjoyed by the kids. It's got a mere 10-months on it, just a baby. I got a new Saddleback wallet for my birthday complements of my wife (again), and have been eyeing the belts. My wife turns 40 this year. I snagged a large Saddleback tote for her after a few not so subtle hints, but she thinks I missed the old tobacco leather. She's gonna look even hotter carrying that thing around, too bad she's gonna have to wait until her b-day Jan. 1, although I'm sure she'll be snooping around the site lusting after the tote, and this may not be a surprise, but you'll still have to wait for it! Sorry Heidi - I'm such a tease. G. LaBudde
My wife got my the XL Classic for my birthday a while back. Beautiful bag. Well constructed. Way too big. I'm 6'6" and ~260 and it is still too big. If it were a L, I'd be completely in love. So, unless you are REALLY REALLY sure you need an XL, get a L.
What can I say? It is a big, heavy bag. It is sturdy and it can carry a lot. It is very handsome to my eyes. After years of using a variety of ballistic nylon bags, I found that a common problem was that the material eventually wore out. Oftentimes, handles would snap off, the sewn thread would unravel, and the protection of my laptop and other equipment would be less than adequate. With this bag, assuming that we do not get to the point where snipers are shooting at briefcases on the streets, I do not see how I could damage my stuff. This bag, in addition to being very sturdy, also offers what you could call crumple zones. Its shape offers a lot of give and absorption. Another feature is that the central carrying handle is offset from the central vertical plane of the bag. At first glance, it appears to be done to allow room for the massive loop at the top. What it also appears to do is to allow the bag to establish a new balance point so that the hand never gets caught between the top ring and the substantial handle. It works. It is easy to hold the handle with no pinching. Somebody really did their homework in designing this briefcase. Overall, this bag is extremely overbuilt and I have no doubt that it will outlive me. I am very satisfied with it and I highly recommend it to anyone. As a last point, the weight seems to disappear after a short while. It is quite comfortable to carry and it easily conforms to the body.
I bout the tobacco color, because the dark coffee was out of stock and I needed a new bag ASAP! Mine is the largest of these bags and I can fit to 17" laptops no issues along with the other items I need for work. I am a robotics integrator so I carry a lot of small electronic devices, and I have no issues carrying everything I need. Also now that it is finally starting to age a little it looks better than when it was new. This bag really needed to be broke in!. it still has a ways to go, and it will still stand on its own! I am very fond of this bag and everyone everywhere gives me comments on it, at work airports and everywhere else I have traveled. I also empty my work stuff and use it for passports and cameras when I go on vacation! it has proven to be very versatile and useful. I have been stopped several times while traveling just so people can ask about this bag, and my co workers wander why I got such a large bag, it is simple because I can fit everything into one bag. It does however get extremely heavy with 2 laptops chargers, cameras, external hard drives and much more! I still think the dark coffee brown is a better color, but I am very happy with my choice of the tobacco, and mine is the old tobacco not the newer one. However I would not give it up for anything it has been proven to be the best bag for my laptop in my 8 years in this job, and I have went through everything else!
Last year I decided to enroll in an MBA program to enter the...real world. My friend insisted that anyone going into business school should have a real briefcase (no one carrying a canvas backpack can be taken seriously). He recommended Saddleback and I became addicted. Large round satchel, two wallet sleeves, and finally the large tobacco brown classic briefcase. I've loved this bag since I got it but I never REALLY needed it until I started school in January. Now that I'm 6 weeks in, I am so glad I made this investment. It looks great, it's incredibly functional and of course I get comments all the time. Sometimes it gets loaded to a point that I feel like I'm going to tip over, but I just look at that as my daily exercise. Overall, if you've been considering it, stop considering it and buy it. (maybe check out the new front pocket one just in case).
