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 wanted this bag for over a year before I was finally able to make myself spend this much money on a bag. My only regret is not doing it sooner! If you are thinking about buying this bag, just buy it and you will understand! Thank you Saddleback and Dave for putting such incredible products on the market! I am a Saddleback fan for life!
I use several SBL wallets daily but my messenger bag and I just didn't click. It's a big square without much depth so it doesn't always fit under the seat in front and doesn't carry much gear. Great looking bag, no doubt about it, but not that great. So I went back to using a nylon bag I got for free at a trade show but that ain't me either. After looking at all the non-SBL options I could think of, I kept coming back to the site, and eventually decided I'd give the classic briefcase (DCB/Large) a go. I didn't have high hopes, to be honest, but I'm so glad I ordered it. The large classic briefcase is TOTALLY me. Despite being heavier than the messenger bag I have already taken it on several business trips stuffed full of clothes and equipment and I had no trouble lugging it around. Because it's more rectangular and amenable to being compressed a little heightwise, it fit even under the aisle seat where legroom is restricted by the seat support. I walked through a couple of thunderstorms with it and everything inside stayed perfectly dry even though I was wet through. The size is just great for me, it holds a lot of gear, the interior pockets are perfect for holding the SBL passport wallet and the exterior pockets easily fitting a soda with no squeezing of the interior contents. Another thing - the whole 12 months I have had the messenger bag I've only ever received one compliment. I've had the briefcase for one week and I've had a dozen comments already. Please note that I am in no way affiliated with Saddleback. I don't know these people and don't care to know them either, but what I do know is that this product is extraordinarily good value. During my search for a new bag I was handling Italian leather with a $4000 price tag, but they felt flimsy and dull compared to this SBL briefcase. I know they're not for everyone but I can honestly and objectively say that all the positive reviews you read are right on the money. It really is that good.
And it's quite pleasurable but a bit heavy THOUGH I knew that. Few will tell you it's the best looking bag they have ever seen but it's a lot more. Its terribly functional. The small two pockets attached to the center partition hold my fat credit card laden wallet (saves my pants), work badge, pen, 1.75x glass readers and calculator, all within a few moments availiability anywhere, even with the strap on shoulder. The thick leather lap always seems to drop down nicely against the bag's front side without having to buckle it. A valued feature for easy access. Next , the inside front main pocket. This is used for sunglasses and tons of other stuff like a multipurpose tool and tiny LED light. Impressive space. The inside back main pocket is used for a good 3" thick of files, to-do lists and magazines. The outside end pockets each hold a disposible rain parka, one for me and one for my friend being discussed here. You need to understand this bag is easy walk-off prey at the urban supermarket and to address that, an improvised (purchased separately) two hook leash system with rope has been devised to hook one of the bag's rings to the food cart. They won't know it's there... One bit of minor concern is that the side strap hooks are rubbing both sides of the leather flap even with the round ends of the strap hooks turned out. In this configuration the strap hook's latch mechanisn just misses the top edge of the flap, my only concern here is the strap hook accidently disengaging. Some permanent leather wear after several years at these two locations is expected, not a killer for overall functionality. Overall an absolutely great buy with it becoing an intergral part of my everyday work existence. What price for that excellence, eh ? My daughter is getting the same for her college graduation after she saw mine, its already hidden in the barn. I just wish that a future special edition be made with a few of those extra rings absent for those that do not intend to backpack the world, in other words "KISS". Of course, Saddleback will need to provide me with the 1st one to test out...brown large please :) .
The wait is finally over to get my first Saddleback leather briefcase. I was given an XL Dark Coffee Brown briefcase recently for my 4oth birthday by my father, and couldn't be happier with it. I think I've smelled it over 50 times and looked through it a few dozen. I look forward to using my briefcase daily.
I just got my large briefcase delivered. After reading all the reviews about it being too big, and too heavy, I was a bit surprised that it is not too big. or too heavy. Its just the right size and weight for a practical everyday work briefcase that doubles for other uses. It is great to see that quality workmanship still exit in the era of mass production and limited product lifecycles. This will be replacing my 15 year old broken leather briefcase, two recently purchased camera bags, and a laptop bag. I wanted a briefcase to use for work and travel and it fits the bill perfectly. I looked everywhere and no other briefcase had the same quality and versatility. Thanks to Dave for making such a product.
