Small Front Pocket Backpack
High Quality Design
There is no luck in designing and building a high quality leather backpack, and this Small Front Pocket Backpack is no exception. It was intentionally and logically designed with exactly the right leather, lining, pattern, seams, reinforcements, hardware and thread with the expectation of one day being on display in the Smithsonian museum. But who cares if it lasts that long, if it looks dumb.
No Breakable Parts
Imagine you have a rabid cat in your livingroom and it’s growling and hissing at you and foaming at the mouth. The logical thing is to remove it permanently so it doesn’t bite you in the butt later. If it does, then life is about to get inconvenient real quick. My design thinking is the same. If we remove breakable parts then… well… they won’t bite you in the butt later. Therefore, I design with no breakable parts like zippers, snaps, buttons or velcro.
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As Few Seams As Possible
My longterm thinking is the same when it comes to the patterns of all of my designs; with as few pieces as possible. Logically… if seams are where bags start falling apart first, then umm… let’s just have as few seams as possible. Makes sense to me. Let me explain in more detail. A sewing machine is really a perforation machine because the needle pokes a bunch of little holes in the leather and each needle hole is the start of a tear. The more little tears the needle makes, the more likelihood one of those tears will grow bigger. So that’s why I designed this leather backpack to be constructed out of just two big huge pieces of leather. Plus, the way water gets into a cow is the same way water gets into a backpack, through one of the holes, not through the skin itself. So, the fewer holes it has, the less likely water is going to seep into the backpack when it is pouring down rain.
5 Stitches Per Inch
And then we stitched it at 5 stitches per inch instead of 7 or 9 per inch so that those needle tears would be as far apart from eachother as possible. The thinner that little piece of leather is between the neighboring needle holes, the more likely it is to tear. We intentionally stitch all large designs at 5 stitches per inch and smaller or finer looking designs firmly at 7 stitches per inch, but on those we use a thinner, super strong thread which allows us to use a much thinner needle that pokes a super small hole, which, in turn, leaves a lot of leather between the holes.
Reinforced Stress Points
All stress points are reinforced with hidden Polyester straps between the leather and lining and then backed up with extra stitching. Then we sink a rivet through most of that extra stitching for just in case.
Materials
Full Grain Leather
The leather of this backpack is the strongest and most water-resistant we can find (full grain), and then we line it with pigskin, which is stronger than the cow skin. It's rare for a low-quality company to use full grain to make a leather backpack because it's so expensive. When I say "Full Grain Leather" I mean that it still has the full amount of all of the tough, tightly woven fibers on the top of the hide still there. The grain layer is the strongest part of the hide and it holds the moisture in and doesn’t crack or stain easily.
Seriously Strong Leather Backpack Hardware
I know using 316 Stainless Steel custom hardware is kind of like killing a fly with a shotgun, but we did it anyways. Somewhere a metallurgist just cried a tear or joy. Our large pieces of hardware on our backpacks are rated strong enough to hold a 751 lb. bag of cats over a 1000 ft. cliff before the rope breaks. Seriously, you should google 316 Stainless Steel to understand. If your life needs to depend on a metal buckle, let it depend on our 316 Stainless Steel one.
This Thread Holds This Leather Backpack With Pockets Together
We sew it all together with thick and strong German Polyester thread. It's industrial strength and doesn't deteriorate with exposure to the Sun's UV rays like Nylon thread does. This Small Leather Backpack is very strong from the nature of the materials we use.
A Genuine Leather Backpack is Missing the Strength
Most companies shave off the scars and blemishes from the top of the hide, but shave off the strongest and best part of the hide (the grain) while doing it. They shave it down to genuine leather. They do it, so they don't have to cut around the marks and throw those pieces into the trash as we do. We throw away 25% of the hide. They don't throw hardly anything away. But since it still has leather, they can call it a genuine leather backpack. It will not last nearly as long and is missing the beauty.
Adjustable Shoulder Straps
We want this leather backpack to be easy to carry on and off your back. So we made the most comfortable straps that are easily adjustable. This makes for easy access as you take it off to grab something out and toss it back on your back. Keep your bag looking its best for decades with our full-grain leather care guide.
From a Brown Leather Backpack, to a Black Leather Backpack, you have options
We know not everyone has the same style. So this leather backpack with pockets comes in four different colors. The light tan color (called Tobacco) develops a beautiful patina over time. There's also Dark Coffee Brown, Chestnut (reddish brown), and Black. So find the style that will suit you.
A Vegan Leather Backpack is Plastic Garbage
The term “vegan” leather is so deceptive and ridiculous that it’s illegal to use in marketing in Italy. It doesn't even make sense. It's usually polyurethane or PVC, which is a plastic with a thin layer of some naturalish material bonded to the top. Do you want to wear a plastic trash bag backpack on your back?
