In Review: The NEW Saddleback Thin Brief

Saddleback Thin Briefcase – $499

How often have you heard the phrase “back and better than ever!” yet it was either a gross exaggeration, or, a flat out lie?

That is NOT the case here. At all. Quite the opposite.

I don’t know why Saddleback took a time out from their hugely popular thin briefcase. But for the past few months it hasn’t been available. Sold out. Gone. Kaput. But now? As in, RIGHT now? Today? It’s back. And yes, it’s better.

Open sesame. The new, additional exterior pocket on the redesigned thin brief.

The re-design features an additional exterior pocket, right behind the main buckle. It’s got a fold over flap and it’s perfectly sized for tablets or small laptops. Inside, there’s a big, additional pigskin pocket, sewn to the back of the bag. That pigskin pocket is super flexible. Meaning, if you have something thicker you need to put in the bag, it collapses easily. No more stiff divider that might somewhat limit your options. They’ve also added a pair of small, quick-access pockets to the sides. Perfect for pens, tickets, etc.

Perfect for the country, or the city. One beautiful bag.

The rest of the bag is pure Saddleback. Built to survive their legendary 100 year warranty, it’s made out of super-tough, feels great to the touch, crazy thick leather that’ll only look better as it develops a patina. Hell, it even smells good. Dark Coffee Brown, Chestnut, Black, and the Tobacco seen in this post are all available. The bag is designed using big, thick pieces of leather, instead of tons of tiny bits sewn together. That way, any seams or possible weak points are minimized.

Built better than you. You gonna make it 100 years?

And what of those seams and possible weak points? They stitch the thing together with marine-grade thread (if this thread can survive the high seas, it can almost certainly survive your commute) and they then tack the rest of the bag together with reinforced copper rivets for unrivaled durability.

The slimmest of their briefcase options. Not razor thin, but not enormous either.
New, additional side saddle style pockets offer storage for small items.

Saddleback rarely makes a misstep. But the sudden disappearance of their thin brief had a lot of us scratching our heads. Glad it was only temporary, and it’s awesome to see that the return has been improved upon. Which is no easy task considering the success of the previous incarnation.

Enter here to win the Tobacco Leather Saddleback Thin Brief seen in the post above. Deadline for entry is 11:59 PM ET on Wednesday 3/21/18. One entry per person. A huge thanks to Saddleback for sending us this bag for review and giveaway!

UPDATE: Congtrats to C. Watkins who won the drawing for this newly redesigned Saddleback thin briefcase!