Mountainback Front Pocket Gear Bag in Sand – $429
Still comes with a 100 year warranty. Still made in Mexico. Still made with super thick, super tough leather. But this time, the majority of the bag is cut from unusually thick, Scottish waxed canvas.
I was surprised when Saddleback branched out into waxed canvas bags. And to be honest, I was skeptical. But it’s not the first and it won’t be the last time that I was dead wrong. These bags, like their all leather cousins, are just flat out different than the competition. It’s immediate when you pick one up. The materials, the workmanship, and the extremely well thought out designs can perhaps convince even the most budget conscious to save up and splurge on one of these bags built to last a lifetime (or more).
Waxed canvas from Scotland. Old Bull Leather familiar to Saddleback.
Gotta start with the waxed canvas. This stuff is legitimately some of the best I’ve ever felt. You can tell that the 24 oz. Scottish material has been totally infused with water-resistant wax. Yet it’s not greasy. I’m sure there’s a cheap way to wax canvas. The barely-there feel kind. And then there’s the quick way to wax canvas. It ends up feeling gooey. This feels both substantial and clean to the touch.
Fits most 15″ laptops plus a tablet & a whole bunch more.
Might want to invest in a padded sleeve for the laptop though.
The rest is what you’d expect from a Saddleback product. Super thick, tough bull later, marine-grade thread, stainless steel, and copper rivets. Everything stitched and secured and reinforced so once it leaves the warehouse, they don’t have to see it again (and they would, if it wasn’t built well, thanks to the 100 year warranty).
There are pockets behind those front pockets, and more space to store slim items
between the back canvas and the bull-leather reinforcement panel.
Then there’s the design. Pockets behind pockets. Places to slip behind and store things that you wouldn’t think to even bother considering was made for storage. Even the top grab handle lays flat when not in use. It’s all really smart. Sure, it’s still a bit militaristic so you might want to invest in a padded case for a laptop or something else fragile, but that won’t be any trouble.
From closed to open. A really interesting, and surprisingly secure way to keep the bag closed.
The eye/slip-leather closure system is really interesting. It’s easy and quick to operate, and weirdly secure. At first glance you might not think it’s gonna stay closed. But yes, it does stay closed. With ease. The one thing I’m not super in love with is the rough-looking (to me, and style is subjective) stitching lines that binds the canvas together. I’m guessing that was done for extra strength, but it makes the case look a little more rugged than some of us city-slickers might like. But again, that’s really picky and subjective. And if you wanna be all Mr. Fancy Pants, get a flight bag.
Available in either Moss Green, or, the just released Sand shade shown in this post.
Enter here to win the Mountainback (Saddleback’s Canvas based lined) Front Pocket Gear Bag in sand shown in the post above. Deadline for entry is 11:59 PM ET on Tuesday 6/26/18. One entry per person. Big thanks to Saddleback for sending along the bag for an in-person look and giveaway!
UPDATE: Congrats to D. Cockerham who won the drawing for the Front Pocket Gear Bag! And once again, big thanks to Saddleback for providing the bag for review and giveaway.
