Saddleback Leather Company - Official Affiliate thread - Page 25

I really love your products, and really want to get something to replace my backpack which I use for college. I just landed an internship, and having a nice bag that would go with on-campus casual wear as well as a suit would be awesome!

I am debating between your large satchel and the large briefcase. Besides the size difference, what are the main differences? I will be wearing this mostly with the shoulder strap; for example the strap over the left shoulder and the bag on my right side. Is the briefcase too thick at 9" to do this very well? Will it stick out too much from the side of the body?

Also, what is the purpose of the D rings on the lower corners of your bags?

Thanks. It's pretty much what I'm going to do. After a good night of sleep I calmed a bit down, and the colour isn't really that bad, even though my taste still prefers a "more professional look" colour-wise, like the SB personality test shows. I've also noticed we're two quite different persons. E.g., you're trying to lose weight, I'm fighting for my life to not be too skinny. You don't want a too dark bag, while the looks of the light tobacco and dark coffee versions don't appeal to me at all. You don't want a shiny briefcase, I want it to shine as much as possible. Speaking of which, you wondered about the chestnut's shine. I don't know if you've ordered one yet, but if it helps you in any way, I can say my bag's a bit more matte in real life than in my photo. If the other chestnut bags follow that trend you shouldn't worry too much about that. Sorry if that made your choice even harder . I'd say it depends on how much you carry, and which design you like better. For me (6'', 175 pounds), studying at a university, I feel the medium briefcase is a bit big and bulky, but carrying it is fine. I can't have it on my right side per se, but must rotate it further towards my back, like a messenger back, or else my arm would crash into it as I walk. I feel it's most comfortable when when the lateral part of the bag is resting on the lateral side of my right butt cheek, if that makes any sense. Most of the time I won't stuff my bag full. In other words, I went with the briefcase purely because of aesthetics. In my eyes the satchel is a more feminine product, so I never had to worry about that.

Hey sorry everyone, I really need to make sure I hang out on Style Forum during the weekend. I'm always way behind on Mondays!

Lade, I'm really sorry to hear about your disappointment! I'm not super sure what to tell you here. The best advice I can give is to contact Saddleback customer service and see what they can do for you. I'm pretty sure you're right and would have to ship the bag back and wait for a replacement, incurring the costs both ways.

I have personally carried all the different color briefcase and I'm wondering something about your briefcase. One of the really cool things about Saddleback stuff is that they have a lot of character and change a bit over time and with usage. I could be completely wrong, (Dave's the expert here) but I'm wondering if your briefcase won't display more reddish tones over time with wear and age as your leather works itself in.

Basically the Satchel is much smaller and doesn't fit most laptops horizontally placed in the satchel. The briefcase is specifically designed to hold different size laptops with plenty of room for whatever else you'd like to carry. Here's a review of the small satchel on The-Gadgeteer: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2008/08/28/...atchel_review/

Carrying the briefcase for me is no problem cross body or just on one shoulder. It's a little bulky, but not that big of deal.

The D-Rings on the lower back corners of the bag are used in the backpack conversion. Here's video explaining how to do that: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysE9LmcLS_o

The other D-Rings are multipurpose. They can be used to attach items to the outside of the briefcase if you so choose. For example, when I was a junior in high school, I hitch-hiked around Mexico with Dave during spring break. Dave was carrying his original, first made bag and had scuba gear, a mexican blanket, and something else all attached to the outside of the briefcase.

becact, I have a large 'classic' briefcase and primarily wear it messenger style. I'm learning i have the tinyest torso ever adn have had to punch about 4 new holes on the strap to get it short enough so that the bag hits me mid back, above my butt. That said, while the 9 inch depth is pretty big, it's not so big as to make it uncomfortable or impossible to wear. I've had my bag about 3 months now and it's softening up and it compresses a bit when empty so it is no longer the full 9 inch depth, but when i stuff it, the room is there when i need it. hope this helps.

After the joy of purchasing my briefcase, i've started the real fun...accessorizing.

i just purchased a travel mug that fits well in the outer pocket of the classic briefcase, and has a small carabiner that reaches the center D ring--i was constantly worrying that my old mug would pop out and i wouldn't notice....

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ef=oss_product

I'm also on the hunt for an elegant way to keep my monthly train pass more secure in the back pocket, but also ready to hand to present to the grump conductors. I'm thinking of some sort of combination SB luggage tag and retractable ID cord....but i'm not sure how to make it work...you all seem rather industrious, any ideas?

Well since it was my Birthday last month I decided to purchase myself one of Saddleback's Big Wallets in Dark Coffee Brown.

I'll be sure to post some photos when it arrives.

Most excellent post!! Thanks for sharing the link for that mug and the report that it fits in the side pocket!

So far as a train-pass solution, it's common for hospital employees, esp nurses, to have an extendable badge holder on their lanyard. Think of it as an automatically-retracting fishing rod reel. If you know of a hospital supply shop or scrubs store nearby, it's a safe bet they'll have a bin of them near the register. (You probably pass one everyday and don't even know it - google for one). Or, if you're a paticularly charming guy, I bet you can swindle one off of the Human Resources lady at the hospital. (Flash your Saddleback briefcase - it's bound to help!)

If you've no luck with the above, let me know and I'll mail ya one. We're sure to have a few laying around (my wife's a nurse & i'm a pharmacist).

EDIT: This is what I'm talking about... it's listed under "office supplies" - maybe you can find 'em at Office Depot?

Nice promotion! Hopefully I can shave these last 8lb by the end of March and place my order!!

Do you know: Is it possible to spend the $50 in gift certificates on the same order and get everything shipped together? Or do I have to wait to get the certificates with my briefcase, then place the order for my wallet?

Yeah, unfortunately we can't do that. I know it would be nice to not have to deal with shipping two items separately, but our system currently doesn't have the ability to do that. What happens is that once your order is processed, then the 2 $25 gift certificates are created and e-mailed to you. Sorry about that.

Ah, that's OK. I appreciate knowing ahead of time! It's a sweet deal in any case.

Only 5.5lb to go!! BOOYEAH.

I'm about to pull the trigger on a messenger bag, but have a question about the colors. It's between the coffee brown and tobacco brown, and I'm leaning more towards the coffee. The only problem is some pictures I see portray this color as being so dark that it's almost black, while others show it as a much lighter brown. Even the various photos of products on your site portray this color over a wide spectrum.

For example, look at this page:

http://www.saddlebackleather.com/cat...k-Coffee-Brown

It is for the coffee brown messenger, but right below it are links to other coffee brown products. The backpack looks lighter, and the briefcase much darker than the messenger bag on the page. Is it normal to get such a color variation from different batches of leather, or would you say one of these photos is the most accurate?

A big thanks to everyone @ Saddleback for the killer keychain. Much appreciated!