Looking for a Traveller's Briefcase

[Cudifying]

Seen a few threads regarding briefcases that aren't just form over function or the other way around but none of them were recent or particularly helpful to me.

I'm looking for a briefcase (maybe even a messenger?) that's elegant yet offers some organization and perhaps even ruggedness.

What I mean by that is I'd like a bag that looks the part in a corporate office (tech) but can also be a viable personal item on intercontinental flights.

I'm not too fixated on materials or shape, but a Filson, while beautiful, would be too rugged for my use case. I've also looked at Frank Clegg, Croots, Porter Yoshida (not the Armoury collab), Chester Mox and similar brands and they're all either too formal/lacking organization or too casual.

A few examples of bags I found and like:

Porter Yoshida / The Armoury Traveller's Briefcase

Berluti Deux Jours Bag

I'm particularly fond of The Armoury's Traveller briefcase and it's crazy amount of internal organisation. I like the slouchy Berluti without the crazy patina the brand often is associated with, also not a fan of the current rebrand. Both of these have soft interior linings and lots of small pockets/features

I want a bag that hold my MacBook, iPhone, Music Player, and all of my other various pouches and everyday items without me dumping everything into a black hole never to be found again. The bag should have ample padding, a trolley loop would be nice and I'm not a fan of visible branding. Budget is anywhere between USD 500-3000. I have a thing for japanese manufacturing but it's of course not a must.

Would love to have someone such as @dieworkwear chime in.

Thanks!

 

[mcdill]

I have the Armoury x Porter and it's great for travel. I actually use it for daily commuting. It's the perfect balance between functionality and weight. I personally found the full-leather gear to be rather weighty for lugging around a full set of gear (laptop, chargers, work papers etc).

Otherwise, Porter itself has a number of travel-friendly briefcases although I found the Armoury one to be the most stylish. I have one of their backpacks from the "Lift" line.

Unfortunately the Armoury x Porter briefcase seems to be out of stock at the moment.

 

[Cudifying]

I have the Armoury x Porter and it's great for travel. I actually use it for daily commuting. It's the perfect balance between functionality and weight. I personally found the full-leather gear to be rather weighty for lugging around a full set of gear (laptop, chargers, work papers etc).

Otherwise, Porter itself has a number of travel-friendly briefcases although I found the Armoury one to be the most stylish. I have one of their backpacks from the "Lift" line.

Unfortunately the Armoury x Porter briefcase seems to be out of stock at the moment.

I did see Mark's tour of the bag on The Amoury's Youtube channel and was surprised by how much organization they were able to get into that bag. I've emailed them and unfortunately they were only able to say that they're hoping to restock it again sometime this year.

On another note, I'm not too worried about weight, however I do want the bag to age nicely as it will undoubtedly get scuffed up from travel over the years. I did have another look at Frank Clegg and I'm actually really fond of their two gusset zip-top briefcase (https://frankcleggleatherworks.com/zip-top-briefcase-chocolate-double-2081.html). While it's definitely on the formal side and doesn't offer crazy organization, it does have an internal laptop sleeve and the section divider comes with a few internal pockets as well. I do wonder though if the triple gusset would be even handier, provided I might want to take a night's worth of spare clothes with me, say an additional shirt and underwear. At the same time im worried the third gusset might be taking things too far in terms of bulk (and perhaps weight). Would this look out of place to carry on a personal trip with casual (say knitwear and jeans/linen pants) clothing?

 

[mcdill]

I think the leather bags will age better than the Armoury bag.

I've had my Armoury bag for 2+ years and, while it looks OK to me, there is some visible aging (e.g. very slight fraying of the nylon at the bottom where it rubs against the ground). Otherwise this is a very tough bag that I've lugged between Hong Kong and Singapore (where my offices are). This bag is also my "daily" work bag.

Can't comment on the Frank Clegg model that you're looking at, although I had my eyes once on the Armouy x Frank Clegg version. I was worried about its weight though (I'm just not that fond of lugging too much to and from the plane).