REVIEW – Over the years, I have reviewed more than my fair share of Colonel Littleton gear…and when I say gear I mean some of the finest leather bags and accessories available today. The Colonel’s designs are truly timeless; with quality, materials, and craftsmanship second to none and meant to last a lifetime. For this review, Colonel Littleton sent me their recently released No. 5 Leather Travel Grip Bag to see if this new design lives up to the long line of premium products that came before.

As I have stated before and it stands as true today as it did 4 years ago:

I often think that I should have been born in an earlier time. Back when the world was a simpler place, a person’s word/handshake was their bond, people made things with their hands, doors were left unlocked etc. The Colonel Littleton gear I have had the fortune to review is truly the embodiment of those long lost days. Now do not get me wrong, I do love tech-toys. But the modern day gadgets we drool over are definitely fleeting things, designed to be regularly replaced by the next shiny smart-device that tempts our fancy. But in true Colonel Littleton style, the No.1 Grip is created to last a lifetime and designed to be your companion on the road less traveled.

This goes for all of the Colonel’s gear, including the No.5 Grip and specifically my Colonel Littleton No. 1943 Navigator bag that is still going strong, used daily for many years and having traveled 10,000’s of miles along the way.

What is it?

The No.5 Grip is a handcrafted travel bag created in American buffalo leather. The term “grip” comes from the 18th and 19th centuries for a personal carry bag meant to take with you on a train or stagecoach. A grip was not a bag you checked to the baggage car or entrusted to the care of someone else. It was a piece of luggage meant to be kept with you at all times.

A bit of the backstory on the No.5 Grip from the Colonel himself:

While rummaging through my collection of vintage travel grip bags, I came upon an old Gladstone Bag which rekindled my long-standing desire to make one. Named after four-time Prime Minister of the UK, William Gladstone, the bag was prevalent in the late 1800s/early 1900s. I had always shied away from making it due to the complexity of the design; however, I loved the look so much I decided to muster up some turn-of-the-century British fortitude and go for it.

Made in the Col. Littleton Workshop of thick buffalo hide and detailed with unique, sweeping, “curvilinear” styling, the No. 5 Grip is definitely distinctive, eye-catching, and will get many admiring looks and comments as you travel the world.

Design and features

From a functional perspective, the No.5 Grip is a large void you can pack a lot of clothes and travel gear in. It is the largest, boldest bag in the Colonel’s Grip collection. Measuring in at 12.5″(h) x 20.5″ (w) x 9″ (d) and weighing in at a healthy 7 lbs, this is not a small nor lightweight bag by any means. With 2-3 days of clothes, some workout gear, shoes, shave kit, etc: total weight is near 15 pounds. It is carry-on sized for most airlines and should not have to be checked.

American Buffalo – “Expect a leather that is unapologetically rugged with more character, nicks, scrapes and variations in color.” ~ Colonel (Read more about American Buffalo Leather here)

I love buffalo leather and prefer it over all others. As a bit of my backstory, my father was a buffalo rancher and raised them for decades. In my 20’s, I helped him build several buffalo ranches from scratch and fondly remember the insane amount work that was…let’s just say it involved telephone poles, countless bags of concrete, and a good amount of Motrin.

But I digress, the No. 5 Grip is no simple bag; its quality, design, fashion, and hardened durability are apparent the moment you see it. Its sweeping, curved lines not only add to its unique beauty but add durability and strength to the sides and corners of the bag.

The American buffalo leather the Colonel uses is thick and rugged but supple and gorgeous as well. The Colonel reinforces all the edges, corners, and hard-points with double stitching and multiple layers of buffalo leather. The hard-points are held in place with solid brass hardware and rivets.

Here you can see the sides and how the leather comes together to reinforce the edges and corners.

The opening mechanism is hinged like a large medical bag from back in the day when doctors use to make house-calls. There is a brass rivet/bolt on either side of the bag that acts as pivot points for the framework to open. There are additional rivets along the frame to securely attach the leather bag to the mechanism.

The interior of this bag is fully lined in soft, yet durable pigskin. As I said, it is a pretty big void; where the No.1 Grip could carry a weekends worth of clothes, the No.5 Grip can carry a couple’s gear for a weekend or 3-4 days worth for a single individual.

The No.5 Grip has leather straps that encircle the exterior of the bag with buckles on either side of the handles that ensure it remains securely closed.

In addition to great design, quality and craftsmanship, there are several very nice touches that add to the bag’s uniqueness including the Colonel’s logo and American buffalo leather moniker stamped into either side of the bag and individual serial number engraved into a small brass plaque riveted into the leather between the handles. You can also have your initials engraved on the oval plate on the front of the bag.

The No. 5 Grip has brass “feet” on the bottom of the bag to protect the leather from wear. Instead of the classic rounded knobs that you find on countless other bags, the Colonel uses his engraved forked, metal hard points that in addition to acting as feet, strengthen those locations as well. Even with the brass feet, I doubt I will ever set this bag on any rough or dirty surfaces in fear of marring/damaging/staining the leather.

The handles are covered in leather and are well formed and comfortable to hold.

The removable strap is adjustable and made from the same leather and brass as the bag. The strap rides comfortably on the shoulder but the already hefty leather bag does get a bit heavy when full. Though overall, it is more than manageable.

What I like

• Old-World craftsmanship and design
• Thick soft buffalo leather
• Solid brass hardware
• Very well engineered reinforced
• Comfortable carry
• Removable strap
• Great warranty

What needs to be improved

• Expensive
• Many would consider this bag big and heavy

Final thoughts

The No. 5 Grip is a gorgeous, old-world travel bag made from thick, durable American buffalo leather by Colonel Littleton’s meticulous craftsmen. A bag meant to toss into the trunk of your roadster before heading out to the country for the weekend. That said, I know many of you are thinking…OMG that thing is outrageously expensive. I grant you the No. 5 Grip is a pricey piece of luggage but none of Colonel Littleton’s gear is cheap, neither in quality nor cost. Bottom line, you get what you pay for. This bag is meant to last decades, if not a lifetime. I know there are high end, luxury brands that sell bags for similar money that last mere years of moderate use.  The No. 5 Grip is simple, functional, timeless…that will last 10/20/30 times what your current smart device will for about the same cost.

Price: $1445
Where to buy: The No. 5 Travel Grip Bag is available on colonellittleton.com.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Colonel Littleton.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bags, Leather

Colonel Littleton No. 5 Travel Grip Bag review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 25, 2018 at 8:45 am.

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REVIEW – Mmm, leather. The look. The smell. The durability. What’s not to love? I’m a huge fan of high-quality leather bags and wallets. Saddleback Leather updated their Slim Laptop Briefcase and I was given the opportunity to review it. What’s my impression? Simply put, it is a wonderful laptop briefcase – Saddleback bags are some of the best-made leather bags I’ve ever seen. The briefcase carries my 13″ laptop, many other materials, can double as a backpack, has a secret compartment, and “They’ll fight over it when you’re dead”. The only reasons you may not like it are because of the weight (it’s 5.6 pounds when empty – thick leather is heavy), the style, or the price ($529).

What is it?

The Saddleback Leather Slim Laptop Briefcase is a leather bag that you can use to carry your laptop (15″) and other everyday essentials.

Specs

• 100-Year Warranty
• Materials: full-grain leather, pigskin lining, and marine-grade thread (the kind used on shipping sails), heavy-duty nickel plated hardware
• 1 large interior floppy pigskin pocket
• 2 small interior leather pen pockets
• 1 large exterior back panel pocket
• 1 large exterior front pocket with flap
• 2 exterior side pockets for water bottles
• Interior key clip strap keeps your keys from wandering off
• Can convert to backpack mode (comes with 2 shoulder pads)
• Detachable shoulder strap – can carry on shoulder, backpack mode or by the handle
• Interior false bottom / secret compartment to hide cash or important documents
• Great as a laptop bag, a book bag, or other everyday carry needs
• Dimensions (approximate size):
  Exterior: 11.5″ H x 15″ W x 4.5″ D
  Interior: 10″ H x 14.25″ W x 4.25″ D
• Weight: 5.5 pounds

What’s in the box?

The Saddleback Leather Slim Laptop Briefcase includes Saddleback cards (thank you card, contact information card, and Saddleback sticker).

Design and features

I research my purchases pretty intensely before buying. I want to know as much about the product as possible – I want it to be a high-quality, functional, and durable. Dave Munson, the president and founder of the company, provides a plethora of information about how his leather products are made (Craftsmanship & Quality) on the Saddleback website. It’s actually a great education on the high-quality leather, thread, and hardware used in the making of Saddleback products. Did you know he uses $12,000 – $14,000 sewing machines to assemble his leather products? I can’t even imagine what a $12,000 sewing machine looks like. Apparently, they have variable speeds and clutches, etc. to get through sometimes several layers of thick full-grain leather that he uses for each item.

This review covers one of Saddleback’s products – an updated version of the Slim Laptop Briefcase. I received the Dark Coffee Brown color but it also comes in Tobacco, Chestnut, and Black. The front of the briefcase is straight-forward and classy. It is made from full-grain leather, premium marine-grade UV resistant continuous filament polyester thread (for the top AND bottom stitching), and heavy-duty nickel-plated metal hardware. All the leather used to assemble the bag is about 2 mm thick (5 oz). That means that when two or more pieces come together to be sewn, the amount of leather that the sewing machine needs to get through is really thick.

The front flap of the briefcase is double stitched and is a single piece of leather that continues down to the back of the bag. The front buckle is heavy and feels durable. And the strap for the main buckle is sewn and riveted onto the front flap of the bag. The outer measurements of the bag are about  15″ W x 11.5″ H x 4.5″ D. Also shown above, is a large exterior front pocket with external measurements of 13.25″ W x 9.25″ H x 1″ D.The detachable leather shoulder strap comes with two shoulder pads (just in case you want to convert the bag into a backpack). The strap for the briefcase is made from two long single pieces of leather (about 2 mm thick) sewn together making it about 4-5 mm thick and very durable (other manufacturers’ leather straps and belts are often several pieces of leather spliced together to obtain the length needed). The buckle and large swivel hooks are heavy-duty metal. Notice how the stress points (the ends of the strap holding the hooks) are sewn and then reinforced with two rivets at each end. Saddleback uses one piece of leather to create the sides and bottom of the briefcase. The bottom also contains four D-rings that are sewn and riveted onto the bag. The rings can be used to attach things to the bag (e.g. tripod, etc.) or to attach the shoulder strap in order to convert it into a backpack. The top of the bag contains the handle which is sewn onto it and then reinforced with copper rivets. The handle is also made using 2 mm thick leather (lined with pigskin) – ready for decades of use. The sides of the bag contain more D-rings to attach things. I would be careful to only attach the shoulder strap to those D-rings that are rivet-reinforced (the upper rings located toward the back of the bag have rivets, but those located toward the front do not).

Each side of the briefcase also contains a pocket that measures 4″ W x 5.25″ H and will hold a narrow 20-fluid ounce bottle of water (Dasani or Evian bottle) very snugly.

In addition, the above photo shows that there is a ring that is sewn onto the top of the bag which is also reinforced with a rivet. This is used to convert the briefcase into a backpack (more on that later). The back of the bag contains a back panel pocket for easy access to things like boarding passes, documents, magazines, etc. Its internal measurements are 13.25″ W x 8.25″ H.Opening the main compartment flap, you’ll notice that the bag is lined with pigskin which is much stronger than typical cloth lining. There is also a 5 mm thick rigid bar under the flap that has been riveted onto the bag to provide reinforcement for the handle (and the ring located on the top of the briefcase) to ensure that the briefcase will not fail at this stress point.

In the above photo, you can also see that the large exterior front pocket has a simple flap. It doesn’t have a closure and doesn’t need one since the main buckle is the closure for this pocket and for the entire bag. The above photo shows one of the areas of the briefcase where four pieces of leather come together: one for the outer side pocket (water bottle pocket), one for the gussets, one for the internal side (pen) pocket, and one for the front of the bag. These four thick pieces of leather are sewn together creating a 3/8″ thickness. None of the layers have been thinned out at the seam to make the assembly easier. That sewing machine must be the Hulk of sewing machines.
Inside the bag is a “large interior floppy pigskin pocket”. It measures 13.5″ W x 9″ H. This pocket is big enough for a 13″ laptop (or bigger depending on the outer dimensions of your laptop). None of the areas inside the briefcase are padded to protect your laptop from drops, although the leather will help insulate your electronics from the hot or cold weather. The main compartment’s internal measurements are 14.25″ W x 10″ H x 4.25″ D and will carry a 15″ laptop. This compartment is lined with pigskin which is soft and strong. I find that I really like this lining much better than cloth linings (like cotton, polyester, etc.). It goes better with the briefcase and will last.

Looking at the above photo, you’ll notice that one side of the bag has a leather key clip strap and a small interior leather side pen pocket in which to insert your keys (and pens). The other side has an interior leather pen pocket as well without the key clip strap. The above photo shows the leather keychain which is attached to the leather strap by a swivel lobster claw hook. There is a hidden flap located on the bottom of the bag to hide things like your money or passport (as shown in the photo above). Although with a bag this nice, if someone steals it, they’ve got all your valuables (bad), even though they may not realize they do (possibly good if you are able to get your bag back).

The large front pocket has internal measurements of 12.5″ W x 8.75″ H x 0.75″ D.

Just behind the front pocket is another area to carry documents, etc. as shown in the photo above. I love it that Saddleback does this. Other manufacturers sew all around the pocket thus eliminating this extra storage area. As I stated earlier, you can convert this briefcase into a backpack. This is the simple way to do it (by simply feeding the strap through the center ring on the top of the bag and attaching the strap’s clasps to the lower D-rings of the briefcase). However, the strap slides through the ring on the top of the bag when you go to pick it up by the strap thus making it difficult to carry the “backpack” on just one shoulder.

Note: Even though the briefcase looks almost black in the above photo, in-person, it is a dark coffee brown. Here is another way to loop the shoulder strap through the top ring so that the strap does not slide when you pick up the bag by that strap. I found out how to do this from MyFireVideos on YouTube. Clever! I like this – it works well and is a better configuration for those who like to carry the “backpack” on one shoulder without it sliding.

There are a few other things to note about the briefcase. New, the entire bag is stiff (so is the shoulder strap and shoulder pads) but will become more flexible over time. Also, the briefcase weighs 5.6 pounds when empty. And last according to the Saddleback website, areas that would stretch over time are reinforced with hidden nylon straps sewn in – places like the handle, possibly the shoulder strap, etc.

Performance

The Slim Laptop Briefcase holds a lot of my stuff. In the photo above, I have two full one-inch binders and a pencil case in the main compartment. I also have my small pouch of miscellaneous Post-it tabs located in the floppy pigskin pocket with some room to spare.

Our larger 15.6″ laptop (external measurements: 15″ L x 10.25″ W x 1″ D) fits snugly in the main compartment (without the binders; it will not fit with them in it). When sliding this laptop into the briefcase, it did get caught on the interior side (pen) pockets which needed to be moved out of the way. This laptop would not have been able to fit inside the main compartment if those pockets had been full of things or if the laptop was in a sleeve.

I have a 13″ Lenovo Yoga 730 laptop (external dimensions: 12″ L x 8.5″ W x 0.63″ D) that fits very nicely in the front pocket of the briefcase with a little room to spare. Again, there is no padding in any of the pockets of this briefcase. Even so, I felt like my laptop was safe enough in this pocket because when the bag is placed on the floor the pocket does not touch the floor (the bottom of the pocket is located about 0.75″ from the bottom of the bag).

I was also able to fit this laptop with its thick Tomtoc protective sleeve (external measurements: 13.25″ L x 10.13″ W) inside the main compartment easily but not in the front pocket.

The empty briefcase weighs 5.6 pounds and when filled with the items as shown above (the binders, pencil case, Post-it tabs pouch, and 13″ laptop), it weighed 16 pounds.

The bag was comfortable for me in the crossbody position while carrying all of my stuff for a short duration. I used my husband to model the crossbody position for me as shown in the photos above. You can also see the color of the bag under sunny conditions (which have been rare over the last month).

And this is the look of the briefcase in the shade.

The backpack configuration was also comfortable for me. If I needed to carry the briefcase around for a long duration, this is the configuration I would use.

What I like

• It’s made with really thick (usually 2 mm) durable full-grain leather
• The hardware is heavy duty nickel-plated metal and some of the rivets are copper
• The thread is marine-grade (used in sails) continuous filament UV resistant polyester thread
• All stress points are reinforced by rivets
• All areas that would stretch over time have a hidden nylon strap permanently sewn in
• There are plenty of D-rings on the bag on which to attach things
• It accommodates my 13″ laptop (and will accommodate 15″ laptops)
• It has interior leather pen side pockets so you can easily retrieve them from inside the bag
• It has a secret flap on the bottom of the bag to store important documents or paperwork

What needs to be improved

• I don’t think anything needs improvement
• However, you might be concerned about the weight (5.6 pounds empty), the style might not match your style, and it is expensive

Final thoughts

Saddleback Leather products are the best-made leather bags I have ever seen. They simply stand apart from the crowd. The Slim Laptop Briefcase is an excellent example of their quality and craftsmanship. It is made using ~2 mm (5 oz.) full-grain leather, marine-grade polyester thread, and heavy-duty nickel plated metal hardware, plus all the stress points are reinforced by rivets.

It has a quick access back panel pocket to place documents or boarding passes in, a floppy pigskin interior pocket (internal measurements: 13.5″ W x 9″ H) that will carry documents or a laptop, a main compartment (internal dimensions: 14.25″ W x 10″ H x 4.25″ D) that carries two full one-inch binders (or a 15″ laptop), and an large exterior front pocket (internal measurements: 12.5″ W x 8.75″ H x 0.75″ D) that will also carry a small laptop like my 13″ Lenovo Yoga 730. There are also two small interior side pockets to place your pens in for easy access and retrieval when necessary. There’s even a secret flap located in the bottom of the bag to hide important documents.

The only identifiable detractors of the bag are that it is heavy (5.6 pounds when empty – but thick durable leather is heavy), it may not suit your style, and it is expensive ($529).

Price: $529.00
Where to buy: Saddleback Leather or Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Saddleback Leather.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Bags, Leather

Saddleback Leather Slim Laptop Briefcase review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on November 12, 2018 at 9:00 am.

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