Construction 
In Australia, I got a nice little crocodile to come to the boat to test my bag. He clamped down and then pulled and pulled. When he went for a bigger bite, we yanked it out. I was happy to get it back, but disappointed to find that he only scraped it up and hardly damaged it at all. (I wanted some souvenir bite marks). It would have been torn to pieces if it had been made with thinner leather or with lots of smaller pieces sewn together.

Each Saddleback leather satchel is built of three solid pieces of leather and therefore only two main seams. This construction is far stronger than several pieces sewn into a sort of leather quilt bag. Using a lot of smaller pieces is a way of lowering the cost of production, therefore diminishing the strength of the bag. Seams tear a lot faster than a solid piece of leather. I saw a cheap fanny pack in the store the other day and counted how many seams it had. There were 34. Having only 3 larger pieces with a two seams costs us more, but with quality like this, we separate ourselves from the masses.

Waterproof /Keep dry design 
This satchel was built for use in wet climates. Not only is the leather thick, but it's 100% waterproof. I designed it so that once it's buckled shut, the flap is pressed snugly over the top side edges. No water will be getting into this satchel. When you see it, you'll slowly nod your head and say, "That's cool".

Thread 
Until about January 2007, I was using what I thought was the best thread I could get, but I was wrong. Mine was really good, but I found a more impressive thread that's about 4 times as expensive and 4 times as strong. I didn't need to start using it, but if Saddleback is going to be the best, we will be the best in the small things too. Be careful not to buy a bag sewn with cotton thread. It wears quickly and your bag will fall apart in no time. Free helpful hint: Here's how to test thread or material. Light the end of it with a match. If it turns to ash, it's cotton. If it smells like hair, it's silk or wool. If it balls up, it's the good synthetic stuff. If it's really hard to even melt, then it's mine.

Rivets 
This is almost like killing a fly with a shotgun, but there are rivets at all corners of the bag just to make sure.

Stitching 
Because Saddleback Leather bags are each individually made by human hands, the stitching is sometimes a little bit crooked or uneven. Only those laser guided computerized machines make perfect lines.

Colors 
There are dozens of combinations of textures, colors, tones, thicknesses, oils, finishes, stiffnesses and softness to choose from. Of all of those options for leather, I found the four that I absolutely love. The colors are Dark Coffee Brown, Carbon Black, Chestnut Reddish Brown and Light Tobacco Brown like in the pictures of the messenger bag backpacks in Montego Bay

Leather Quality 
If you've bought an article of leather and it went from Ferrari to Sorry in 4.3 seconds, then you need to read this part. It's pretty long, but really good. Either you were too cheap, too broke, too rich or like I used to be, too ignorant. Saddleback leather uses only 4 - 5 ounce (2 – 2.2 mm thick) Full Grain boot leather tanned with various oils to keep it from being ruined by dryness and moisture. There are four grades of leather: Full Grain, Top Grain, Genuine and Bonded.

Leather 101 
The leather comes off the cow about ¼ inch thick. The fibers on top of the hide are densely woven (vertically) and are really hard to pull apart. The closer to the bottom of the hide you go, the more loosely woven (horizontally) the leather fibers are and more easily pulled apart (torn). Therefore, the top of the hide is the best leather. Basically, the top third of the hide is where the "Grain" is.


Full Grain Leather 
This is the top of the hide of leather and has all of the grain of the hide,therefore "Full Grain". The bottom part has been split off and now all that's left is the very dense and tough grain of the hide. This is the strongest and most excellent leather money can buy. These hides have all of the natural marks of the cow's life (scars, bites, brands, etc). This leather is used to make saddles, holsters, boots and high end furniture. Full grain leather burnishes and beautifies with use and sunlight. From what I've seen, maybe 2% of all bags are made of Full Grain, and those rarely sell under $500. This leather is expensive for me to buy and very difficult to work.

Top Grain Leather 
This is the second highest grade of leather and still has some of the grain of the hide. The top layer (the strongest part) is sanded or split off to get rid of the little imperfections. This leather is usually used for car seats and good quality furniture. Top grain leather does not age very well and not good enough for Saddleback Leather Co., but it's still pretty strong. Did you know that leather shavings are used for insulation and as filler in cheap dog food? Cheaper dog food = more yard work.

Genuine Leather 
This is the third grade of leather (suede) and is what's left over after the top is split off for the better grades. The surface is usually refinished to resemble older full grain leather, but usually just ends up looking like someone spray painted cheap leather to look like aged full grain leather. It can be smooth or rough and can last a long time if it only gets rubbed and doesn't get pulled or stressed. Caution: This inferior quality of leather (still better than almost any material) becomes evident with use since the fibers are horizontal and not as tightly woven.

Tanning Process 
The process goes like this. The cow dies in the meadow after having lived a long life roaming free and eating natural organic food. A hiker finds him, skins him and takes the hide to the tannery where they remove the excess meat, fat and hair. Next, they magically extract the moisture and oils from the hide and replace them with lots of different oils, colors and other preserving liquids. They replace those oils and fats by putting the hide in a giant tumbler and let it tumble for sometimes up to 10 hours with those new oils, colors and preservatives. In the morning, they pull it out, press it with a huge heated press, spray on sealers and finishes and press it again. Finally, they hang it up to dry on a slow moving hanger for several hours at a certain humidity level.

Bonded Leather 
is leather's bottom. Leftover scraps and dust are ground together with glue and resurfaced in a process similar to vinyl manufacture. Bonded leather is weak and degrades quickly with use. Most Bibles are covered with this. My Bible and journal covers are coming soon and they're cooler than Christmas.

Veins and Scars 
The colder the weather when they peel the cow, the more veins you'll see. The veins get fatter in order to carry more blood to warm things up and therefore, you get more of that marbled look. A lot of people request marbled leather, so if you want it, let us know and we'll look for a real beauty for you. I haven't done anything to my bags to add character. Since I use full grain leather, I let the leather tell the story. Wherever the cow had been gored, scraped by barbed wire, cactus or mesquite thorns... been bitten by a coyote... or branded by the rancher, the color sets in deep and stands out a bit. Your bag may have a few small scars and imperfections, but those just give it more character.

How they make cheap leather 
Because those tumblers usually cost well over $100,000 USD each, smaller tanneries can only tan a few hides a day if they don't have very many tumblers. Therefore, they cut the tumbling time in half so they can produce twice as much leather. When they do that, then the middle of the hide never gets the necessary oils and preservatives to keep it from drying out, cracking and weakening in a short time. You can't tell if the leather is cheap or not until you cut it. The middle is usually a pale blue color. To hide that, bag makers paint the cut edges so the buyer is none the wiser. All of our edges are unfinished and unpainted and you'll see that they're the same color throughout. They don't look as refined and "Pretty boy" that way, but that's okay with me.

If they used cheap oils, dyes and colors, then your bag will eventually fade from black to gray, red/brown to pinkish brown etc. A large company that outsources their production can save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by buying cheaper leather. If the company itself is not buying the leather (Saddleback buys our own leather), then the owners may never know that the factory is buying cheaper leather and charging them for the more expensive stuff, because it all looks the same if the edges are painted. That's one reason that handles tear and pieces dry out and crack on leather products. It's a common practice when production moves very far away from the control of the owners or the owners get a little too greedy.

Tannery 
We buy American hides tanned in Mexico at perhaps the most expensive tannery in the western hemisphere. It's the same tannery that Timberland, Tony Lama and Justin Boots use, to name a few. You could almost eat off of the floor. We get excellent leather every single time.

If they used cheap oils, dyes and colors, then your bag will eventually fade from black to gray, red/brown to pinkish brown etc. A large company that outsources their production can save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by buying cheaper leather. If the company itself is not buying the leather (Saddleback buys our own leather), then the owners may never know that the factory is buying cheaper leather and charging them for the more expensive stuff, because it all looks the same if the edges are painted. That's one reason that handles tear and pieces dry out and crack on leather products. It's a common practice when production moves very far away from the control of the owners or the owners get a little too greedy.

Thermal conductivity

The reason I tell you this next story is to show you the benefit of thick leather for preserving cold water bottles and protecting computer gear left in the hot car for too long. I lived in Juarez, Chihuahua Mexico for a few years in a $100/mo. apartment (utilities included). The concrete floors weren't fancy and I didn't have air conditioning in the house or in my truck. I didn't have hot water either, but that's another story. During those years, I learned a few things. One thing was that my bag was a great insulator to keep my water cold. I drove around all day with Blue next to me and my leather bag below him on the floor in 95 degree weather and still have ice hours later. In the morning, I'd pack my Nalgene water bottle full of ice and then fill the rest with water. I learned that if I kept my bag closed, the ice would last for hours and hours. If I kept my water bottle out on the seat, the ice would be gone in no time at all. Leather is a great insulator to keep things cold and hot and my leather even more so because of the thickness I use. Below is a small scientific chart measuring the thermal conductivity of various materials. The lower the number, the better it is at insulating.

Thermal conductivity @20° C W/mK

Wood	.04
PVC	0.16
Leather	0.14
Cork	0.07
Cotton	0.03
Foam Glass	0.045
Mineral insulation materials	0.04
Plastic insulation materials	0.03

Over the next several decades, this satchel will be your constant companion and will experience things with you that no one else will ever know of. You'll look at it and recollect all of those good and bad times you've shared with it. As it gets used and ages, the edges will round a bit and the sides will soften some and it'll mold to your side. It'll end up like a well loved baseball glove. When it gets to that point, it won't just look really really cool, it will inspire. You're about to choose something that will be with you the rest of your life. You may not realize how important of a decision this is, but I do and I appreciate it that you are considering mine. By the way, if this is the second time you've read through the entire novel I wrote about this backpack, then you're a goner. You haven't got a chance. Just send me your address so I can get your box ready. You and I both know that you won't be able to sleep well at night until you're using this backpack as a pillow.

Thanks for your time,
Dave Munson Presidente
Saddleback Leather Co.