Vegetable Tanned Leather Messenger Bag
Comes with a lifetime warranty. Made with vegetable tanned leather, solid brass hardware, and hand stitched with top quality braided polyester tiger thread.
Smaller size fits a 14" laptop and the large fits up to a 15" laptop. Magnetic closure. Large front pocket and 1 large interior pocket.
About our leather products:
Our products are designed to last— and not just survive over time, but to improve in beauty and character with each year.
Leather:
We use full-grain vegetable tanned leather almost exclusively. This leather is extremely durable and has a natural, earthy look. It self-heals to an extent so scratches and defects fade over time, and it darkens and develops a beautiful, character-filled patina over the years. (If you want it to darken and develop and aged leather look quickly you can oil it with mink oil and put it in the sunshine.)
Because we use full grain leather and cows in Uganda are almost all free range there are sometimes scars, insect bites or other defects on the leather. Many companies discard leather with marks, however we would have to waste a huge amount if we did that, and we think those marks add character and interest especially as the leather ages. They can be distracting when the leather is new, though, so be aware that the leather surface on our products is not 100% perfect.
Craftsmanship:
We use top-quality braided polyester tiger thread and hand stitch all structural seams using a durable saddle stitch technique which will outlast machine stitching.
We also use as few pieces of leather as possible. This adds strength because there are fewer seams to tear or break. We can sometimes use almost an entire side of leather per bag, and so it is more expensive than using smaller scrap pieces, but we want our products to last.
Hardware:
Our hardware is solid brass and will develop an antique patina that looks really cool with aged leather in our opinion.
We use Riri zippers on most of our products. Riri zippers are considered the best zippers in the world and used on very high-end products.
Our products are not 100% perfect because many learners are creating them, but they are definitely designed to stand the test of time
Leather Care
Vegetable tanned leather is amazing. It darkens, develops an incredible patina that just gets better with use and it has a beautiful, natural look to it. At first vegetable tanned leather tends to be stiff, but it will soften with time and use. It is an easy, low maitenance material for the most part.
If you would like to speed up the darkening or softening process oil your leather more frequently and allow it to get sun exposure as much as possible. The leather should also be oiled periodically especially if it is looking dry or scratched.
Mink oil is one of the best oils to use on leather, so if you can get it we recommend using it. Here in Uganda and I'm sure many other parts of the world mink oil is not available and neither are other leather oils like neatsfoot oil. So, if you live in a place where traditional leather oils are not available you can also use olive oil or another natural oil. I use both olive oil and sunflower oil on my leather pieces while I"m in Uganda and both work well. Sunflower oil tends to be hard to get an even coat and can leave blotches so I usually only use it for things like sandals or small pieces and I'll use olive oil for everything else.
It is also a good idea to clean and condition the leather every 3-6 months. We like conditioners like Fiebring's Snowproof or Galen Leather Balm. These will waterproof, condition and protect the leather.