Recommend to you Best Leather Satchel for men - Women 2014

Recommend to you Best Leather Satchel for men - Women 2014

I purchased this a month back online over two other bags I was looking at; the higher end Coach 70313 Thompson Slim Messenger and the slightly cheaper eBag's Colombian Leather Messenger. With the Risky Business my initial concerns from looking at the online pictures were the cloth fabric strap being cheap, the magnetic closure snaps not working, and the quality/durability of the leather overtime.

Leather Satchel for men

However, regardless of my concerns I was surprised that the Risky Business has the MOST buyer reviews online and the MOST positive 5 stars reviews online of any messenger bag. It is like buyers were so impressed that even the non-reviewers that never return to write reviews had to say something. So I went ahead to see what all the buzz is about.
There are a billion positive things that could be said and has been said about this bag so for sake of brevity I will discuss the Risky Business from the perspective of my three initial concerns and how those concerns turned out to be big positives:

The Strap of Leather Satchel for men 

The cloth strap is actually a durable canvas cotton blended with some sort poly-nylon weave that makes the strap feel secure and comfortable. I also own a Tumi T-Tech Houston Portfolio Computer Bag w/ a ballistic-nylon strap and a Filson #256 Original Twill Brief w/ a leather strap and the Risky Business has by far the best strap for comfort, wear-ability and load stability. It is just the right width that the load is stabilized when worn over one shoulder or across the chest. Also the strap extends down the sides and underside of the bag wrapping around the interior load so the burden is evenly distributed around the bag and onto the strap. I don't know who came up with this idea but it is sheer brilliance.

The Magnetic Clasp Of Leather Satchel for men

When the flap is put down the little dots magically line up and click-close every time. Accessing the bag is easy since there is no zips to undo each time you want to change a track on your iPod. When the bag isn't overstuffed the flap stays shut during wear. The magnetic dots while obviously not strong at all basically ONLY serves to hold the flap in place (it keeps it from sliding around). It is NOT meant for 'locking down' the bag so if you are Spider-Man and that is something you need then look elsewhere. Non Superheros will be happy with the magnet dots. That said, the main pocket and two front pockets are deep enough and the leather is firm enough that nothing will slide out or ride up and out of the bag. It is true that if the bag is stuffed to the brim the flap will not reach down far enough to the magnetic dots. So to say the flap is unsecured when the bag is stuffed is also saying you are not supposed to stuff the bag to begin with.

The Leather Quality

Real leather that is rich and desirable is not perfectly smooth, shiny and clean. It should have a rugged distressed, pitted appearance to it and it should smell like leather instead of chemicals. The risky business meets all the requirements of real leather that is rich and desirable. The online pictures may make it look like smooth patent, fake leather but when you unbox it the bag will be leather. I know there have been a lot of complaints, in fact the only complaints I've read, that bags arrived scratched up, pitted, creased and distressed when unboxed. Well guess what people?! real leather isn't made in a computer machine that prints out perfect sheets of it. 

Leather Satchel for men

It is stripped off an animal and cured and processed and dyed and it goes thru a myriad of complex processes before it is tailored to the end product, made into a sweet messenger bag and shipped off to you. That said, the leather quality is top notch to the point that it has a hand-made feel to it which I love. In a month of using my bag to carry books, a Thinkpad T61, an iPad, Groceries, mail-parcels, wet umbrellas, etc... thru the gritty environs of the NYC Subway system the leather and the bag still looks brand new. I also did not have any issues with the brown dye rubbing off.

POSITIVES Of Leather Satchel for men

 Great bag for the price. Leather Satchel for men is very light weight for a leather bag. There are lots of 'useful' interior space for everyday basic use. In 2012 with Tablets, Smartphones and iPads outselling slow bulky notebooks computers normal commuters and internet cafe slackers no longer carry around the big laptops. So lack of space is not a negative. The cloth fabric strap due to design and weaving outperform bags costing twice as much in categories of comfort and durability. Not making the straps leather also makes the bag much lighter.

NEGATIVES Of Leather Satchel for men

 I'm not a fan of leather piping trim and this bag has it. Piping was big in the 1970s on my granddaddy's car seats and my grandmother's furniture. It doesn't quite belong here. But unless you are OCD like me it is not noticable. The tiny leather grab handle is utterly useless and looks like it will rip off at any moment. However, because the main cloth strap is so great you will never notice or use the little frail thing. The bottom section should have been reinforced with a tougher leather. For some reason the leather seems softer on the bottom panel of this bag than every where else on the bag. If you tend to drop and drag your Risky Business on the NYC Subway floors or in your Classrooms you may want to glance under there to see what I mean. Again I baby my bag when traveling and it is always on my lap or on the seat next to me so I'm exempt from such tragedy.
That's it for the negatives and those were tiny negatives that 99% of casual users will not even notice in the years of owning this wonderful bag.