Macworld USA – August 2019

28 MACWORLD AUGUST 2019

MACUSER REVIEW: SADDLEBACK THIRTEENER THIN LEATHER BRIEFCASE

reason to worry about it falling
apart over the next five years—
or maybe even the next 50.
Saddleback always uses heavy
full-grain leather for its leather
bags, which means they’re
highly water-resistant without
any treatment. You also won’t
find any snaggable zippers, as it
closes with Saddleback’s
signature front buckle. With
enough practice, it’s only slightly
slower than opening a zipper.
Most features reveal an
almost ridiculous attention to
detail, whether it’s the polyester
threading—chosen because it
doesn’t slowly rot in the sun
like nylon—or the nearly
indestructible 316 stainless
steel Saddleback uses for the
buckles and D-rings. It’s a small
wonder that Saddleback gives
these things a 100-year
warranty. If you find yourself
disliking the Thirteener, it
almost certainly won’t be for
the quality of the construction.
Aside, that is, from the
heavy scuffing on the finish. Like many of
the Saddleback’s bags, the Thirteener
comes in Dark Coffee Brown, Chestnut,
and Black, but the finish on the dark coffee
brown version I received proved

ridiculously prone to scuffing during the

roughly two weeks I used it on my daily

San Francisco commute. I’ve previously

received Saddleback bags in chestnut and

saw nothing so extreme as this, and

Saddleback often includes extra D-rings on its bags, but I

kind of like that they’re not on this briefcase.

As you can see, the leather’s fine. This has more to do with

the coloring. And I’m not that rough on my bags.