A waxed canvas messenger bag with a full leather flap over the top, 45.7 cm wide and 30 cm tall, weighing 1.42 kg empty. The flap closes on two leather straps and prong buckles, there is a rolled leather handle on the top and a detachable webbing shoulder strap. It is a wide, flat bag built around documents and a laptop rather than around volume.
- 45.7 cm wide (18 in), 30 cm tall (11.81 in).
- 1.42 kg (3.13 lb) empty.
- 75% waxed canvas, 25% calfskin leather. Treated with beeswax. Matte finish.
- Lined in polyester and fabric.
- A leather flap covering the top and upper front, held by two leather straps through prong buckles.
- A rolled leather top handle, plus a detachable webbing shoulder strap on swivel snap hooks.
- Front pockets, a zipped pocket and side pockets.
- Hand-sewn saddle stitch. Handmade.
45.7 by 30 centimeters
The bag is 45.7 cm wide and 30 cm tall. In inches that is 18 by 11.81.
At 30 cm tall this is a messenger bag rather than a large satchel, and the proportion is deliberate: wide enough to take documents and a laptop lying flat, shallow enough that it sits against your body rather than swinging away from it.
The flap, and how long it takes to open
A single piece of leather covers the top of the bag and folds down over the upper front. Two leather straps run down from the flap through prong buckles mounted low on the body, and each strap passes through a riveted leather keeper that holds the tail flat.
This is the oldest closure on any bag and it is slow. A prong buckle is not a clip: you lift the tail out of the keeper, free the prong, lift the flap, and reverse all of it to close. Nobody gets into this bag quickly, and nobody gets into it accidentally either.
What you gain is that nothing wears out. There is no plastic clasp to crack, no magnet to weaken, no zip to jam or lose teeth. Leather and a metal prong is a closure that outlasts the bag around it, and when the strap eventually stretches, you use the next hole.
The flap is also the bag's roof. Sized to cover the full width and to hang well down the front, it is what keeps rain off the opening, and that matters more here than the buckle mechanism does.
Three quarters canvas, one quarter leather
The composition is 75% waxed canvas and 25% calfskin leather, and the split is not arbitrary. The panels that hold volume are canvas, because canvas is light and does not crack. The parts that take abrasion and load are leather: the flap, the handle, the closure straps, the buckle mounts and the reinforcement at the strap anchors.
The canvas is treated with beeswax, which is the traditional proofing rather than a modern synthetic one. Wax is worked into the weave and fills the space between the cotton fibers, which stiffens the fabric so the bag holds its shape, and closes the surface so water beads instead of soaking in.
The finish is matte. Waxed cotton has a low, dry sheen when new that comes up slightly where hands touch it, and it creases: fold a panel and the crease shows lighter, because the wax has moved out of the fold. Every one of these bags develops a different pattern of marks within a few months. That is the material behaving normally and it is not a fault.
Beeswax wears out of the high spots over a year or two of use. Reproofing with a wax bar and gentle heat brings back both the repellency and the depth of color. The leather parts are a separate job, covered in our leather cleaning guide.
Water, precisely
Beeswax on cotton canvas is water-repellent. It is not waterproof, and this bag is not waterproof.
Waxed canvas sheds rain: water beads on the surface and runs off, and in a shower or a commute the contents stay dry. The flap covers the opening completely, which is the single most protective thing about the design. In sustained rain the limits show up in two places that have nothing to do with the wax. The seams are sewn, so there is a line of needle holes along every joint, none of them taped. And the pocket zip has no gasket, so water tracks along the teeth.
For a motorcycle in weather, which the product name invites, treat it as a bag that will keep a shower off your things and put anything that must stay dry in its own dry bag inside.
1.42 kilograms empty
1.42 kg is 3.13 lb, and that is the bag with nothing in it.
It is a substantial figure and the reasons are all visible: a quarter of the bag by composition is leather, the flap is a single thick panel of it, the hardware is metal rather than plastic, and wax adds weight to canvas. A nylon messenger bag of the same footprint would weigh a good deal less.
What you get for the weight is a bag that keeps its shape empty, does not slump when half loaded, and has no component that fails before the fabric does. What 1.42 kg costs you depends on how far you carry it. Across a city, it is nothing. Walking a mile with a laptop in it, you will know it is there.
Two ways to carry it
A rolled leather handle sits on top, mounted on two metal loops so it swings flat against the flap when you are not using it. Rolled leather is more comfortable than a flat strap under load because the pressure spreads around your fingers instead of cutting across them.
The shoulder strap is webbing with leather ends, and it clips on and off at both sides on swivel snap hooks. It adjusts through a slider. The leather ends are stitched with a reinforcing box at the point where the hardware pulls, which is where a shoulder strap fails on a bag carried this way.
Both carries are useful for different distances. The handle is for moving the bag across a room or off a bike. The strap is for the walk. Nothing about the bag changes between them.
Where things go
Under the flap, the front of the bag carries slip pockets divided by a seam down the middle. These are the ones you reach without unbuckling anything, so they take the items you want on the move.
There is a zipped pocket, which is the only closure on the bag that secures anything on its own, and pockets on the sides of the body. The main compartment is lined in polyester and fabric rather than left as bare canvas, which means small objects sit on a smooth surface and come back out instead of catching in the weave.
One owner describes it as nicely lined with a good amount of room and plenty of pockets, which matches. Another calls it slim, which is the shape: this is a flat, wide bag rather than a deep one, and it carries documents, a laptop and a day's items well while it is not the bag for a change of clothes.
The metal parts
The prong buckles, the loops the top handle swings on, the swivel snap hooks at both ends of the shoulder strap and the slider that adjusts it are metal with an antiqued finish rather than plated plastic. The buckles hold a fastened flap under load without deforming, which is the load that matters on a bag closed by two straps.
What owners report
The comments with content in them point at three things. Construction comes up most: one owner specifically calls out the hand-stitched saddle stitching as the thing that convinced them, and several describe the bag as sturdy and well made. Capacity comes up second, described as a good amount and as roomy with plenty of pockets. And one rider confirms the obvious use, calling it suited to a motorcycle.
One owner says it is fine, that they would not reorder, and that they are not unhappy either. This is a bag that does what it says and does not surprise anybody.
Questions
How big is it? 45.7 cm wide by 30 cm tall, which is 18 by 11.81 in.
Is it waterproof? It is not waterproof. The beeswaxed canvas is water-repellent and the flap covers the opening, but the seams are sewn and the zip has no gasket.
Does the shoulder strap come off? Yes, at both ends on swivel snap hooks, and it adjusts.
How heavy is it? 1.42 kg empty, which is 3.13 lb.
How fast can I open it? Not fast. Two leather straps and prong buckles. Use the front pockets for anything you need on the move.
Will a laptop fit? The bag is 45.7 by 30 cm, which is generous for any laptop made. There is no padded laptop sleeve.
Can I re-wax it? Yes. A wax bar and gentle heat, once the surface starts to look dry at the high spots.
Will the creases come out? No. Waxed cotton keeps a record of how it has been folded. That is the material, not a defect.
