A flap-top backpack in PU, 1.03 kg empty, closing on two webbing straps with metal clips over a zipped main compartment. PU is polyurethane on a fabric backing. It is not leather, it is not a leather byproduct, and no animal is involved at any point, which is the reason most people are on this page. Everything below says what that material is and what it is not.
- 1.03 kg (2.27 lb) empty. The lightest bag in this part of our catalog.
- PU leather. No part of this bag is animal-derived.
- Made using recycled plastic bottles and recycled nylon. The recycled content carries no third-party certification and no stated percentage.
- Flap top over two webbing straps with metal clip buckles, and a zip closing the main compartment underneath.
- A flap pocket on each lower front corner, plus a zipped side pocket.
- A grab handle on the top and padded shoulder straps.
What PU actually is
PU leather is a polyurethane coating bonded to a fabric backing. The backing carries the strength, the coating gives the surface. That is the whole material.
Vegan leather means that no animal product is in this bag. It does not mean a material with leather-like properties. PU is a plastic and behaves like one: it is lighter, it is uniform, it does not need conditioning, it does not develop a patina, and it wears out differently.
The photographs show that fairly. The surface here is matte and fabric-textured rather than embossed with a fake grain, which we think is the better decision: a PU bag pretending to be calfskin looks like a PU bag pretending to be calfskin, and this one is not trying.
What the vegan claim covers
This bag is 100% vegan. What that means concretely is that no part of it is animal-derived: no leather, no suede trim, no bone or horn hardware, and no animal-based adhesive in the parts we specify.
It does not mean low-impact. Polyurethane is a petrochemical product. Choosing it over leather trades one set of environmental costs for another: no livestock, no tanning chemistry, and in exchange a plastic that does not biodegrade and cannot be re-tanned or repaired the way a hide can. If your reason for being here is animal welfare, this bag answers it completely. If your reason is carbon or end-of-life, it is a trade rather than a win.
How it opens
The closure has two layers, which is unusual on a bag at this weight.
The outer layer is a flap that folds over the top, held by two webbing straps running down the front into metal clip buckles. These are the visual signature of the bag and they are quick: press and release, no threading.
Under the flap, the main compartment has its own zip running across the opening. So the flap is weather cover and appearance, and the zip is the actual closure. In practice that means the bag stays shut even when you leave the straps unclipped..
It also means a rain shower hits fabric rather than a zip track, since the flap sits over the top of it.
Pockets and handles
Each lower front corner carries a small pocket under its own flap. These are the size for keys, a card, earphones, a charging cable. They are covered rather than zipped, so they are quick and they are not secure; nothing valuable should live in them on a crowded train.
One side of the bag carries a zipped pocket, which is the one to use for a phone or a wallet while you are moving.
A grab handle sits on the top between the shoulder straps, which is the detail that turns a backpack into something you can hand across a car seat or hang on a hook.
The shoulder straps are padded and mesh-backed, and the base of the bag is a separate reinforced panel. On a bag this light, the base is where wear shows first, and building it as its own panel is the right decision.
1.03 kilograms, and why it matters here
1.03 kg is 2.27 lb, empty. It is the lightest bag in this part of our catalog by a clear margin: the waxed canvas and leather bags we make are heavier at a comparable size.
That difference is the single most practical argument for PU over leather and it has nothing to do with ethics. Leather is heavy because it is a dense sheet of collagen fiber; a polyurethane coating on a light woven backing is not. On a bag you carry all day with a laptop already in it, the lower empty weight is a real difference rather than a specification.
How PU ages
Leather and PU fail differently, and the difference is the most important thing to understand before choosing between them.
Leather wears. It scuffs, darkens, softens and creases, and it stays leather the whole time; a well-made leather bag at ten years old looks used rather than broken. Polyurethane degrades. Over years, and faster in heat and humidity, the coating hardens and eventually cracks or lifts from its backing at the flex points, which on a backpack means the strap anchors and the base corners. That process is called hydrolysis and it happens to every polyurethane coating eventually, on every brand, at every price.
What extends it is undramatic. Keep the bag out of prolonged direct sun, do not leave it packed and damp, do not store it compressed in a hot loft, and wipe it with a damp cloth rather than a solvent. Under normal use you are looking at years of ordinary service, not months.
Nothing about it makes this a bad backpack. It makes it a different one.
What owners actually carry in it
What owners carry is the most useful guide to fit.
One travels with a thin laptop, a tablet computer, a small notebook and a set of headphones together in the bag. Another carries a laptop plus university books and describes the interior as spacious and well made. Those two loads bracket it: a day of study or a day of travel with a machine, a tablet and accessories, comfortably.
The most useful comment is the least enthusiastic one. An owner describes it as solidly mediocre in a neutral way and says it works. Read alongside the rest, that is a fair summary of what this bag is: a light, plain, competent backpack that does the job and does not try to be an heirloom.
One owner calls the finish smooth and another says the bag is what the photos showed, which for a PU product is worth more than it sounds.
Questions
Is any part of it animal-derived? No. It is 100% vegan.
Is PU leather actually leather? No. It is a polyurethane coating on a fabric backing. It is a plastic.
Is it made from recycled material? Yes, recycled plastic bottles and recycled nylon. The content carries no third-party certification and no stated percentage.
Will a laptop fit? An owner reports carrying a thin laptop together with a tablet and headphones in it.
How heavy is it? 1.03 kg empty, which is 2.27 lb.
How does it close? A zip across the main compartment, with a flap over the top held by two webbing straps and metal clips.
Is it waterproof? It is not waterproof. The flap keeps rain off the opening; the seams are sewn and the zips have no gaskets.
How long will it last? Years of ordinary use. Polyurethane eventually hardens and cracks at the flex points, which leather does not do, and keeping the bag out of heat and sun is what delays it.
How do I clean it? A damp cloth. No solvents, no leather conditioner; there is nothing in it for a conditioner to feed.
