I'm going on a 2 week vacation to Spain, France & Italy & wanted to look somewhat fashionable with my luggage being that it is Europe. I did extensive research looking at other brands: Saddleback, Bric's, Mulholland Brothers but all those leather duffel bags were in the $500.00 range. Someone on internet mentioned this small company Vagabond Traveler & I must say I am Extremely impressed. This duffel could easily pass as a $1200.00 Prada or Polo. The leather is very supple, the photos show it to be hard but it is really soft. The zippers & clasps are high quality metal & really large lobster clasps to connect the shoulder strap to the bag. The interior is lined in high quality silk or nylon, the type that is really soft & found in high end bags. They say leather will have natural nicks and marks but I did not find one blemish. The dark chocolate is really dark almost black but in a good way. I prefer silver hardware to gold hardware on bags. There is alot of pockets & zippers so looks kind of light a motorcycle jacket which they may have been going for. The Vagabond Traveler logo is fairly discreet, just on on front top and branded in the leather. This duffel was a steal at this price. Now the only quibbles I have is that the metal hardware clasps are held by small 1 1/2 inch leather loops. If I filled the bag up with heavy items, over time that leather loop will stretch & break. They should have made the loop double thick even though it may distract from the look. Another item is that the bag is slightly smaller than what I expected. This is truly a weekend bag, good for a 3 day trip. It will fit easily in overhead bin in plane though. The air is dry here in Arizona so I treated it with Chamberlains leather milk which is somewhat pricey but worth it for preserving high end leather. Someday I may fork over the $600.00 for a Saddleback duffel but this will do fine for now.
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