Long time readers will recall my joy when I found my Floto briefcase. I am still in love, carrying my Floto daily. 75% of the time it meets all my needs perfectly. As a trial lawyer though that 25% of the time I need something more. For bigger load days I tote two or three Bindertak binders, my Mac Book Pro, cords and cables, several legal pads, and even my awesome portable printer. Particularly when I head in to trial, or need to take the office on the road, more capacity is in order. For the longest time I utilized a ballistic nylon rolling catalog case (like the one to the right) for my big loads. It served me well, but was not ideal. It was over stuffed, and I still had to have a second case riding on top of it.For fun I surf the internet and look at briefcases. A couple of years ago I read an article on the Philly Law Blog that turned me on to Saddleback Leather. I studied all their stuff and their SL Classic briefcase got its hooks in me. I found other options online, but none matched the Classic. It hypnotized me, but at more than $600 the cost pushed me away. My life became a tug of war. I became Ralphie and the SL Classic became my Daisy Red Ryder. My abhorrent briefcase lust inner demon Id kept telling me buy it, buy it. My always wise Super Ego held me back...
At some point during the tortuous battle between Super Ego Good and Id Evil my peace seeking Ego developed a plan. It would put away $20, $25 a month in a type of Christmas Club account, in case I could some day rationalize the SL Classic.
After a couple of years I had a nice nest egg socked away. And then it happened! The zippers on the rolling bag broke. It had to be replaced. It still worked mind you, but it was now flawed. A powerful trial lawyer such as myself could never compromise his task with less than perfect equipment! It was time for the SL Classic...
Look at this beauty!
I bought the extra large. It is a beast. It weighs 8 pounds! It is made of thick, rich leather. It smells great (that satiating smell of leather is another stimulus that could fill text books). It is stand up stiff. It has heavy duty hardware that would make a Swiss mountain climber proud.
But does it work as a trial bag?
This week the bag went to trial with me, and performed magnificently.
Here you see two stuffed Bindertek binders, an exhibits folder, three legal pads, a Mac Book Pro and charger, a small note pad, Post-Its, three highlighters, a White-out dispenser, and four extra pens. The side pockets, that you cannot see, are holding my iPhone and wallet. That's a lot of stuff. Yes, the bag was heavy, but I was able to carry it easily enough from the parking garage, through security, to the courtroom, and back. Would not want to walk across town with it, but a couple of blocks is no problem. The SL Classic XL passed the trial test.
There was one thing I was worried about, that's the strap buckle on the case. I was concerned that it would be a problem opening and closing the bag in trial speed. After a couple of days of use the strap had relaxed, and now opens and closes fairly easily.
What I really liked is that the bag stands tall and when the lid is folded back in and out access is a breeze! Is it worth the price? Probably not, but it sure is nice.
Please visit hardinglaw.com for more information about Harding & Associates Family Law
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2 comments:
I got the same bag last year for my 40th birthday - was time for me to get what my wife called a "big boy bag," as I was using an old freebie leather bag that my brother had given me that he had from a prior company (with logo embossed, luckily hard to see!).
Love this bag, expect it to hold up forever. Just gets better with age!
That bag is huge. I love it but I think I will stick with my Straight to Business bag by Von Baer Bags, it's gorgeous and serves it's purpose well.
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