Lost & Found Bags: Filson vs. Bleu de Chauffe vs. Best Made

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Wait, Did I Lose My Filson Bag?

Dear diary, today is going, well, horribly for reasons that I’ll get into in a second, but I do have the chance to write an article about the best, most unique bags that I could find on the market today, even though some of them may be impractical.

Yo ho yo ho, Snailiens! I hope everybody’s doing well. I have a few things to attend to for business before we start this article. Uh, let me just pull up my papers here…just kidding!

I’m working on a computer, have you heard of it?

 

Quick Comparison of Today’s Bags

 

The Away Suitcase Fake-Out

Today, we’re going over some of the best messenger day bag briefcases, whatever it may be – although I do have a problem that we’ll talk about later.

We’re going over, not in order, a Best Made bag, which is insane. The leather is beautiful – we’ll talk about it in a little bit, and the hardware is actually really cool, it’s changing colors right now. Another bag we’re going over is from Bleu de Chauffe, and I just – all transparency – I got this bag for free, not because Bleu de Chauffe asked me to review it for free but because I asked them if I could review it for free.

So they sent me this bag. I sent it over to AirTeam6, aka my neighbor Chris, and he did an auxiliary review for us. We’ll check in with Chris later.

And then, finally, one of the biggest issues with this article is I’m supposed to be reviewing a Filson briefcase as well. I can’t find it. I’ve been using it day to day, and I haven’t been for this week because it’s gone.

I have no idea where it is. I have a ton of my stuff in there, so hopefully… oh my god, I found it! Thank god! Let’s get going.

Let’s Talk About This Filson Briefcase

The first bag we will be reviewing is by Filson. Thank god I found that! I’m not saying it would be an emergency if I lost it. I’m saying it would be an emergency if I couldn’t find it, so thank god I did.

This is the Filson Original Twill Rugged Twill briefcase from the Wall Street Journal article that says everybody has one of these; don’t even try to be unique. But the little thing the Wall Street Journal didn’t know is they produced a limited edition in camo, so I got that one and became my own man. So we’ll be reviewing that one first, and we’ll get to it.

There’s construction going on near my apartment, and one of the workers has a super beat-up briefcase, which is very cool, but even better than all of that, these briefcases can get beat up, and then Filson will repair them uniquely and do all these cool stitching repairs to them.

We’ll start with what I love first. The outer material is Filson’s rugged twill.

This is not a canvas; this is woven differently. I don’t know the exact weight – I’ve heard 24-ounce rugged twill, which is very heavy, but it could also be 24 ounces with the wax applied, which means it’s probably an 18-ounce twill with wax on top of it, so I don’t really know.

I just want to say I think the pattern, this camo pattern if you’re interested in that, is screen printed on. So, with time, it’ll probably wear and patina off and look really cool as well.

Either way, very, very heavy. Filson advertises this as holding up an engine block so that’s a testament to the leather and the twill. I don’t think you’re gonna have an issue with your little pastrami sandwich.

The leather trims on this bag come from Wicket and Craig, one of the only vegetable tanning refineries in the U.S., and is proprietary made for Filson. I’m pretty sure it’s hot stuffed, just like you, hot stuff! So there are oils and waxes in here that’ll keep it more weather-resistant, and it’s box-stitched at the bottom.

There’s a nice little signature of Filson that keeps the flap closed, also made out of that leather. Nothing to complain about!

Hey, real quick, I also had the original briefcase in rough-out leather for a very short amount of time.

The only main difference besides, of course, the outer leather is that the shoulder strap has felted wool on it, which is their most premium version, but other than that, it is functionally the same.

It also comes with this dazzling shoulder strap, so if you ever need to carry more things or if you just like it on your shoulder, then you can do it. I will say, though, that it does not come with a felted wool cushion at the bottom. It doesn’t seem like it has any stuffing in it to be more comfortable.

It’s not a big issue for me because I don’t put a ton of stuff in it, but it’s something to consider. But the strap is nice and it is removable.

Going over storage, this bag doesn’t really have a ton of storage, but for your day-to-day needs it’s probably perfect. There’s a front pocket and a back pocket, which if you have like a book or something thin, just like a thin block of wood or a tablet or something like that, then I feel like that would be great.

But if you have anything that’s kind of protruding, the bag just kind of gets ugly and sticks out. But either way, it’s great that they’re there. I wish there were buttons or something to keep them closed just to keep that silhouette.

Then there’s also a key holder on the inside, which is great, or I don’t know, whatever you could chain up. There are little tiny pockets on the side that I feel are probably for pens. Then there are these giant meaty zippers up top that do a very good job of keeping the bag closed and ripping your laptop to absolute shreds, so definitely be careful with those.

On the inside, though, there’s a main center pocket, two side pockets, and then on one of the side pockets, there are tiny little pen pockets, storage pockets for hard drives, whatever you want to put in them, wallets, or anything like that. So storage is fine. There’s no padding anywhere. This is really just twill which gets into one of the things that I don’t like about this bag. The hardware on this, I believe, is just aged brass, which is great – you could also sand it down if you wanted to get really bright and shiny and then watch it age over time, but you also don’t have to do that.

Okay so there are two things I don’t like about this bag that aren’t really deal breakers at all. There are solutions for both of them. The first one is the handles that you hold on with your hands. I wish there was another leather piece that would hold them together because once they break in they kind of just flop around everywhere and slap against the bag. It’s just cooler to lock them when you’re done with the bag, but I think Filson will provide them for you for a fee. So that’s kind of also a downside because you want a bag that feels complete and it seems like Filson is charging you to make it fully complete.

The other thing, though, like I said, is that this is a waxed rugged twill bag, and it’s great – you can leave it on the ground, water won’t come in, it can be raining, you’ll be totally fine. The only thing, though, is the inside of this is not lined or padded, so anything you put on the inside is going to get a very light sheen of oil or wax on it.

It happened to my laptop and to some books I have. It doesn’t destroy anything but it definitely gets everywhere on the things that you put in there. So if they lined it I would actually really like that. There’s probably a reason that they don’t, but I think it would be nice.

The Best Made Patina Monster

The next bag is this literal patina beast from the old Best Made before Best Made got bought out by Duluth. I haven’t seen anything from Best Made since they got bought out by Duluth, but they don’t make stuff like this anymore, so I’m very bummed out. I found this on eBay but it is purely a patina monster, so we’ll talk about that right now.

Like I was saying, this is from the original Best Made before they got bought out by Duluth, so if you want to get this, your best bet is on eBay. I may also sell mine. I’m not too sure, but I think there are a few on eBay all the time.

They also made a duffel bag in the same leather – I can’t find that one, but either way this is a literal beast made in the USA. There are a few things about it that I like and a few things I don’t like, but we’ll get into that right now. But this is really the patina monster for a few reasons.

The first thing about this bag, obviously right away, that jumps out is the leather. This is all made in the USA. Best Made used to make their products only in the USA, and that’s why I think this one was originally made for $800. But this is a very, very thick vegetable-tanned undyed leather.

It looks very soft and supple in the pictures they show you – it is not at all. It is creaky and super stiff, and actually the inside is not sanded down at all, so it’s actually kind of rough. It makes your fingers feel weird.

But the whole point of this bag obviously is just to be very, very simple and very, very well built. There’s only one pocket on the inside that you could put like a wallet or something in. Not a lot of space besides that – it’s really just a tote with a flap on the top of it so that’s really not the important part.

The important part is the materials that are used – natural vegetable tan undyed leather, all from the USA. This is going to darken and soften over time. I can already see some wrinkles on it from when I opened it and closed it, but it will eventually become a dark, rich, beautiful, soft, supple leather bag. But right now, it is in its fresh, barely used state.

The brass hardware also follows that same philosophy because it is not aged or artificially changed in any way, so as you use this bag over time, the brass is also going to darken and oxidize and change colors and be very, very beautiful. This bag – there’s not too much to say about it besides it is a beautiful tank that you can just take with you probably for your entire life and then your child’s entire life and then their entire life.

Bleu de Chauffe: Saving the Best for Last

Okay, the next bag is by Bleu de Chauffe, and I don’t want to say that I saved the best for last, but I saved by far the most functional bag for last. Also, this is my dual review with my neighbor Chris.

Me: “Chris, take it away!”

Chris: “Thanks, Mike! I’m Chris, I’m a new character on the Iron Snail. Uh, maybe here for a long time, maybe not even here at all. Mike gave me this great bag, and it’s fantastic so far. Veggie-tanned leather with a good camouflage print – stands out in the city if you’re looking for a style icon but would certainly blend in if you were in, say, the woods. Nice felt accents on some of the hardware to make sure it doesn’t slip and altogether quality construction.

It works for me, and I’ve got quite a lot packed in here: 16-inch MacBook Pro, Altoids, face lotion, hand lotion (Chris’s skin is the smoothest in all of Brooklyn), other accouterments (I had to look that one up) change, spare change, different currencies, different passports, a sandwich… yeah it’s all packed in there and it fits pretty well.”

Me: “Thank you, Chris! Fantastic job, I couldn’t have done it better myself. I’m gonna do my own version now… just kidding! But not really.”

Also, shout out to Meg, Chris’s girlfriend – she’s a stylist who always tells me my clothes are too big and my apartment is ugly.

As Chris said, this is vegetable tan leather on the outside. What’s really cool, though, is that this camo pattern will wear away, or just as you scratch the bag, the under color of the actual vegetable tan leather will come through, which is a light color, so it’s going to vary with color a ton.

It’s very tough, but I will say the main difference between this bag and the Filson and the Best Made bags is that Filson and Best Made are both American-driven, American heritage wear driven so the leather is incredibly thick and tough. Filson – the rugged twill is incredibly thick and tough, and it can hold an engine block, and you know you can’t break it. I also don’t think you can break the Bleu de Chauffe, but I feel like what you think of when you think of a French bag comes out through this bag while still keeping the utilitarian purpose.

So this is kind of why it’s the best all-around bag. Vegetable tan leather is very tough and will age beautifully, but it is not so thick that it won’t bend or anything like that. Also, the inside is sanded, so it’s very soft right off the bat. It has zippers that I have no doubt will last probably to the end of time, but they are not the heaviest, beefiest zippers you can get from YKK or Talon or anything like that. And at the end of the day it seems like this French bag’s goal is to be convenient and perfect for your everyday life and also a legacy piece.

The first pocket is just an empty pocket. I believe it is lined in nylon, and you can stick whatever you want in there, which is fine. The second pocket, though, is where the value add happens. So this bag is completely made in France, there is a signature by the person that made the bag, and there’s a little button thing at the end of the bag for some branding.

But where the value really shines, though, is that this comes with a felt little laptop case that you can snap in or keep out of the bag if you’d like, and it comes with another little bag thing that reminds me of a pencil case and like elementary school. Just the fact that it comes with the bag, and it’s integrated really well with the button snaps, that is off the chain hook!

Watch This Review

Plot Twist: I’m Actually a Backpack Guy Now

There is one thing about me that I just need to tell you real quick and it has to do with bags. I realized through buying all of these bags that usually, a day for me involves a camera bag, a tripod, a gym bag, and a briefcase, and I end up looking like a fool. So I got a new backpack, and I’ll try to carry some of these briefcases as much as I can, but I just have too much stuff, and I end up looking like a fool walking up and down the streets of New York with eight bags when I could probably do it in two.

So I have to be a backpack guy mainly, and I wanted to spice it up with Cordura fabric so maybe I’ll review that if you want, maybe I won’t, who knows.

Either way, it’s very late, it’s much past my bedtime. I hope you all are doing well. I will see you all very soon. Love all of you, love all of you so much. Bye.

This article was adapted from Michael Kristy’s video on The Iron Snail, with edits from FashionBeans, and was reviewed by Michael to ensure the integrity of his original content. Watch the full video here.