Got this for my spouse for laptop, tablet, travel and work carrier. Works great and looks even better in person!

Polare products are the best. You wont be disappointed. Real leather and craftsmanship

My wife bought me this backpack for Christmas as a replacement for my Army assault bag...because its illegal to own camouflage when we travel to Trinidad (Im not making this up). The Polare leather backpack holds my laptop, iPad, cords, notebook, pens, and wallet. It looks great, wears comfortably, and is durable, so I may even be persuaded to completely replace the Army gear for this one. It could happen.

Ive only had it for about a week now, but Ive used it pretty much every day since it arrived. I had originally ordered another brand which I really liked style-wise, but it turned out to be too small for what I needed to carry so I bought this as my second choice. What I like: The styling is nice. Its a little darker than I thought, but still good looking. Its leather, so of course it has that wonderful look and feel. The leather appears to be of good quality, and the stitching looks good. I like the top handle. Once it gets broken in I think it will be quite comfortable. It fits my Lenovo P50 with ease and still has quite a bit of interior room. The zippers operate smoothly and appear to be of decent quality. Straps: Even though they have redesigned the straps and added rivets, Im still concerned about their long term durability. I carry quite a bit of weight (if you have a P50 youll know what I mean) and spend much of the time with the pack slung over just one shoulder. That puts the full stress on one strap in kind of a sideways pull. While the straps appear to be pretty solidly attached, they also appear to be made of the same thickness of leather as the pack itself. There is padding which adds some strength, but I still think I would have liked seeing a thicker leather and maybe more reinforcement used in a place that takes so much stress. So far its holding up fine, but well see what it looks like a year from now. Pockets: There are 5 pockets on the back. This is both good and bad. On one hand, it gives a lot of ways to organize, but on the other hand, each pocket is quite small. The reason the photo shows all those things sticking out is because most of them wouldnt actually fit in the pockets they are shown in with the flap closed. I would much rather have seen two larger pockets instead of the 4 lower ones, at least one of which was big enough to hold the big brick power supply of the P50. Or even just replacing the two bottom pockets with one big one would have been welcome. But since none of the pockets are even remotely big enough for the power supply I have to put it inside where it takes up a lot of valuable space and is always in the way. Im undecided on the strap/flap closures on 3 of the pockets. They work ok now, but its really Velcro that holds the flap closed and the strap is a bit more form than function. As long as the Velcro doesnt wear out, theyll probably continue to work ok. Wish they had come up with something more traditional than Velcro though. The pencil pocket could have been a little bigger (deeper) too. It would be a great place to keep reading glasses and/or sunglasses, except that it can only really hold one pair comfortably, and depending on the style, even one might be a bit tight. I have both reading and sunglasses, and I can barely squeeze two pair of small reading glasses or the sunglasses, but I cant put sunglasses and even one pair of reading glasses in at the same time without crushing them. The water bottle pockets seem ample for a normal sized water bottle. I rarely carry a water bottle with me, but do occasionally throw a couple sodas in there to restock my desk. They of course fit easily. You could probably put an umbrella in one too, but I don’t like my umbrella on display all the time so I prefer to keep it inside. Back: The back is both good and bad as well. The breathable fabric is probably nice if you are wearing it around all day, but I use it just for commuting and think a full leather back would probably have better long term durability. Plus I think the fabric back somewhat detracts from the rustic look. As near as I can tell, there is no leather in the back at all other than the reinforcing band for the straps (it doesn’t feel thick enough to have a layer of leather sandwiched in there) and a solid leather back would have made a much more solid attachment for straps too. Interior: The interior is pretty good. There is a big divider with a Velcro strap which holds the laptop nicely, although the strap is of limited use and tends to get in the way as much as keeping anything secure (like all straps in laptop bags). Might have been nice to have one more large divider in there to keep papers and folders separate from the laptop. As is I end up putting them together and it gets a little tricky to slide things in sometimes. There is a zippered pocket which is much larger than any of the outside pockets, so it ends up as a catch-all for all the things I couldnt fit in the outside. The drawback is its not made of leather, but rather the lighter weight lining material, so I dont know how well it will hold up in the long term with everything crammed in to it. Another pen holder or two would be welcome. There are only two. I also would probably prefer to have them with bottoms so the pens would stay in without having to clip them to the pocket. They are made out of the same leather as the pack, but for this application that leather is actually a little too thick. I broke the clip off one of my pens trying to get it to expand enough to accommodate the thickness of the leather. Since they are just loops without bottoms, if you dont clip the pen to the leather it just falls through the hole and gets lost in the bottom. So Im either breaking pens or losing them. It may sound like Im nitpicking, and I am. But dont get me wrong - its a really nice pack. I have high hopes for it and I cant wait to see how it looks and feels a year or two from now once its broken in. (assuming it holds up) Just a few things that I wish had been thought through a little better on a pack that costs nearly a hundred and sixty dollars. Maybe the next redesign will incorporate a few of my suggestions… Until then, I’m going to continue using it and hope I don’t have to make use of the 1 year warranty. Update 12/31/19: Three months later its still going strong. The straps are holding up well and arent showing any signs of tearing yet. The handle has softened up nicely. Zippers still work smoothly. No signs of torn stitching or fabric yet. Still happy!

Good quality, sturdy, holds all my crap perfect

Strong, durable, and extremely well made. Precisely as advertised. I am 100% satisfied.

I needed a new backpack, as my old book bag style backpack was 6 years old, and very well-traveled in need of retirement. So for a replacement, I wanted a leather backpack that would hold up well and show a little character and patina as the bag aged. I originally looking at Shinola and other similar niche brand backpacks. And while their quality is excellent, their price point is above $750. I chose to at least search for a more cost-effective alternative. And I found it. I decided to give the Polare Cowhide Leather Backpack a try. And with a price point of < $150, I thought I would give it a shot. After all, it has a 1 year warranty and I would be able to return it if I didnt like it. When I received it, I was absolutely amazed at how well built, comfortable, and rugged this backpack actually is! It looks better in person than in the pictures, is very comfortable, and travels really well. And I have received a lot of compliments from people on the look and the styling. There is plenty of space inside, and it seems like there is a pocket for everything. Even with 2 laptops, there is still ample protection and still a great deal of room for notepads, legal documents, electronic equipment, etc. Only time will tell how well this backpack holds up, but to date, its without a doubt the best $150 I have spent in a long time!

This is a cool bag, it has a stylish look & feel, while being sturdy and spacious. I would recommend making the straps a bit smaller or adding a cross-chest strap to hold the shoulder straps in place. Sometime the straps tend to slide off the shoulders. But all in all, I love this bag and it makes a great addition to your accessories. For the price, its a definite deal!

I ordered this bag and it shipped quickly. The first bag I received was packaged well. It was wrapped right in plastic and came in a nice cloth bag. When I pulled it out it was covered I white mold inside and out. I didn’t notice any moisture but it was pretty disgusting. I immediately returned it and ordered another. This one arrived within two days and after removing from the package I could tell the cloth bag was damp. The was mold on this one as well but in only a few spots so I cleaned it up and kept it. The quality of the bag seems very nice. It’s soft leather and has lots of pockets for storage. I’ve only had it a couple days so I can’t speak to its longevity but it seems like it will last. I’ll update as needed.

Great quality but narrower than I expected. I have big feet so packing an extra pair of shoes could be a problem for a weekend bag.