After receiving earlier than expected, I open the box to see a beautiful leather piece of art! This thing is quality. Thick by pliable leather. I cant take my eyes off of it. Oozes quality. And smells great. Cannot wait to take it out! I had been looking at COACH bags which costs 4 times more. Better than COACH in every aspect. Quality stitching, buckles, everything!

Great solid book bag- leather is good quality, buckles are all real instead of those stupid fake magnet ones. I expect this will last me a long time. Definitely recommend.

I received my new backpack yesterday and am very pleased. The leather is superb, and the stitching looks tough enough for a NYC commuter, which I am. The fixtures are great: center exterior pocket has a rolling buckle; side exterior pockets are magnetic snaps, (I put my commuter pass, a small change purse, and my security passes in those pockets for easy access on the run). Everything feels solid. I paused to think about how much weight the bag could hold, and I think the straps can hold a moderate amount of items. I feel comfortable that it can hold what a woman would keep in her handbag on daily basis, but maybe not many heavy schoolbooks. The bag has a short strap with a metal D ring to attach keys inside the bag. There is also a zip pocket inside the bag. All in all, this is a terrific looking bag, at a very affordable cost, and can carry a moderate amount of daily use personal items, but maybe not many heavy schoolbooks. It looks just like the pictures, and is rich-feeling.

PRODUCT: Polare Full Grain Leather Backpack Vintage College Laptop Backpack with YKK Metal Zipper PURCHASE DATE: 9/5/2020 FULL DISCLOSURE: There was a marketing card inside my backpack offering me a free Polare leather wallet after posting a review. I emailed their Support address with my order number, as instructed, and request additional details. According to Polare only 5% of their customers receive this card. After confirming that there was no time limit on submitting my review, and clarifying my options for selecting the wallet I would receive, I decided to wait until after I had put the backpack to use before proceeding. I wanted to be able to describe my observations from direct experience. Although I probably would not have posted this review without the free wallet offer as an enticement, this review is honest and comprehensive. MY GOALS: I had a canvas backpack with suede cover flaps that I was very happy with. Extremely light, pleasantly casual, exactly the right size for my purposes and with just the right number of pockets on the outside. There were a few pockets on the inside, but because they were oddly sized and unpadded, I did not use them as often as I thought I might. And, of course, my girlfriend decided it was the perfect “adventure backpack” for her. So, I “gifted” it to her for her birthday, which made her very happy. In need of a replacement backpack for myself, I decided to seek an upgrade as well. Interestingly, this new backpack has almost the same design as my old canvas one. There are a few key differences, but the overall size, shape, drawstring top closure, flaps, exterior pockets, and interior capacity are identical. The minor differences are in the buckles, snaps, interior pockets, and how the shoulder straps are adjusted (more on that later). And it’s leather. Upgrade mission accomplished. INITIAL IMPRESSIONS: This backpack is a very attractive, rich, chocolate brown color. It has a wonderfully smooth feel to it and the “leather smell” is sufficient to bring forth a surge of long-forgotten memories. It’s not extremely heavy, but it’s just hefty enough to feel sturdy. CONSTRUCTION: All stitching, seams, fasteners, and leather surfaces are nicely finished. Nothing appears misaligned or sloppily assembled. The leather is firm and functional. It’s not silky soft, nor is it as thick and tough as a construction worker’s tool belt. It’s appropriately somewhere in the middle and will soften up with use, as all leather of this type does. BUCKLES: An unexpected discovery was that neither of the buckle straps can be adjusted. Each has only one hole punched in it to secure the flap. If you overstuff the main compartment or the front pocket a bit, you will need to leave that flap unlatched or unbuckled. Punching extra holes in the buckle straps would not be difficult since there is enough room at the bottom of both buckle straps for one or two more holes. But having them included would be nicer. Before I made my purchase I was unsure if the front pocket buckle had a push-button release like the top buckle does. The marketing photo says “Push Button Latches” (plural) but none of the photos showed a latch on the front pocket. As it turns out, there is only one push-button latch, and it’s on the top flap. The top flap can be opened with the push-button latch or by manually unbuckling the flap. The front pocket can only be opened by unbuckling the flap because it doesn’t have a push-button latch. The top flap latch works well but can be a bit awkward to open when the backpack is empty since there is nothing behind the latch to provide resistance when you push on the button. SHOULDER STRAPS: The shoulder straps are not padded but they are 2” wide, which is comfortable for light to medium loads. They might be uncomfortable for extended periods if you load the backpack with too many heavy things (books, bottles of water, rocks, use your imagination). I was a bit perplexed by the mechanism used to adjust the shoulder straps. Because of how each strap is threaded through the metal “double-loop” the excess strap is folded back upon itself and feeds back upward, between the back of the backpack and the shoulder strap itself. Figure 1 shows what I’m trying to describe. There are a few problems with this approach. (1) The double-loop and the strap feeding through it form a bump/bulge that rubs against my back and is uncomfortable. (2) After I shortened the shoulder strap lengths to my preference, the excess strap was so long that the upward feeding direction didn’t work very well. The excess strap ended up needing to drape downward, which compounded the effect of the first problem by adding yet another layer to the irritating bump. Luckily, I was able to devise a four-step workaround. (1) I reversed the direction that the straps fed through the double-loop. This resolved the problem with the bump/bulge rubbing against my back by moving the “lump” to the outside of the straps. Unfortunately, this also meant that the excess strap draped up and out to the sides before dangling down like a pair of boneless bat wings; a very unattractive and impractical result. (2) I borrowed (stole?) four elastic hair ties from my girlfriend. I figured she owed me for the canvas backpack she stole (received as a gift?) from me. (3) I unthreaded the shoulder straps from the double-loops and slid two of the hair ties as far up each strap as possible before feeding the straps back through the double-loop in the new direction I was using, then adjusted the strap lengths to my preference. (4) For each shoulder strap, I folded the excess strap back over itself and slid the two hair ties over the folds to secure them. Figure 2 shows result of my efforts. Problem solved. If you are not willing to do something similar, then you will need to decide if the shoulder straps work for you as designed. If you leave the straps extended almost all the way you should be fine. My issues arose when I shortened them enough that there was a significant amount of excess strap that didn’t seem to have a good place to go. CAPACITY: I own two 20 oz tumblers (6 7/8” tall, 3 1/2 diameter) that fit perfectly in each of the side pockets. I needed to leave the cover flaps open completely, but the tumblers were seated deeply and securely. See Figure 3. The front pocket is tall and wide enough to store two or three layers of snack bars vertically or horizontally. Large cell phones, wallets, and other such things will fit easily. The interior has one zippered side pocket. It is “just” wide enough that I can put my Apple Pencil in there and lay it horizontally across the bottom. It’s a very tight fit, but that gives you an idea of the inside width of the pocket. The main compartment is an uninterrupted area for storage. I haven’t tried to stuff it as full as possible, mainly because I’m not likely to ever need to do that. My needs are for light trips and simple commutes. My iPad Pro 12.9” (2020 model) fit snugly along one side in the landscape position, and comfortably in the portrait position. I cannot lay it completely flat on the bottom of the backpack, which would probably be a really bad thing to do even if it were possible. SUPPORT: Email responses were timely (within one business day), polite and complete. CAUTIONS: This backpack is not extremely large, so do not expect to pack it with everything you want to take on a camping trip. Although this backpack is sturdy enough that you could load it up fairly heavily, you must remember that the shoulder straps are not padded or excessively wide. Lastly, if it is extremely hot outside and you are only wearing a light shirt you should expect your back to sweat. After all, this backpack is made of leather. SUMMARY: Overall, this is an excellent light-to-mid-duty backpack with a few opportunities for improvement. Because I was able to work around my concerns with the shoulder straps, I am very pleased with my purchase. I believe you will be happy with this backpack if you use it within its intended purpose. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MANUFACTURER: Change the product feature photo that states “Push Button Latches” to properly indicate that there is only ONE push button latch. Punch one or two more holes in each of the buckle straps to provide additional adjustability when storing more or larger items in the main compartment or the front pocket. Otherwise, update the product description to state that the top and front flap buckles are not adjustable, since there is only one hole punched in each buckle strap. Change the product feature photo that states “Side zipper pocket” since both side pockets have magnetic snap closures and neither have zippers. Rethink the shoulder strap adjustment mechanism or add two “retaining loops” to each strap (similar to what I rigged up – see Figure 2) to keep any excess strap length from dangling down at awkward angles. Add a full-sized interior pocket to separate a paper notebook, iPad/tablet, or small laptop from other items in the backpack.

My first reaction is that this is a beautiful bag. The quality of the leather is incredible. It is a beautiful product, I am very excited to use this bag. I will update as time wears on.

My daughter loved it. The leather is a great quality, thick leather. However, after 7 months, the snaps on the side pockets have fallen off (on the inside of the pocket). Anything that isnt sewn on has come off. The inside snaps that came off were riveted in.

Heavy duty! Thick leather but once I ordered it it took 4 days before they even shipped my order. Not pleased with the shipping at all!

Sadly I had to replace my last leather bag that had been a travelling companion of mine for thirty years. This one is great and in just a short decade I wont even miss my old one (it needs some break in time).

I bought one for my husband and another one for me. We like to take day trips/travel and are concerned about bed bugs (US growing problem for travelers), ticks and other pests and wanted something we can maintain clean and hard for bugs to stick on. Fabric is a magnet for pests. I decided to purchase this backpack and I love it. Its very sturdy, roomy, and attractive. We use it for extra clothes, camera gear and snacks, yet it doesnt look huge, its just perfect in size.

... and it still smells like mushrooms... but I get compliments on it all the time, and I really like it, style-wise.