Buy a Vintage Leather Messenger Bag or iPad Bag Online

If you’ve followed any of my hubs you will know that I am a huge fan of messenger bags. I talk a bit more below about why, but in short I have yet to find a bag that does so well at combining practicality with style. As it happens, I also love the look and feel of leather, so it is only obvious that my love for these two should be combined in me wanting to own a leather messenger bag. For men the advantages are also obvious because leather has such an old-world look and feel that it is both masculine and stylish.

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Put me on my high horse and I can bang on endlessly about how cool messenger bags are. For a start they just have loads of room. Most usually have one large pocket that opens pretty wide. They are also usually closed by a big flap. Now the two advantages of this sort of arrangement over the more usual briefcase style zip closure or and small pocket is that they seem to happily expand to swallow all kinds of stuff. They don't look nearly as stuffy as an old fashioned briefcase and can carry a lot more than a standard laptop bag.

You can very easily slip in all the stuff you need for your daily activities be they going to an office and various meetings about town or hanging about on campus and attending classes. In fact I usually find that there is quite enough place in mine for short overnight business trips. I don’t need too much so can travel really light. A clean shirt, underwear and tooth brush will pretty much keep me going. But even with that I have space for my notepads, reading matter, laptop computer and charger and it all fits into an easy package that has me walking straight onto the plane without bothering to check luggage.

And if you’re a bit like me you also hate dragging one of those little wheelie suitcases around. It is not that I have anything against them and I certainly use one when travelling away from home for more than a couple of days. But if I can get by without one it just makes life so much easier.

Now messenger bags come in all sorts of shapes and sizes including those made from space age materials with laptop compartments built in to much cheaper messenger bags in canvas. These are options that range from the really cheap and casual (canvas) to pretty respectable and light. But it is also hard to beat the feel and look of leather when you want something a bit more stylish and, dare I say it, old world. You can’t deny that vintage leather bags just have charm that nothing made of Denier can ever match. My personal favourite is distressed leather, because bags made from it really look as if they are family heirlooms handed down from father to son. There are also some really awesome distressed leather iPad messenger bags that look cool enough to really go along with your tablet computer.

The main disadvantage to buying a leather messenger bag is cost. Whereas you can pick up a canvas bag for $20 and a reasonable modern one for $50-$100 you really are looking at spending a bit more than that for a quality leather bag. If money is no object then you can go for the top of the line. If it is an issue (it certainly is for me) then you need to look a bit more closely at your options. There are some cheaper ones out there and some of these get great reviews from users so I’d suggest taking the time to browse a bit on the Amazon website. It has a great selection and you can be sure of the quality of what you are buying if you check carefully through the buyers’ reviews. I’ve always found that Amazon’s reviews weed out dud products pretty quickly.

Another disadvantage to leather messenger bags relates to the fact that they are made from a natural substance that needs preservation and care. Leather is a beautiful material but you do have to take care of it and avoid letting it get wet. Too much water can discolour it and if you leave it somewhere damp for too long it may start to rot.

This is a fairly classic bag that is reasonably priced. The Kenneth Cole bag is made from full grain cowhide. It has a fairly large main compartment that is big enough to carry a laptop. It also has little organizer pockets up front that allow you to carry smaller items including a mobile phone.

A lot of buyers praise its for looking really good and being usefully sized. Some also note that it seems to look better with time, a common feature of leather bags, although one user complained to Amazon that it "bleeds" through onto his pants.

David King & Co's Small Distressed Leather Laptop Messenger bag wins fans wherever it is seen. The leather is really soft to the touch. Some even go so far as to say that it feels like velvet. It holds netbooks perfectly and, although I haven't tried an iPad in it, I think that it should fit since it holds 10inch laptops.

The Storia bag is a step up in price and quality. This is a truly beautiful bag made from Italian leather. It has two large main compartments as well as an assortment of smaller pockets and zippers so you have somewhere to stash your keys, change, phone and the like. You also have a wide range of choices in terms of finish so you can choose the style and look that works for you.

Given the price you'd have to pay, you would really want to love this bag and in fact, just about everyone who has bought it thinks it is great value.