Review: Intrepid Leather Bag Co.’s Journeyman Messenger
Jon Stokes 11.14.14
Fit and finish
The best way that I can illustrate the remarkable quality of the Journeyman’s leather is to tell you that the bag in the pictures here is well used. I have not babied this bag at all, and I didn’t clean it up or do anything to it before snapping these pix; I just emptied it out and started shooting. And yet, even on the bottom of the bag, where you’d expect signs of wear, it looks almost as good as the day I unboxed it.
The bottom right-hand side (pictured above) is the worst spot on this bag, and that could easily be made to disappear with a small application of Chamberlain’s Leather Milk (I recommend the Leather Care Liniment).
The bag’s leather feels lightweight, which is the polar opposite of the over-engineered Saddleback bags. In fact, it’s the kind of smooth, high-end leather that could almost be mistaken for a synthetic knock-off, and it makes for a bag that is extremely light. I’d put this against a ballistic nylon bag any day of the week in terms of weight and durability.
The one concern I had initially was that the interior cloth lining might start to show wear quickly. I thought it might pill or look roughed up after a few months of daily use. I’m happy to report that this is not the case. Take a look at the shot below. In the right light at the right angle, you can see some very slight pilling in the inside of the strap where it rubs against the body. But that’s as bad as it gets on the worst wear spot. The interior is still pretty flawless, with a very slight amount of wear showing at the lip of the sleeve where the laptop goes in and out.
The bag is made for across-the-body carry, so it wears like a messenger bag. The strap is adjustable, but not easily so. You’re clearly supposed to adjust the fit once, and then leave it there. The strap is held on by a pair of rivets on each side, and the stitching of the entire bag is flawless and durable. In fact, “flawless and durable” is a good way to sum up the Journeyman’s fit and finish.
Features
As great as the fit and finish are, the features are what make the Journeyman a must-have, and the bag’s two best features are its size and weight. It really is like a wallet that you can sling across your body, and that’s how I treat it. It’s small enough and light enough that it has become a permanent part of a part of my wardrobe in the way my Bellroy wallet and Spyderco Dragonfly are. It’s just something that I’m constantly wearing and reaching for, even when I’m around the house.
When you combine Journeyman’s perfect EDC size with its stellar fit-and-finish, you get a bag that works just as well with a suit as it does with jeans and a t-shirt. The leather is dark enough that you can wear it with black dress shoes and it still works.
Instead of just listing the pockets, I’ll take you through a few load-outs that I use with this bag as a way of giving a tour of the features.
