Croots Weekender Leather

Whether privately or professionally, it can often happen that you only have to settle for one night or take everything with you as a precaution. Then the laptop bag is too small, the on-board suitcase or the travel bag is already too big. Allistair Croot has also made this experience. In the fortunate position of being able to design and manufacture bags in his own company, he was able to remedy the situation himself and manufactured this weekender from strong, 1.5 mm thick leather in the style of the laptop bag. Construction and partitioning are almost identical, but the Weekender is significantly deeper at 17 cm. Thus, in addition to documents and laptop still fit fresh laundry and a small toiletry bag.

From the outside quite businesstauglich and serious, the bag shines inside with its bold red lining of heavy cotton fabric. It is fully padded to protect laptop or tablet. The spacious main compartment has three slip pockets on the side for chargers and cables. A large document compartment closes with a snap fastener, and two attached leather pockets can be used to store a phone, calculator or writing utensils. Two zippered compartments on the outside offer further storage space. The carrying handles made of 4 mm thick saddle leather are worked all around, so that they additionally stabilize the bag on the ground.

The British label Croots is one of the leather goods manufacturers that has quickly acquired the reputation of a traditional company. So it doesn't always take centuries of experience, but first and foremost you have to understand your craft and then use the right materials. John and Margaret Smith made this claim when they produced the first bags and cases for hunting and fishing under the label "Field Sports Products" in 1978: in the traditional way and from solid materials such as strong saddle leather and robust cotton canvas. Travel bags and small leather goods were added later. When daughter Jackie and son-in-law Allistair Croot took over the business in 2004, they did not change anything except the name. Since then, "Croots" has become a byword for British craftsmanship and solid bags worldwide; even the royal family owns a few Croots bags. The bags are designed and manufactured at the company's site in Malton, North Yorkshire. And the materials also come from the island: the bags are woven in Keighley, West Yorkshire, the waxed cotton canvas is sourced from the traditional Scottish manufacturer Halley Stevensons, and the fittings come from foundries in Walsall, West Midlands, or Sheffield. Only the zippers are sourced from Riri in Switzerland. Finally, with a few exceptions, the leather is vegetable-tanned and processed in the best saddlery style. In most cases, this is so-called English bridle leather, which is mainly used for saddles, bridles and belts, as it hardly gives thanks to a special tanning process.