Gfeller Diamond Creek Satchel (And A Utility Bag)

[AlecG]

Outline for the review on the Gfeller Diamond Creek briefcase.

 

I have not pictures yest, but you can find some mighty nice pictures of the Gfeller overhere: Gfeller

And a couple of pictures about the SAB

 

Preface.

Gfeller Casemakers is a small company that is owned by Steve Dericot. They make leather cases and other leather items, mainly for geologists. Recently they have been making nice sleeves for moleskine books, but they also make these sleeves for other sized books if you ask them. In fact, if you ask them, they will make almost anything they are confident in. They won’t make items they feel not good about, but if you want an extra pocket, no logo on the front but inside, a pen-pocket or what odd request you might have, ask them! I did so and ended up with a very nice case.

I have had some leather bags and cases before and one of the most beautiful bags I’ve ever had (and still have) is a Swaine, Adeney and Briggs Westminster Wrap SS briefcase (SAB for short). It’s expensive (£ 1250 is expensive in my book), totally hand made; hand cut, hand fitted and formed, hand (with needles, not machine-hand) sewn and hand finished and looks the world to me. This bag uses English bridle leather. Until now this was the best made and best looking bag I ever found or had. But to compare a U$450 bag with a £1250 bag might not be a fair comparison, but we’ll see how it goes.

I’ve been using the Gfeller bag for only a few weeks now, but my wife uses the similar but smaller utility tote bag. Usually I tend to care for her bag, polishing it and protecting it against the weather with sno-seal, so I can already tell something about the way this bag develops.

 

1. Leather.

Steve Dericot, uses a very nice vegetable tanned leather for his cases. The leather is made by the Hermann Oak Tanneries. Not all of Gfeller’s products use this leather as the smaller items tend to use English kip leather. It’s the bigger cases and the cases for small instruments a geologist wants to use in the field that are made from vegetable tanned leather. Most leathers used today are chrome tanned leathers. Between chrome tanned and chrome tanned, there are huge differences, but usually tanning with chrome salts takes some hours or some days max for the leather to “cure”. Tanning with vegetable leathers can take up to six months and some shoe and boot makers use leather that has been tanned for up to 12 months (John Lobb IIRC).

When you make a bag from vegetable tanned leather, the leather is so thick and stiff, the bag will stand on it’s own. The weight isn’t too bad, because there is no (cardboard or plastic) backing and liner needed for the stiffness, they just use one layer of leather to get the needed strength and rigidity.

When the leather gets older it will adsorb oil from your hands, leather care products etc. and combined with the influence of UV the leather gets darker and deeper. Scratches will show so the first few scratches will hurt, but with use and good care the bag develops a beautiful patina. Over time it will get a very nice look and show the use and care your bag had (or not!) If you wax the outside when needed (so not too often) it will stay pretty much waterproof. Don’t use a petrol based product, but use something like Sno-Seal.

Compared to the SAB, the leather from Gfeller is a bit thicker, feels a little bit more supple, the outside doesn’t wrinkle as much but overall it feels the same and has the same look. Not much difference there.

 

 

2. Design.

The outside design on the Gfeller briefcase is clean. It has an acentric front flap, but other than that it is pretty much straight forward. And that is not a bad thing; I’ve seen lots and lots of bags that had design for the sake of design, or for the sake of being different. Not this bag, it is designed to be perfectly usable and that resulted in a good look. This bag looks like the thing it is: a solid bag for someone who love to takes his stuff everywhere. And everywhere might be a holiday, city trip, some more informal work (for the formal work, I use the SAB), a weekend walk in the country or even a very light packed night away.

On closer inspection, you see that the sides and bottom gussets are very evenly formed. There are no bad wrinkles or thinner leather on places that people might not look often; it is all best-grade leather all around. The sides and bottom have a nice rounded W-shape to them and they can extend to 3” or about 7 cm.

 

The design of the shoulder strap-pad is a bit different. It uses a regular belt with a buckle (although mine has a fixed length on request) but the pad is made from full grain leather on top and very sturdy and smooth glove leather on the bottom (that is in contact with your shoulder). The pad is stuffed with wool, resulting in a stuffed, almost sausage like shoulder pad. At first I found it a bit odd, strange and quite stiff. But walking with a heavily filled bag, it worked better than a 2” car seatbelt with padding or other straps I have used. There is one strap that is better, made by OP/TECH USA, but that wouldn’t look good on this bag and their shoulder pads always start to wear out after a year of daily use. I don’t think this one will wear out anytime soon. One thing I did notice is that the glove-leather on the inside is rather smooth and not as tacky as some pads are. It can be troubling if you wear the shoulder strap not across your body, but a lot of pads I’ve used through the years have two drawbacks. One is the shirt, sweater or jacket underneath tends to get wrinkly and that can make your skin sore (rather quick btw) and the other drawback is that these tacky materials are soft rubber and prone to tearing. On one Brenthaven briefcase I used, the whole neoprene inside came off within weeks. The replacement was not much better. (I don’t dislike Brenthaven, quite the opposite, but it was just an issue I found).

Some parts of this design are influenced by my idiosyncrasies. I wanted to have a very specific 17/4PH steel snaps and D-rings. These are sometimes a bit lager than the standard brass fittings, but Steve adopted them perfect.

The shoulder strap on the SAB is pretty harsh on my shoulder, especially when the bag is loaded. The only “padding” is a small 2” wide patch of unlined leather. Works for a 2 minute walk from the underground to the office, but I wouldn’t dream about using it for a long days walk. IMHO the SAB could use an upgrade there.

 

On the inside the Gfeller case is a pretty standard bag, with an addition of an extra back pocket on the inside and a small pocket for clipping in a USB stick or something small like that.

Because there is no lining, you can see the suede side of the leather. Some people might not like that, but I think it shows the quality of the leather. The SAB has been polished a bit more on the inside, but not much. Speaking about the SAB, the design between the SAB and the Gfeller are miles apart, so each to his own and no comparison there.

 

3. Construction.

The Gfeller case is very nicely made. Very even stitching, I think it is machine made, but that doesn’t say much about the strength, but I do have a weakness for fully hand sewn like the SAB. On the Gfeller the sides of the leather are rounded off (by hand) and coated with something (looks like a wax) to keep the fibres nice and tight. The usual stress points are riveted with strong nickel plated steel rivets.

The handle is made from several layers of the same quality leather the whole bag was made from. It makes the handle nice and stiff, but also straight and flat and therefore not the best one I’ve ever found. That is the handle on the SAB-bag, which is something really special. In cross section it looks like a rounded + or a shamrock with 4 leaves (and without the stem). This is a very odd construction, but it is by far the best I’ve ever seen or used and the most comfortable. It perfectly fits my hand and is comfortable for even longer walks than the front door to the car.

On the other hand, the handle on the Gfeller case is perfectly usable and much better than 95% of the bags out there. And if I want walk longer with the bag, I use the shoulder strap anyhow.

The handle is connected to the flap by a piece of thick leather that is sewn in place on the inside. This has the advantage that it doesn’t use wood (which could crack or break) or metal (corrosion or chafing through the leather) but it might evolve into a more rounded shape when used over prolonged time.

For me this construction is an advantage as it won’t rust in salt water environments, but other than that, all three the materials have their own (dis)advantages.

The shoulder strap is attached to the sides of the bag via a loop that is riveted in place. On the inside are some lager rings to divide the pressure. It doesn’t look like it can hold much, but so far long days of carrying 8kg haven’t be a problem. And I don’t think it will become ever a problem. The snaps on the shoulder strap are my own, 17/4 HP stainless steel hot drop forged ones, with a minimum breaking strength of 1500kg. A bit over the top but I really like them. The D-rings on the front aren’t standard either, but my request and quite some time was spend discussing this with Steve for the best solution. Steve had some reservations to the working of the D-rings, but so far it works like a dream. I can close the bag with one hand while walking, the leather straps starts to become a bit more supple and if the strap would deteriorate/begin craking it is easily replaced because it is held in place by two Chicago screws instead of the steel rivets.

The construction of the SAB is a notch better. Hand sewn, no rivets but bar-stiching that is also done by hand and the overall finish is just better, but not that much and certainly not 3 times better. This is perhaps where the law of diminishing returns shows its head. Oddly enough I think the Gfeller will be more durable. I use the SAB only for formal business occasions and as such it gets way less use than the Gfeller. Yet the SAB started to look used after a couple of days and the Gfeller is still very nice looking. Most likely it will take several decadesbefore either one of the bags is worn through, so it might not matter that much.

 

4. In use.

So far the leather hasn’t done much. It might have become a tiny bit darker, but not much and it shows a tiny bit of wrinkling in the flap where it folds open. After about 3 months of use (I would say 3 to 4 days in the week it is used as her work bag) it is pretty much still as stiff as it was when it arrived new. This is sometimes a bit annoying when you are used to canvas or cordura bags, but it is actually a good thing. In my experience leather that breaks in easily will also wear easily. And it could be a placebo-effect, but leather that settles slowly to my use, seems to last much longer.

 

The size of the Gfeller Diamond Creek bag is good for me, it fits a 15” laptop with a bit of stretching, so it easily fits my skinny Macbook Air with a sleeve.

The contents:

Macbook Air 13” in a sleeve,

Then there is a plastic A4 folder that contain some papers I carry,

a small pouch with lots and lots of nicknacks,

a notebook that is rather large (8.5”x6”x1,75”) and heavy (almost 1kg)

a small monocular,

two fountain pens,

a parker jotter,

Visconty travel ink well,

business cards,

first aid trauma kit,

a 6” stainless steel ruler

a pint of water or a half pint of Red Bull,

a candy bar,

peppersmith’s chewing gum

and a sachet of fishermans friends.

 

This all fits rather tight in the bag, but if I wanted to, I could stretch the bag a bit (the sides keep it rather tight together, a good thing in my book as things stay in there designated place) rearrange some stuff and have a box with 2 sandwiches and two half litre bottles of water as well.

When walking in the fields, the laptop and the paper goes out and either a thin Gore-tex jacket gets packed, or I take a thin two/three times use poncho that is always in the back pocket, together with car papers and some other flat stuff. (I like to use poncho’s as it is more airy, less damp and still can protect you very well from the rain).

 

For me that is more than enough, but YMMV as usual.

Compared to the SAB the Gfeller gets way more use, as it is easy to open (instead of a lock and two belts just one strap) and has a less formal design and is quite unobtrusive. Bot can hold about the same, the SAB has 3 compartments of 2" (5cm) and is a little bit wider.

 

5. Good and bad.

 

Good.

There are a lot of good things about this bag. I think it is good looking, oozing quality but without drawing attention. It has been very well made, with the best materials, good design and perfect usability in 90% of the situations. Only in formal business situations this bag would look a bit out of place, but not if you are a geologist

 

Bad.

There aren’t many bad things I can come up with. Even the price is quite nice. Yes, you might get a bag for $45 that does the same for a while, and yes, $450 is a lot of money, but when compared to the SAB at £1250, the Gfeller certainly isn’t expensive. I paid some more for all the alterations, extra pocket and personal idiosyncrasies, but even then it isn’t much money for the superb and high quality custom made bag I got.

To be honest, I don’t know how they can make such a high quality bag for such little money, even the leather itself is rather expensive and might cost well over half the sales price. So either other companies are making much more profit (or wasting it on expensive advertising, management, staff and shops LOL) or there is something I failed to see.

There is one last nit-picking thing I could mention. I had to wait almost 8 weeks. Part of that time was well spend in email conversations about the altercations I wanted. But for a busy young man, that is a looooong time to wait for the MOAB. (Mother of all bags )

 

6. Conclusion.

If you are in the market for a new bag, like the design, you can afford this and the size is what you are looking for? Don’t hesitate, send an email to Steve and before you know it, you have a bag that could easily last a decade with hard every day use, or a life time when you take care for it.

 

One more thing, I’m not paid by Gfeller, I paid the full price for this bag, I waited an enormous time (at least it felt like that) and I have no shares in his company. I other words, I’m just a very satisfied customer and wanted to share a review about this bag as there aren’t many to be found on the internet.

[Dino71]

For a bespoke product, I'd say 8 weeks is a good lead time. 90 days is typical in the made to order business so I'd say Gfeller has a pretty good production method going.

 

Nice review. I wondered what their stuff was like as I thought the Diamond Creek to look better than those UK schoolboy satchels.

[drifting]

Great review, though only one thing could make it better: pictures!

 

Ryan.

[DavidHandmade]

Hello.

 

I've just noticed that the GFeller Casemakers website is no longer "active."

 

My link returns a response that their website "expired" on May 24, 2011 and is "...pending renewal" or "deletion."

 

- not sure that all that means, but I would think that they'd want to keep their site up to date in order to attract potential customers.

 

Does anyone have any more info on the status of GFeller Casemakers?

[AlecG]

I noticed it as well, try www.gfeller.us, that site works.

[DavidHandmade]

I noticed it as well, try www.gfeller.us, that site works.

 

YES! This link is good.

 

Thanks for the link!

 

BTW - What is the translation of your Signature: "Cacoethes scribendi" - ?

 

- it looks like Latin, to me...

[AlecG]

Good to hear it works now.

 

Cacoethes scribendi means something like An incurable itch to write or an insatiable urge to write. The itch fits me quite well, sometimes I just neeeed to write, doodle or scratch a bit with a good fountain pen on some nice paper.

Iirc more people on this forum know/have this feeling. Oddly enough, a keyboard doesn't cure that itch.

[DavidHandmade]

Hello. You've written a great review - !

 

I am VERY seriously considering this satchel - !

 

And I like the internal pockets that you added - What are the dimensions of each pocket?

 

[EDIT: I searched FPN and found your comments in a "Saddleback" thread.

But I'd still like to know the dimensions of the two pockets that you added to your GFeller.

 

Thank you!]

Edited June 10, 2011 by DavidHandmade

[AlecG]

My bag history? It's not that much, but for the last few years, it's like this:

Saddleback black medium, Crumpler black leather, Swaine Adeney & Briggs Westminster wrap SS, Castelijn & Beerens, Fogg e-flat for the leather bags.

Non-leather; a few (3, 4?) Crumplers, Endom TNT, Tom Bihn Synapse (still in use since it came out) co--pilot (to small ) and a smart alec, then some backpacks from Eagle Industries and what more... Hmm, I don't think the other bags have made a big impression. I must have had other bags, It can't be this little in the last three years orso.

 

I had the saddleback in black, medium and within a week, I sold it again. It was not made from veg. tanned leather, but chrome tanned leather. It's quite supple leather for it's thickness, but heavy, really heavy.

Odd thing was that the bag wasn't that much heavier, but some how the bag felt a lot more heavy. Think 6,5lbs for the empty bag. I don't know what the Gfeller weights, but think about half that weight, 3-3,5lbs. That just saves 3lbs..

Read this review, I think it is eeehm, balanced. http://the-gadgeteer.com/2007/08/31/saddleback_leather_company_briefcase/

 

I have had a Grumpler (Crumpler :=D ) leather bag, but I couldn't fit enough in that bag, it had the right outer dimensions, but inside it wasn't as big. Do you know the magic bag Hermione has in Harry Potter? It packs everything you throw in it, this bag was the opposite. It could just fit half of what I thought it could.

 

The Swaine Adeney and Briggs bag is very good as well, but at £1250...? Hmm, that is some pricepoint

 

I had a Dutch business bag made from nice leather, but it was chrome tanned leather

 

I have also had the Fogg e-flat. It's a good bag, but as I carry a Macbook Air, I want some more stiffness and sturdiness in my bag. The Fogg is a very good bag for people that want a bit more flexible bag. I've had it for a year and a half, used it a lot, for quite some time even daily but no it is replaced by the Gfeller satchel.

 

Other bags I had was the Endom TNT Tom Bihn Synapse, Co-pilot and smart Alec. I still have the synapse, it's a great backpack. Btw Tom Bihn makes some of the best non-leather bags I know.

Then there are some bags from Eagle industries before they got bought up by a big company. These are some though serious bags.

 

And than the odd cheap (leather) bag.

Edited June 10, 2011 by alecgold

[AlecG]

Wasn't reading your post well.

One pocket is at the back, just for some papers and over the full back, it's just kind like a second layer of leather. The other pocket is a really small pocket that exactly fits my thumbdrive. We're doing a bit of DIY at the moment so the house is a mess (new carpets everywhere, painting all the woodwork, walls and ceilings) so it's a bit of a mess. If I can find my camera and make some half decent pictures I'll post them.

It's night now here, so it'll be at least another 12 hours befor I can post them.

[bogiesan]

I am delighted that you are delighted with Gfeller's custom product. I produced their Molie cover video and spent a day or two in their shop. Unbelievable level of superb craftsmanship and fastidiousness. I think their custom work is worth every penny or farthing.

 

David Boise ID

[AlecG]

That was a really good video! I didn't buy the Moleskine cover, but I was wondering how their English kip leather was and that video gave me a good idea of how it would be. And I liked it to see parts of the production process, or perhaps I should call it the crafting process.

[redshifteffect]

Alec gold excellent review - been wondering what the Gfeller Satchel was like!

 

I was just going over the Manbag thread for some more ideas when I came across this old post of yours

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/119049-whats-your-favourite-manbag/page__view__findpost__p__1692621

 

Looks like you did end up with a $1600 bag

Edited June 11, 2011 by redshifteffect

[AlecG]

Alec gold excellent review - been wondering what the Gfeller Satchel was like!

 

I was just going over the Manbag thread for some more ideas when I came across this old post of yours

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/119049-whats-your-favourite-manbag/page__view__findpost__p__1692621

 

Looks like you did end up with a $1600 bag

 

Thanks for the kind words. Really appreciated doing this review. Its a great bag.

About getting the sab....

You know how it goes. You keep on yelling it's to expensive but you still "need" it.

But I now have it and won't part with it. It's my formal business bag and I like to use it.

The memory of FPN is quite good btw! Hahaha.

[trent]

What a beauty! Congratulations. I have been looking forward to your review!

One question: the shape of the cover flap has an unusual cut and only fastens with one strap. Do you think the upper left corner in particular (left if you are facing the front of the bag), which has the least length of leather, will curl up eventually? Does it close securely and completely? To me, it looks like it just barely folds over the bag...

[AlecG]

I finally got around making pictures of the bag.

Should have done it earlier, but I was to busy using the bag. Well, working actually, but never mind.

 

I have my bag now packed pretty light, there is often a 0.33 liter bottle of drink in as well (or a soda can) and often a lot of papers next to the laptop as well. Those two items add a lot of weight but as I'm this weekend away and don't need to work, I let them home.

 

@ trent,

I hope my pictures answer your questions, I tried to make them in a way that would answer your questions, but don't hesitate to ask if it isn't clear.

 

Front of the bag

http://gallery.me.com/alexgoudriaan/100065/IMG_9670/web.jpg?ver=13084938240001

 

Buckles for closing the bag in close up

http://gallery.me.com/alexgoudriaan/100065/IMG_9674/web.jpg?ver=13084938740001

 

Inside with stuff

http://gallery.me.com/alexgoudriaan/100065/IMG_9675/web.jpg?ver=13084937330001

 

Bag and stuff that was inside

http://gallery.me.com/alexgoudriaan/100065/IMG_9676/web.jpg?ver=13084937430001

There is a Macbook Air 13" with a thick memory foam sleeve underneath, left under the laptop are car papers, some candy next to that, the little back that says "sennheiser" contains a variaty of cables, iphone charger, McGizmo Titanium flashlight and lots of other small stuff. Underneath the carpapers there is a black foam pad, I use it to protect my laptop some more and when I'm in the field and want to sit down for a longer time, I protect my behind with it from hemorrhoids. Especially sitting on cold rocks is quite bad I'm told.

On top of the black foam pad there is a poncho, 1 time use (or two, or three, or the whole holiday if you're out of luck ) and a first aid medical tack-pac. I also have regular first aid stuff in the sennheiser bag, but this is the more heavy stuff. Right to the pad the Gfeller 3 pen case, nice, different kind of leather, works out quite well for me, Underneath that is a big heavy notebook, 5cm thick and 1/2 letter sized pages, the leather sheath next to the notebook is specific made for the monocular above it (Leica 8x20 monovid, brilliant little thing!) and next to the monocular is a Ironkey USB key.

 

Flap overlapping the bag

http://gallery.me.com/alexgoudriaan/100065/IMG_9681/web.jpg?ver=13084937520001

 

Schoulder band buckle

http://gallery.me.com/alexgoudriaan/100065/IMG_9682/web.jpg?ver=13084937640001

 

All the stainless steel on this bag is my own, it is designed to have a minimum breaking load of 2000kg and will typically hold at least 3000. A bit over the top, but this specific type of stainless is very good in marine environments. (I had it laying around, but it's pricy stuff, D-ring large is €35 each, D-ring small is €25, shoulder band bucke is €55. I bought it in a marine shop that closed and I knew the owner quite well. The shoulder band buckle is a quick release, if you pull the little ring on the left side it snaps open fast.

The double-D buckle closure is a lot different from the regular closing. Steve Dericot from Gfeller wasn't sure that it would work out, but I can close it while walking with one hand, it holds really well (Even with the 6 to 8 kg loads I typically have), so far the leather hasn't been under excessive abrasion but if it would, the strap is hold by two chicago screws and I can easily change the strap. Easy peasy.

Edited June 19, 2011 by alecgold

[drifting]

You know, the more I look at that double D-ring with the strap coming from below closure set up, the more elegant and practical it seems. And the Chicago screws for easy replacement seems like a stroke of (experience informed) genius. Nice!

 

Ryan.