The Tabinistas
Maison de Sabré
The Large Soft
Backpack Review
Raising the bar for practical Luxury Bags is the Soft Backpack by Maison de Sabré. With ethically sourced leather and environmental sustainability built into every fiber, say 'Hello," to the latest in eco-fashion.
Find out more here.
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Quick Breakdown
10/10
Of the various sizes of the Soft Backpack line from Maison de Sabré we chose the Large and frankly there were no diminished efforts for more material. The Leather is high quality with soft grain but tough enough to not scuff with repeated wear.
7/10
For a being able expanding bag does have some good dividers and pockets for organization. We especially like the larger compartment, as we could put a sweater or toiletry bag in there and still have room for more. It has more of an open concept similar to a duffel bag but what pockets it does have, either front or the hidden one in back are super convenient.
6/10
Normally we are quite leery of flap top bags but there are zipper lined pockets for the more important stuff. Leather is more resistant to slashing and the lining is a more robust canvas but that may not be enough to prevent thieves from getting in. Luckily the outter most accessible pocket recesses in preventing slippery fingers by a little bit
7/10
Weighing in at nearly 3lbs (2.98lbs), by stuffing this big boy to the brim you will feel it. It's smaller than average for bags it's size, some brands add center claps to redistribute weight but given how stylish this bag is it would ruin the aesthetic. To be fair it is made with high quality leather practically through and through so weight is rather negligible considering the material.
7/10
The Large has the most capacity of it's line at approximately 20L. It does hold a fair amount of your belongings and if you're pairing this with a purse or sling it's actually quite the perfect size for airplanes or day trips. Some may want more but being more form over function this bag brings just the right amount of both to the table.
10/10
Sporting a more minimalist style, this bag gets points for matching with more of a city street style. While not a rugged bag it is uniquely built for either a weekend getaway. You could also do a week long excursion with a small rolling suitcase making it ideal for every situation.
In-Depth Review
First Impressions
Maison de Sabré is a lesser known but quickly up and coming luxury brand from Australia. Sporting full grain European leather that is responsibly sourced LWG from the Netherlands. Judging from their website they are a highly Eco-conscious brand with a focus on quality built products aimed at the stylish and keen eyed fashion focused individuals. While not super haute like Hermes or Chanel, it is accessible and very chic. At first glace you might place it between Kate Spade and Louis Vuitton but after getting it in our hands it's definitely closer to the quality you'd find from the later.
The accolades stack up nicely for this brand and it is very worthy of those awards but how does it stand up to the abuse of travel? We definitely put our bags through the ringer, not purposefully but by using them and not storing them away for use at a later time we do all the dirty work for you to figure out if this luxury bag is worth the tag.
Build Quality
Built with quality and sustainability in mind you will know it by first glance. The leather is soft and slightly hydrophobic as water will bead off of the bag if a light rain but it will get the insides wet if it's any more than a medium to light drizzle. The magnetic clasps are satisfying to snap and are sewed in behind the leather exterior and between the lining so they don't muck about. The zippers which are some of the smoothest metal zippers we've played with and they are just the perfect balance of weight and heftiness. They get caught less, are made of better base materials, so that means overall their teeth interlock smoother and tighter. The stitches are something to speak on as well because after a while the material of string used with leather often frays and comes apart. I've had this bag for several years now before making this review, it's been through Japan, twice, Disneyland CA, Las Vegas, twice and still never seen as so much as a frayed end, let alone a scuff or blemish.
The sheer amount of tests, 13 according to the website, on quality control on the base leather material they use for each and every product is astonishing. Once you have one of their products in hand it is very, very obvious that attention to detail is an understatement. Utilizing Dri-Tan, which is a process I've never heard of, or even thought about until now and yet I can't live without knowing now, is an amazing earth conscientious process of tanning the leather. It uses less water and chemicals during the dyeing process and uses the moisture already present in the leather itself to sop up the dye. Only a few other manufacturers use it and one of them is Ecco, another well known European shoe brand.
Security
The leather, is already quite durable, hard to cut or tear unless done very intentionally with a razor it's tough to get through but not impossible. Even though we were boasting about how easy the zippers were to open it does suffice to say that it's not so easy it does have flaps covering them requiring you to dig your fingers in to grab. With any hope that action will cause enough movement that one would notice unwanted access.
The outer facing interior pockets do have zippers upping our peace of mind as we could store more important belongings in there. The flap is well made to get in and out of but with only few light magnets holding things down combined with a unsecured laptop sleeve might make us worry just a bit. Overall the security features of this bag are a little lackluster for it's price point but you may not be looking at this bag if your primary concern is the complete security work up of your personal belongings. This is more of a form over function in terms of security for your personal belongings but it does have enough features like the hidden rear security pocket and zippers that are way tougher than they need to be that saves it from being a complete haphazard.
Capacity
This could very well be a multipurpose bag given it's compression straps on the side of the main compartment. In some of the photos we can see examples of using organizer bags to stuff the center. If you put soft atricles in there yes, you can definitely fill this bag out but if you're shoving more rigid, like boxes of things in there it does loose a lot of effective space. With softer things the compression straps can really make 40L seem like 35L. Even with stuffing the Navigator T66 with everything you see above there was still room to compress even another full change of clothes. See our preview of this backpack here, for a video presenation of justhow much can be stored away in this guy.
It is tempting to just shove everything in but keep in mind TSA prohibits liquids over 3oz. So as much as we'd like to tell you to put all your weekend getaway items in here, unless of course you're taking ground transportation, this is not a coverall bag. You may still need to use a suitcase but the benefit of this larger bag is that instead of a one medium suitcase and a small bag you can get away with a small suitcase and a medium backpack. This bag is perfect for carrying your normal travel essentials and that emergency set of clothes in case of long layovers or lost luggage.
Organization
The majority of the organization of this bag is up to you due to the purposely large cavity in the center. There are two easily accessible sleeves, one for a laptop or iPad in the back and on the front side a smaller sleeve the size of a notebook. The zipper pocket on the outward side is handy to store more items that need more securing like passports or USB Thumbdrives. The front and back pockets along the outside are definitely places you want to put smaller objects you need to access frequently, like medication or pens the flap gives quick access to your belongings but does require a full opening to access.
How you organize the main section is up to you and may really not the easiest to get your head around. Some manufacturers offer Velcro sectioning or predetermined cells to help organize but if you're particular like us, this open format works well. Usually we can stuff one or two organizing pouches and roll our pants up to fit in this section so the free form is quite nice. The caveat of this bag is you can bag a set of bags like this, on Amazon, or you can stuff it yourself or with a combination of those methods. The openness of this design makes scoring this bag more like can I get my essentials in here plus a little extra? And yes you can, which is why we can give the score we did for organization.
Weight
Even though the Large Soft Backpack weighs a 2.98 lbs it feels like it should be a lot heavier. With the majority of the weight in the outer leather shell you would think it would feel denser. Compared to like, a leather jacket, this bag by itself is incredibly light. The lightweight feel is definitely purposeful and is in large part due to it's simplistic and minimalist character of Maison de Sabré's Soft Backpack line.
That said there are heavier leather bags out there and lighter. The density of the material plays a huge factor in it's durability so weight can be a double edged sword. One on hand this bag weighs less than say an Kate Spade yet heavier than a Coach in the same capacity range but it makes up for it by taking the hits from the environment, protecting your belongings. I've had it where a bag weighs less, has the same amount of my personal belongings in it but gets worn down after being under the airplane seat once. Good material often comes with some extra baggage so to speak and we trust this one to make good on it's durability to weight ratio.
Style
Black seems to be the primary color of most bags but what Maison de Sabré does with this Pecan tan makes it really stand out to us. Sometimes you see a bag with slick features and monograms and you ask yourself does this look like it could withstand the punishment of the overhead compartments. We have tossed this poor bag around and ran it through the ringer in the airports and rentals cars and while it gets dirty, it keeps going.
It's more of a business cool look, which we like here but because of all it's details, facets and quality we feel like it falls somewhere between office and belongs in the on the Yacht. It is not overly simplistic and the color matches everything in the wardrobe, which is nice because then we don't have to buy more clothing to match. But, you know we do because honestly, this is such a centerpiece that it makes sense to change everything so it's seen. It's definitely a bag we're willing to show off.
The
Verdict
What you want to know is, Is this bag worth it?
This is a definitive Yes but more of a Maybe if your looking for that Luxury Brand Look. What I mean by that is for the price, you do not get fancy logos or monograms but a quality built product that's worthy of a centerpiece. For all it's shortcomings it finds it's still our favorite backpack. This bag is really for people who want a no compromise minimalistic, stylish bag that they can get a lot of utility out of and jealous looks. Yes, a larger capacity bag that screams branded would be nice, but smaller brands bring the quality. The zippers glide and with enough weight in bag it's smooth like butter. The material is dependable and the pocket placement is very convenient.
Score Summary
8/10
Better than average but not without it's quirks. This bag is stylish and functional.
If you want a quality luxury bag that will tick all the boxes without all price tag fluff pick Maison de Sabré.
Our Opinion
A 8 of 10 is a way better than average score, price did play a factor into this decision and if it were not up to a budget it's easy to get sucked into paying $750.00+ for a bag in this category. Priced at $499.99, or for the medium $439.99 and at the lowest $399.99 for the orginal this is a great option for those who want a larger capacity backpack and same great quality as the rest of their product lines. That said, if you are looking under luxury bag you will be hoping that people will see the monograms and logos and for that, there are much better options. But this is our opinion and honestly we wouldn't have purchased if it didn't one, match our aesthetic and requirements for functionality.
My other half, having used this bag for about a few years now reports that it has definitely held up to the abuse of travel. There were plenty of times were she was jealous of some of the Kate Spade backpacks which either had fun accessories with it or had special collaborations but given how long she's had this bag versus how long my sub $150 backpacks have lasted, her choice has definitely out-shined my own.
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