Men's Leather Work Bag: Backpack, Crossbody or Briefcase?

If you commute on foot, by bus or by train with a 15.6 inch laptop, a leather backpack spreads the weight over both shoulders. If you drive and walk into meetings, a leather briefcase with a shoulder strap makes more sense. And if you don't carry a laptop at all, a small leather crossbody is all you need. Keep in mind that a leather work bag usually weighs more than a kilo empty.

Choosing between these shapes is mostly about how you get to work and what you carry, not about style. Here are the differences, with the sizes and weights of the leather bags we have in stock now.

The comparison at a glance

When a leather backpack is the right choice

If your commute includes a walk of fifteen minutes or more, or standing on a train with a laptop and a charger, a backpack is simply more comfortable than anything on one shoulder. It also keeps your hands free for your phone, your ticket and your coffee.

The Hilot is made of genuine leather, holds about 25 liters and measures 43.5×30.5×13.5 cm. It has a padded compartment for a 15.6 inch laptop, four main compartments and a hidden pocket on the back for your wallet and phone, handy on public transport. The downside is the weight: 1,330 grams empty. For comparison, a fabric backpack for the same job, like the Skippy 27L, weighs 400 grams.

It also has an external USB port. It doesn't charge on its own: you connect a power bank inside, and your phone charges through the cable without opening the bag. For anyone working from cafes or riding the train, that's useful every day.

When a leather briefcase is better

It's slimmer, slides easily under a chair in a meeting and keeps your papers flat. When you drive, you don't carry it far, so the weight bothers you less. Both of our models have a handle and an adjustable shoulder strap you can remove, so with the same bag you can decide every morning how to carry it.

The downside shows on a long day on foot. 1,400 grams on one shoulder, plus a laptop and a charger, pulls your body to one side. If you drive most days and take the train only now and then, you'll be fine. Walking twenty minutes to the station every day? You'll probably end up preferring the backpack.

There are two models in stock. The Valley Max is made of 100% genuine leather, holds a 15.6 inch laptop, measures 40.5×29×9 cm and weighs 1,400 grams. The Tundra Business is smaller, for a laptop up to 14 inches, 38×29×8.5 cm and 1,080 grams, made of full-grain leather with a water-repellent coating. Both have a strap on the back that slides over a trolley suitcase handle, which helps on business trips with a flight. All leather bags that fit this screen size are on the leather bags for 15.6 inch laptops page.

What about a small crossbody?

Some days there's no laptop: fieldwork, one meeting in town, or your laptop stays at the office. On those days you only need something small for your wallet, phone and an iPad mini. The Pulsarzx Xtreme, for example, measures 25×16×8 cm and weighs 350 grams, made of a mix of genuine leather and microfiber synthetic leather. It doesn't replace a work bag with a laptop, but it goes well with one.

If you're weighing a shoulder bag against a backpack in fabric too, not just leather, we wrote a separate guide: shoulder bag or backpack for work.

What every work bag needs, whatever the shape

Before the shape, check that your laptop actually fits. The padded compartment has to match your screen size, and not every 15.6 inch laptop has the same dimensions. Not sure of your size? See our guide how to tell your laptop size.

After the laptop comes organization. A charger, mouse, pens and business cards need pockets of their own, or every meeting starts with a dig through the bottom of the bag. For business trips abroad, a trolley strap that holds the bag on your suitcase through the airport is worth having.

Genuine or synthetic leather in a work bag

Genuine leather softens over time and takes on a look of its own. Synthetic leather (PU) is lighter and cheaper, and looks the same over the years. For an everyday work bag both work. The main difference is how long it lasts and how it looks after a year. How to tell genuine leather, what full-grain means and how to care for the bag, we covered in how to spot genuine leather.

Care and warranty

Clean our leather bags with a damp cloth only, no harsh cleaners, and don't leave them near direct heat, such as on a car dashboard in summer. All bags come with a 12-month warranty on zippers, handles, seams and manufacturing defects. More on choosing a work bag, in leather and fabric, is in our guide a men's business bag, and all our leather bags are on the category page.