Personal Baggage, Reclaimed

Filson has blown my mind with how much they exceeded my expectations! It took the better part of a month, but last Wednesday I got my Filson briefcase back from the their HQ where it was patched up for free, just like their guarantee says.

This was all I was expecting: a patch-up along the bottom back edge where it started to show some wear. It was all I asked for in my repair form.

But they didn’t stop there. They went and patched up and reinforced bits I didn’t even realize needed fixing!

This was NOT the lining that came with my bag originally. I love how you can still see a chalk mark they left behind. I’m never taking that off!

And they clearly replaced some leather bits. Notice how the leather cross-pieces securing the handle in the first picture, despite having some small scratches, is so obviously not the same age as the leather cross-pieces in the second pic.

“Might as well have the best,” and this is why!

Personal Baggage

In 2018, I bought the last EDC bag I’m sure I’ll ever need, the currently archived Filson 258 computer briefcase. It’s survived plane, bus, and car travel to say nothing of my daily grind. The only time I carry an alternative is when I’m making a conscious effort not to be like the guy in the Etgar Keret story “What Do We Have in Our Pockets”.

I’ve been told that I’m hard on bags, which I never really believed. And yet, here’s the evidence of what I’m able to do to a Filson bag in a mere 6 years.

Thanks to Filson’s famous guarantee, I’ve shipped it over on their dime for an evaluation and, hopefully, a free repair. Of course I’m obsessively tracking it, and I wasn’t happy to find that it ended up sitting in a UPS facility in Hodgeson, IL for a full 24 hours before moving on to its next destination on its way to Filson HQ. But it finally moved on this morning toward Filson HQ. Needless to say, being without it has not been any kind of load off.