Who still carries a briefcase?

3438 Views 36 Replies 28 Participants Last post by perec4stor, 1 d ago

McSooner

Discussion Starter · Mar 9, 2021

So, years ago i closeted my soft-sided leather briefcase and adopted the now norm of a backpack. It came with the added convenience of a strap of the back that slid over the handle of my carry-on luggage. But I've increasingly become frustrated with the 1000 different storage compartments that, I swear, I can never remember what is where. I've also realized I miss the timeless quality of my old standby. This weekend I pulled out the old friend, dusted it off and gave it a good conditioning, and will once again sport the old standby.

Anyone else?

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Gurdon

· #2 · Mar 9, 2021

McSooner said:
So, years ago i closeted my soft-sided leather briefcase and adopted the now norm of a backpack. It came with the added convenience of a strap of the back that slid over the handle of my carry-on luggage. But I've increasingly become frustrated with the 1000 different storage compartments that, I swear, I can never remember what is where. I've also realized I miss the timeless quality of my old standby. This weekend I pulled out the old friend, dusted it off and gave it a good conditioning, and will once again sport the old standby.

Anyone else?

Hello all,
I carried a briefcase for my entire thirty years of work as an urban planner. I occasionally tried using a rucksack when I had a lot of papers and reports to carry. I concluded that it was more practical to use a large briefcase, rather than a rucksack.

I have carried various rucksacks and backpack for recreational purposes for close to sixty years. I don't recommend rucksacks for business.

I continue to use a briefcase for business, or business-like occasions.

On a trip to Paris a few years ago I needed to schlep stuff while out and about. I wound up buying a a somewhat hip-looking soft Patagonia briefcase with a shoulder strap that I continue to use for travel and for business stuff.
Gurdon

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eagle2250

· #3 · Mar 9, 2021

I carried various brief cases/bags pretty much all of my adult life. The first was a hard side that was given to me as a graduation present by my mother more than 50 years ago. To this day, I think it may be lost, somewhere in this/my hoard. The USAF issued me black leather catalogue cases for carrying the Tech Orders associated with the weapon systems to which I was assigned and a rucksack for carrying my field gear. When I went to work for the Federal Govt as a civilian, I bought myself a Hartman Hardside and eventually a TUMI soft side Leather Expandable. I still have and do carry, as needed , the TUMI Bag and several years back, was convinced by another AAAC member to purchase a Custom Hide's 1945 Army Briefcase, with optional straps for carrying the bag as a backpack. To this day, the TUMI and the Custom Hide Briefcase's go with my wife and I when we travel. I am convinced that both will both be passed on to my heirs...someday!

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DCR

· #4 · Mar 9, 2021

I've carried a coach briefcase throughout my 17 yrs and counting as an FA. I don't cotton to the trend of adult males carrying a backpack any place other than a trail.

medhat

· #5 · Mar 9, 2021

Although I'll admit to doing it, I don't care for wearing a backpack on my suit jacket. In those situations I prefer a rectangular computer bag with both a handle and shoulder strap. I have an old Coach bag that fits that role well. I still prefer leather over ballistic nylon or the like, I do think it looks more professional, although I think in this day and age pretty much no one cares.

Adelantado

· #6 · Mar 9, 2021

DCR said:
I've carried a coach briefcase throughout my 17 yrs and counting as an FA. I don't cotton to the trend of adult males carrying a backpack any place other than a trail.

Even when attending university I never used a backpack. I carried a canvas messenger bag, which I still have…

challer

· #7 · Mar 9, 2021

For years a hard side leather. Then got on the Tumi train but never really liked it. When I transitioned to startups, I tried the backpack to fit it but it never worked for me. Too many pockets to lose things. Not very professional looking in my mind. Can really wrinkle or misshape clothing. Now I'm back to a Tusting Marston which great for short trips. If I ever go back to weekly international flights, I will revert back to a 5" London best.

Gurdon

· #8 · Mar 9, 2021

Briefcase History

When I moved east after graduating from college, I commuted between New Brunswick, New Jersey, and Brooklyn, via train. A neighbor recommended that I buy a hard-sided briefcase that I could sit on, in case there were no seats. I didn't have occasion to use it for a chair, but it served its purpose until it wore out.

Friends traveling in the 1970's in Europe and the Middle East sent me a Swiss army pack, made of rigid cowhide (with hair). It was ideal for carrying business-sized stuff to meetings. I sold it -- wish I hadn't.

For several years I carried versions of Filson's canvas briefcases, which I've passed along to my sons, one of whom is a woodlands firefighter. He's moving from Montana to Alaska for a new assignment and, as he works between field and office, he should fit right in.

Although the Patagonia bag (I guess it is a computer bag) is not as aesthetically pleasing as the similarly marketed Filson bags, it is lighter, stronger, and much more practical in daily use than the Filson bags.

I would like to find another one of the Swiss military bags.

Cheers,
Gurdon

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AlphaOmega

· #9 · Mar 9, 2021

I use Saddleback Leather's Front Pocket Leather Briefcase. They call it a briefcase, but it's really a messenger bag. (It does have a handle, which could make it a briefcase.)

I'm an attorney, and I don't know any attorney that carries a traditional briefcase.

https://saddlebackleather.com/leather-briefcase-laptop-bag-fp

Traditional briefcase:

https://www.briefcase.com/edmond-le...d5QG4y_c0g_pAl37Eut88OmLFXhFbc6caAgqPEALw_wcB

ItalianStyle

· #10 · Mar 9, 2021

When I turned 25, I decided I was too old to pull off the backpack look.
With a few exceptions:

- If I go hiking/climbing
- If I (again) break a leg and have to use 2 crutches
- If I get called back into service (a briefcase may be more elegant, but it's hard to handle it and a machine gun at the same time)

So would I use a briefcase? Well, depending on what I have to carry, it could be a briefcase, a pilot case, a messenger bag, a duffel bag etc.

never behind

· #11 · Mar 10, 2021

I’ve carried the same briefcase since I started working 25 years ago. I’ve stood out more and more each year, especially the last 3-5 years with the ubiquitous backpack. I’ve carried a backpack a time or two when flying and miss my briefcase every time.

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ADutchmaninNY

· #12 · Mar 12, 2021

Never owned a briefcase. I started out as a journalist and you need both hands free to take notes, so a shoulder bag made more sense. Never liked backpacks scrunching up fancy jackets (business journalist...) so they were out. Have a bunch of nice shoulder bags, but funnily enough the $10 one I bought as a student 30 years ago is actually still the most practical one I have.

jackmccullough

· #13 · Mar 12, 2021

I have three that I carry regularly and one less frequently, usually depending on what I have to carry.

When I was in law school my wife bought me a leather portfolio, legal size. I still like it, but its capacity is limited and the ends are open, so I don't wear it as much. Around the time I graduated my in-laws got me a hardside attache case, Samsonite or some such, and I carried it as long as it lasted..

The one I carry most of the time now is a Lands End soft nylon case. It usually holds what I need to carry and it has a shoulder strap, which is handy. I also have a hardside replacement case I got ten or fifteen years ago. I like it, but the hinge has always been a little off kilter (I should have returned it immediately,but I didn't) so it's often hard to latch and unlatch.

The workhorse is a heavy litigation bag I got when I was doing a lot of public utility litigation. Those things are tremendous paper generators and this is probably about six inches thick, able to pack it with almost everything I own.

Of course, a couple of years ago I took my office paperless, so when I do go to trial (or when I get to go back to trials in person) I carry some legal pads, the evidence I'm going to need for that day, a couple of references, and not much else, so I use a pretty light bag.

I wouldn't want to wear a backpack over a suit or sports coat,.

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Dhaller

· #14 · Mar 12, 2021

I carry a briefcase.

Well, more of a messenger bag, I guess, but I can either sling it or stow the strap and carry it with handles.

One of the things I appreciated about the diminishing size of portable computers was liberation from "computer bags"; my 2019 MacBook Pro is the size of a thickish magazine. Since I don't need to schlep a ton of stuff around to have a portable office, I can carry a normal bag.

I hike, camp, and backpack often and I have MANY backpacks of various kinds and sizes, but never on pavement!

DH

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Big T

· #15 · Mar 13, 2021

I’ve had 3 or 4, with the last being a soft-sided leather, believe it might be Samsonite. I’ve had it more than two decades, but it has been well taken care of with leather conditioning and such. Has a few battle scars, but they add character!

Much as always having a wristwatch on and a pocketknife with, I’m “undressed” without my case nearby!

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eagle2250

· #16 · Mar 13, 2021

Big T said:
...........................................
Much as always having a wristwatch on and a pocketknife with, I'm "undressed" without my case nearby!

You took the words right out of my mouth and said it better than I could have done. I never leave the nest without my wristwatch, my pocketknife and my brief bag. Thank you.

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EclecticSr.

· #17 · Mar 13, 2021

^^^^^ Same here, have one in camo that can accomodate 2-3 pieces depending on size .

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Dhaller

· #18 · Mar 13, 2021

eagle2250 said:
You took the words right out of my mouth and said it better than I could have done. I never leave the nest without my wristwatch, my pocketknife and my brief bag. Thank you.

I am never without a knife. I actually usually carry two, one in my briefcase/bag (see! keeping the thread on-track!), and Opinel #8, and one on my person, currently a Benchcraft Mini-griptilian folder.)

When I was in graduate school, I was in Antarctica with a professor setting up a weather balloon. There was a tangle in a line and the professor said "hand me your knife", like obviously everyone has a knife... but I was knife-less (in part because I had focused on gearing up for pretty much the surface of Mars, temperature-wise).

He stared at me in disbelief, like I had forgotten to wear pants, say, or shoes. "A scientist carries a knife at all times" he said. Talk about burning a message into the soul.

Never been without one since... EXCEPT when I'm in Japan, where it is now illegal to carry a knife of any kind (a few years ago I used to carry an Opinel #5, because you could carry a knife under 3"... but the law changed after some stabbings which blew up in the news.)

My birthday present this year is going to be this folder: https://helle.com/products/helle-dokka

(I've become a fan of Helle's fixed-blade knives for hiking/camping.)

DH

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Tweedlover

· #19 · Mar 13, 2021

I don't particularly care to have a backpack strapped to my shoulder. If 1 is wearing a sports coat or suit, a backpack just doesn't look right to me. I only seldom carried a briefcase to work as it was seldom needed in my old line of work. But did occasionally use messenger bags. Have a canvas one, a very nice looking (leather-like) vinyl, and a leather one. Don't recall the brand of the latter, but picked it up on a closeout in a Santa Fe store a couple of decades ago for around $40.

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Big T

· #20 · Mar 13, 2021

Tweedlover said:
I don't particularly care to have a backpack strapped to my shoulder. If 1 is wearing a sports coat or suit, a backpack just doesn't look right to me. I only seldom carried a briefcase to work as it was seldom needed in my old line of work. But did occasionally use messenger bags. Have a canvas one, a very nice looking (leather-like) vinyl, and a leather one. Don't recall the brand of the latter, but picked it up on a closeout in a Santa Fe store a couple of decades ago for around $40.

Humorous story: in the summer, I've taken a vacation by myself, namely attending Civil War Institute, sponsored by Gettysburg College (we are actually in Gettysburg at the moment). Anyhow, at my first time there, over twenty years ago, I took one of my daughter's backpacks, as I didn't want to tote my brief case on campus. When I got home, I was severely chided by my daughters about the red backpack, with embroidered butterflies on it.

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