The Saddleback Leather bag is 7.5lbs (completely empty) and costs $555 (completely emptying your wallet). We gave it a 3/5 in our review; SOLID is the only fitting score for a bag of this size. 
Saddleback might be French because Le Back is Sad after carrying around this bag for too long.
So how are you supposed to get your hands on this fine piece of meat/leather? We’d suggest some sort of abnormal-feat-of-strength contest just to make sure our winner’s qualified to carry the behemoth baggage, but since that’s not practical (and we’d get jealous) we’ll resort to the all too familiar “leave a comment below” strategy.
Sad Le Back.
So, in order to win the colossal case, the monstrous messenger, the elephantine mass of elegant leather, all you have to do is tell us why you want it and if you think you can bench-press more than the MacLife editors. Leave your wordage below, and remember only one entry!
The fine print:
Mac|Life " Win a $500/500lb bag!!” Contest rules: One entry per person. The winner will be chosen at random from qualified entries. All entries must be received no later than April 31, 2011. By entering this contest, you agree that Future US, Inc. may use your name, likeness, and website for promotional purposes without further payment. Employees of Sponsor, its respective parent, subsidiaries, affiliated companies, and agents, and foregoing employees¹ household or immediate family members (defined as parent, spouse, child, sibling, or grandparent) are NOT eligible to enter Contest. All prizes will be awarded, and no minimum number of entries is required. If two or more people enter identical designs and that entry is selected as the winner, the entry received first will be awarded the contest prize. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to their parents or legal guardians. Future US, Inc. is not responsible for damages or expenses the winners might incur as a result of this contest or the receipt of a prize, and winners are responsible for income taxes based on the value of the prize received. A list of winners may also be obtained by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Future US, Inc. c/o Mac|Life Contest, 4000 Shoreline Court, Suite 400, South San Francisco, CA 94080. This contest is limited to residents of the United States. No purchase necessary; void in Arizona, Maryland, Vermont, Puerto Rico, and where prohibited by law.
dcoughli
January 25, 2012 at 6:45am
I'd be very happy to win this bag as I'm just in the process of starting a business. I'm also looking forward to checking out your review. I stumbled across your site on a google alert for saddleback leather.
I own their small wallet, and I love it. You can't beat the size and it feels like it will actually last. I owned a Koyono wallet that worked great, but only lasted 5 years. For the same price I get a wallet with a 100 year warranty. So I'm guessing the briefcase will be at least the same quality.
You guys have quite the touchy spam filter!
cupcake
April 30, 2011 at 9:52am
This bag is gorgeous and the extra heft means I can cancel my order for the Shake Weight. If the current trend of lighter is better technology continues, soon we'll have to tether our gadgets to the inside of our bags with balloon strings.
MedusaOblongata
April 27, 2011 at 11:15pm
I would love this Saddleback bag! I've read of their high quality briefcases, but have never seen one in person. While I'm no body builder, I weighed once and just my clothes (and everything in my pockets) weighed 20 lbs! I'm sure it's higher now. I'll be able to carry this heavy leather bag, even full. Send it to me and I'll prove it, and send you pictures!
yoloracingnews
April 26, 2011 at 10:30am
Can lift those editors to new heights!!
Need this bag to carry my macbook pro and camera on a new project I am working on. Which is going to 15 NASCAR races and reporting on blog and social media the races and everything about those race weekends. Need something I can haul around all day long and keeps my gear safe. This is also a full time RV adventure since I will be living out of one as I follow the race circuit.
dunstone
April 25, 2011 at 8:52pm
i'm afraid I don't have the electronic gear to put in the bag, yet. ...just finishing med school something over a quarter million in the red. but one look at the bag and i imagined the ol' country doc making house calls in the dark of the night, carrying all that might be required to heal the sick. what a vision! sure would love to be that guy.
oh, and i'm not much of a weight lifter, but i can still outgun most of my second-career, middle-aged brethren.
fozia123
April 22, 2011 at 5:09am
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HeatherShow
April 19, 2011 at 7:38pm
I'd love to have this bag! I've been trying desperately to find a bag that will carry my iPad, new iPod, my wallet, and all the different medical devices I have to carry with me for my monthly trips to the hospital. It's tough finding a bag that can haul all that and yet still look stylish! As for the weight, I can't bench press much of anything. But that doesn't matter, since I'll be carrying the bag in my lap while riding in my wheelchair. Problem solved! Huzzah! :)
Thanks!
shorrell
April 15, 2011 at 11:46pm
I would use the bag to carry my MacBook Pro around, my newest edition of MacLife magazine, all my other apple products and go around telling everyone how awesome I am because of the bag. As for the bench pressing, never underestimate a computer wiz.
shorrell
April 15, 2011 at 11:46pm
I would use the bag to carry my MacBook Pro around, my newest edition of MacLife magazine, all my other apple products and go around telling everyone how awesome I am because of the bag. As for the bench pressing, never underestimate a computer wiz.
msT
April 15, 2011 at 5:40pm
Dearest MacLife Editors,
Does this come in PINK?
Hiking the trails, riding my bike, and teaching high school kids are all great reasons to own a safe, secure, durable bag.I like PINK
jknowlton
April 14, 2011 at 10:27am
I would put my MacBookPro and IPAD into it and ride my motorcycle with that strapped to my back into the sunset!
Rocktsurgeon
April 12, 2011 at 11:33am
This bag would be great, always liked saddleback bags but they are out of my price range for now.
Karljam
April 12, 2011 at 10:59am
Because I want my laptop to have that new car smell every time I open that AWESOME bag! Plus, I don't have a leather couch and if I stuffed it with foam, it might double as one.
ctopher
April 08, 2011 at 10:13am
It's ugly and heavy and I don't own a horse. I don't wear a fedora and I don't have a bull whip.
MckeePhoto
April 07, 2011 at 2:02pm
Why would I want this? Because it looks so cool and Indy Jones/Steampunk (yeah, i know. Two diff genres).
Still, quite beautiful.
As for the bench press, I challenge you to 12 ounce curls!
mpantzis
April 05, 2011 at 1:36pm
My bag was just stolen out of my car with my Macbook Pro + my email address was stolen in the Epsilon debacle! I have ordered a new MBP but could use a great bag to keep it safe.... BTW, Can people please stop taking my stuff without asking!
Redhead95
April 04, 2011 at 10:03pm
come on, my backpack is at least 10 on a good day, and 40 on a bad one. (on a more serious note, I'm not kidding. stupid textbooks)
toadliy
April 04, 2011 at 5:51pm
Saddleback Leather makes the perfect travel bags. I've always wanted one, but could never afford them, so getting one for free would be the perfect solution to my problem. I don't know if I can bench more than the editors can, but I'd work out every day for the rest of my life if it meant I could carry around a bag like this.
Ramblingheather
April 03, 2011 at 10:05am
Oh how wonderful!! I would LOVE to win this bag! Pick me Pick me :)
ol' rock
April 03, 2011 at 12:31am
If I had this bag I would tie it to a rope, throw it off of a sail boat, and drag it in tow across the Atlantic Ocean from Texas to Morocco. Then, I'd find a camel and ride across the Sahara in the blistering sun, so the bag could dry out (maybe stop in Libya to see how the revolution is going). I'm sure after the Sahara the bag and I would be a little warm, so I'd go to Tanzania and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro just to cool off. Afterwards, I'd take a flight to Moscow, get on the Trans-Siberian Railway for a leisurely ride into Beijing (letting the bag catch up on some rest). Upon arrival, I'd grab some back ally chinese food on my way to hike the Great Wall. Next, I'd fly back to the Americas, first stopping in Chile to take the bag snow skiing near Santiago, make my way up to Peru to check out Machu Picchu, and take a boat through the Amazon to Brazil. Finally, I'd head back to the US, show the macLife people how the bag held up, have a bench-press competition (if it were me against one of you, I think I could do it, but against the editors, I'm sure all of you working together could out bench me), hand out some souvenirs, and then get back to Texas where the bag and I belong.**
So, why do I want the bag? Just to see if it could make it.
**I'm actually a broke graduate student and couldn't afford a trip like this, but if MacLife would be willing to fill the bag with enough cash, I'd be out the door and on my way.
jtran
March 31, 2011 at 1:47pm
This bag is sooooo... ugly that it's only fitting to be mounted in front of my hog!
and if my friends ask how it landed there? I can only say because some of Mac|Life.com editors just couldn't stand looking it any more! and so they decided that some unlucky guy like myself should suffer a little bit!... hahaha... very funny Mac|Life!
Apple 26.2
March 27, 2011 at 9:20am
Awesome bag... I need it for the protection of My Precious that my current bag isn't providing!
And I'm not sure I can out-bench press you guys (bad rotator cuff in right shoulder), but I can certainly out run you!
:)
AtlFlytGuy
March 26, 2011 at 12:22am
That bag would look great traveling around with me all the time. I am always on the go. I fly about 11,000 miles a week!!
mckeeverm
March 21, 2011 at 10:45am
I really need that bag! I mean, who doesn't need a bag? But, being a guy, I have to have a man-bag! And that's about the manliest bag I've ever seen!1!11!
As far as out-benchpressing the MacLife editorial staff -- come on. I've seen the staff (every month in the magazine). 'Nuff said!
evlway
March 20, 2011 at 5:16am
Absolutely perfect bag for Texas! Toting this saddle bag would earn me a little respect when I toss it up into the overhead bin on all my Texas flights. All of the Lone Star lawyers on the flight will be jealous. And they might even grudgingly move their arms over an inch on the armrest while they're reading their Wall Street Journals.
mikelizarraga
March 19, 2011 at 10:49am
It' will look nice on me, besides that, plenty of space to carry, the mac book , the external HD, digital camera, Ipad 2, cables.
DukFan
March 16, 2011 at 3:16pm
As the Saddleback website says, "They'll fight over it when you die." This is a bag that will outlast several tech upgrades. Gotta have it.
urusaigirl
March 16, 2011 at 1:40am
This bag is beast. Not only beast but shmexy to boot. I carry a fully leather coach bag around. I can carry this baby. I am a mother to two boys (18&11), if I can handle them then can handle this bag. I'd use it to store important things in my car and at work fending off hormone deranged teenagers, and the occasional ninja or pirate. Plus, being a teacher it might make me look like a female Indiana Jones. (adventurous and smart)
As for the bench press... Hmmm... My students and friends do call me She-ra on occasion.
wubandpea@yahoo.com
March 13, 2011 at 10:22am
Being a Letter Carrier, and carrying a 35 lb. satchel of mail all day every day on my shoulder, it would be great to sling this fine piece of leather over my shoulder to carry my less than 5 lb. MacBook!!!
azacher
March 13, 2011 at 7:59am
Firstly, It is precisely the styling to go with my Indiana Jones HAT and WHIP!. I can use it to carry my iPad, iPod, iBook and the Covenant of the Lost Ark.
During the nuclear attack, I can HIDE INSIDE IT (looks like it would withstand it perfectly).
Next time I'm flying a Ford Trimotor 5-AT-B to India, I HAVE to have this case to keep my Staff of Ra.
Watch out for the rope bridges!
Allan
PS if stranded COULD EAT THIS BAG FOR DAYS, I'm quite sure it's pretty beefy!
Mclawson
March 12, 2011 at 11:26pm
I think this bag is suited well for a retiring submarine vet to use in the pursuit of the next era in life. The durability of this bag was what caught my eye. This is something my sister would make to haul around her tools in and I would have to trade her out of it. It looks like it would commute well on the back of my bicycle also.
ovniologo
March 11, 2011 at 12:23am
Right now I got the last 6 Mac Life magazines in an ugly old library bag that I bring to work daily. The reason is that every time I got a chance during work I go back to marked areas to tweak my Mac BookPro or download something recommended. I will love this Saddleback Bag because I will increase my reputation from obsess- geek to cool-geek don’t care a bit about the weight I can burn calories this way too. Thank you for your good work in the magazine.
tnch98
March 09, 2011 at 8:50am
Very Nice bag, very, very cool to carry my MAC notebook, Ipad, and Ipod...maybe my Ipad 2 too.
casselmb
March 08, 2011 at 4:21pm
I need this bag. Bad. I've been drooling over them for months, but as a full-time law student I just can't convince my fiancee (also a grad. student) that this belongs in the budget. I need something substantial to carry around books with titles like "Criminal Law: Cases, Statutes, and Lawyering Strategies." I also need something for my part-time clerkship at the Prosecutor's office. They frown on me taking my backpack in the office for carrying files home. I absolutely need this bag.
ezyoke
March 07, 2011 at 2:42pm
I have a very good friend who has been laid off for about a year. He could use this to accompany him to interviews. I would like to win it and give it to him. He's had a rough time and times are tough for him. It would be a real blessing to him. That's why I would love to win this. You guys are tops! Thx
johnholford
March 06, 2011 at 11:19pm
Please, Please, Please. I must have this bag to carry your magazines that I use for reference materials to properly work my iPhone and MacBook Pro, work papers for a major clothing manufacturer, with attachments. It would absolutely fit my persona.
rrobski
March 06, 2011 at 10:46pm
Actually, I really love the look of old leather cases. I can't actually afford them, but I love the look. Perhaps it's because I'm older now too.
Last year I priced similar cases for myself but I chose to buy an iPad instead. I don't regret it one bit, the pad is way cooler. So far I made 4 trips with my old backpack and I seem to be getting along just fine.
But I really do love the look of old leather ...
avtcannon
March 06, 2011 at 9:57pm
That bag is a hell of a lot nicer than the canvas one I'm stuck using now. As for bench-pressing more than the editors, I'm sure they've got me beat.
littlesag
March 06, 2011 at 8:59pm
Leather? Who doesn't like the smell of leather? I can smell that bad boy from here. 7.5 lbs of leather will easily fill my office with that sweet, sweet aroma. Good luck to me.
johnpaff
March 06, 2011 at 10:01am
I'd use it to open up an Internet Cafe, after living in it for a while!
Either that, or use it haul a 17" Mac Book Pro around and actually use that as a portable ;)
mwarden
March 05, 2011 at 8:27am
What an awesome bag! And versatile too. You can fit all of your Mac devices in it AND Steve Jobs ... with room to spare for that iTablet they keep teasing us about.
And empty it weighs as much as Steve does wet! Gotta have it with those features. Saddleback Leather/MacLife you guys rock.
maxcap
March 04, 2011 at 9:38pm
You know, my boss has this bag. His wife gave it to him. It's pretty nifty. Really good looking too! I've really never won anything, so heres to giving it the old college try.
