A bag is the one piece of home that comes with you on your travels. From weekends in Yosemite to summers at the beach - a bag is the bridge between home and where you are. We wanted to make a bag that will turn heads at the airport. We wanted to make a bag that our children will use. We wanted to make a bag that gets better looking as it breaks in - always picking up a little more patina, always moving a little closer to perfection. We wanted to make the last duffel bag you’ll ever need to buy, at a value only Gustin can offer.

We worked for a very long time to find the right people to help us bring our dreams of a weekender to life. The group of craftsmen we finally went with have been making bags in California longer than I’ve been alive. It’s in their blood. Yes, it’s their job, but it’s also their hobby and passion. They eat, breathe and live making some of the finest bags in the country.

The design of the bag is clean, functional and classic. There’s a single zipper compartment with a solid-brass two-way YKK #10 zipper. In lieu of the standard brass pulls, we’re making our own from the same leather as the bag, and riveting them. The top corners of the bag snap down to the sides with solid-brass swivel snaps. This makes it easier to pack the bag, and gives it a well-finished look. The handles are riveted and sewn to the bag sides for a beefy and durable connection point. They’re made of the same leather as the body, and burnished on the edges. The rolling makes them more comfortable to hold over a traditional flat handles. An adjustable shoulder strap with shoulder pad provides additional carrying options. On the interior of the bag, we’re using a heavyweight, brushed cotton twill in a rich navy color. There’s a single, YKK-zippered compartment on the bag that is trimmed in Horween leather. (Bag weighs 8 lbs empty).

Starting with the absolute best material is the way we approach all our products and the weekender is no exception. For leather, that means Horween. We use their product a lot, but we wanted to find something a little new this time. We found it in a new color from the company’s Dublin line. Dublin leather is the result of an experiment where Horween asked themselves, “What if we take a top quality cowhide and tan it with the same liquor we use to tan Shell Cordovan?" The result is a beautiful, durable leather that has particularly rich coloring. For this weekender we’re using a new color - Nut Brown. It’s a dark-brown shade that has mild highs and lows. It ages beautifully as the oils in the leather get rubbed and displaced resulting in slightly lighter patches to give this bag some visual complexity. It’s truly a thing of beauty.

Leather duffels like ours that are made in the USA are typically priced at $1000 or higher. The efficiency of the Gustin model, with your support, lets us do much better.