I received one of their refillable “No. 9” leather journals as a gift to take on my deployment to Iraq. It really is a beautiful journal. It’s made of very nice leather and has a wonderful aroma to it.
I received the standard unlined journal (I don’t care for lines in my journals so I can make sketches and drawings in them), but they also offer the journal and refills in the lined version, fishing, and golf.
Another little thing they do is include a miniature moon pie with your order. I thought that was a nice touch.
The quality of their leather seems very nice, though it is not as heavy as the leather used by Saddleback Leather for their Moleskine covers…and Col. Littleton doesn’t offer any alternate colors for almost all their leather items, so that’s a shame. The journal I have is sort of a medium brown color…just slightly lighter than a football. Their other leather items on their web page look darker than my journal, but still no choice of color. You’re going to get whatever color leather they used to make the item at that particular time, I guess.
Their analogs of Saddleback’s items (such as the iPad cases, satchels, etc.) cost a lot more than even Saddleback’s items cost. If I were ever in a position to spend that much money on something like that, I think I’d go with Saddleback just for the 100-year warranty they offer as opposed to the Col. Littleton slightly ambiguous guarantee of, “a long, long time”.
Unfortunately, I haven’t seen the Col. Littleton bags in person. Being a soldier and with limited income, I cannot set aside enough money to save up for something that dear right now. If I ever get the chance to, I’ll check them out and see if the quality is on par with Saddleback and if so, will revise my review here. I do appreciate Col. Littleton’s attitude toward business and how they treat their customers. From reading their webpage and watching some of the videos, it looks like they’re a nice laid-back company and quite friendly.
11:37 am, October 19, 2011B. D. Holt /
I believe the advantage of a Col. Littleton Product is the custom leather is tanned and manufactured in Tennessee, not Mexico. Proud to support Made in the USA.
1:52 pm, October 19, 2011admin /
Yes, that’s very true. I agree with supporting companies that make their products in the USA. I just don’t think I’ll ever understand why that means we 1) have absolutely no choice of color in almost all their products and 2) have to settle for thinner, lower-grade leather. I mean, I hear that argument all the time, but then the US-manufacturers refuse to provide the selection or quality available outside the US in almost every case.
In fact, I just received a “Dispatch Bag” that was made in the USA and sold by TADGear. I compared it to the one I bought that was made in Asia and the Asian one is actually made better! I was shocked! They used double-stitching throughout the bag. I didn’t see any double-stitching ANYWHERE on the US-made TADGear bag.
Unfortunately,I think the whole “buy US” thing has sadly just become a tool used by businesses to get people to buy their (possibly/likely inferior) product just because it’s made here and get them to spend the same amount or more for it under the guise of supporting the US, then producing/selling an inferior product. I don’t know. I know for the stuff I make and sell, I am the only one that does it, so I know I can stand behind my work. Large companies, who knows?