Many moons ago, I did an
unboxing and first impressions video of the Galen Leather Tool wrap - you can watch it here if you're curious. However, I have been using this wrap obsessively since then and I felt a review was long overdue! Thank you to Galen Leather for sending this so long ago for me to check out.
ABOUT
Material: Leather
Size Open: 13.4" x 11.9"
34.2 cm x 30.4 cm
Color: Brown
Price: $69.00USD
Where to buy:
Galen Leather
PACKAGING
The Galen Leather tool wrap is beautifully presented in a branded box with an Evil Eye charm, a note on the Galen Leather story, and a matching belly band. It's actually really outstanding, quite special presentation in my humble opinion. I usually do not care for packaging but the added charm, the story, the beauty and class of the packaging is hard to ignore. It's also recyclable. Lovely.
APPEARANCE
I love pencil cases, pouches, and wraps. The second my eyes landed on this roll, I was in love. The wrap is simple but it is beautiful. It is quite large when open and it is crafted from soft, supple leather that is not as thick or stiff as the leather on the journal covers. The edges are dark and hand burnished. The stitching work is thick along the edges and pockets and the thread is thick and visible.. The top flap has smooth, rounded corners and there is a smooth flexible piece of leather that folds down as far as your pens are.
There are five pockets in total:
2 x 1.50" x 4.90" or 38 mm x 124.6 mm
2 x 2.78" x 4.90" or 71 mm x 124.6 mm
1 x 3.58" x 4.90" or 90.9 mm x 124.6 mm
The inside of the wrap is soft and velvety to the touch. The leather on the outside is a medium to dark brown with a lot of character, some gloss, and it is laden with warmth and beauty. The color is perfect - like chocolate. Better. It's better than chocolate.
Rolled up, the wrap is big but not extremely bulky unless you have packed it full and because the material is supple and not very thick, it is still not all that bulky. There is a long leather thong on the outside that is stitched in between the two layers of leather so it would take a serious yank to even pull it out.
Overall: I love this wrap. I loved it before I even started using it. I've loved it since the unboxing and now I love it even MORE.
PERFORMANCE & FEEL
YAAAAAS. Pardon my language. But yes. The soft, supple, malleable material is delicious to touch, hold, smell, and use. The softness allows it to stay open on your desk as you use it, or you can quickly roll it up snugly! It feels wonderful in hand - high quality, well made, expensive. There is no branding on it so it's clean and super elegant.
Depending on what you put in the pockets, you can either roll or fold it. I like to do both - roll for pens, fold if there's notebooks or thicker/wider items in it. Although you could use this wrap for a variety of items - make-up brushes, water brushes, measuring devices (calipers, rulers), other artsy items, I use mine for my fountain pens. There are the ones that go in my bag because they almost never leave my side. In my bag, they do not need extremely robust padding and protection. It's just a method to keep them moderately safe and organized.
My daily carry often does not consist of many pens so they fit in the smaller pockets and I put some ballpoints and a pocket notebook in the larger middle pocket. To my standards, needs, and expectations, it performs very well. I like the long thong because I can tie it how I like. I dislike a short thong on a pen wrap.
I love how the wrap looks and feels when folded or rolled up. It's not bulky, it's portable, it's still lightweight and the weight mostly is the pens inside. I carry it all day. It's very useful.
PROS
- Beautiful material - rich color, soft, and supple.
- Slim, flat profile when empty and still quite slim when full and rolled up!
- Nice, deep pockets hold larger pens.
- A superb roll in general.
- Solid, clean stitching.
- Attractive, reusable and/or recyclable packaging.
- Top flap can fold down quite far to cover your pens.
- Looks great.
CONS
- Cannot choose the color of stitching - if that bothers you.
- Unclipped, slippery pens can fall out.
- If you want thick padding, this is not suitable.
OVERALL
Sometimes I say to myself: Ziza, you don't need to carry ALL your pens with you and then I pop this roll in my bag with way too many pens. I love it so much. It's not too big or bulky, it smells good, it feels good, it's beautiful. I absolutely love it.
I received these items free of charge for the purposes of this review. I was not compensated monetarily for my review. Everything you've read here is my own opinion. There are no affiliate links in this review.
Posts
