Review! Go Forth Goods Mini Hoffman in Dark Saddle

 

This review was supposed to go up last Sunday, but because of my flight delay I didn't have time to take all the video and photos I needed. I am super stoked to share this bag with you all. This is my first Go Forth Goods bag and it definitely won't be my last. Be prepared to see more reviews from this brand. I've never seen a brand interact with their customers as much as this one. You can even ask questions and the CEO of the company (Nathan Martin) will respond directly to you on their Facebook page. It's pretty amazing to be honest. It's so refreshing. Their bags are made to order and lifetime guaranteed. If something happens to your bag, they will take it back and fix it for you. Their level of customer service is something I have not seen in a long, long time. 

For reference I'm 4 feet 11 inches tall.

Check out my video to see what fits!

Go Forth Goods Mini Hoffman Dark Saddle

How did I discover this brand? I got an ad on my Instagram feed that showed a bag with some of the most gorgeous looking leather. I am all about leather, as you know! I clicked on the ad and looked at their website to see if there was a style that I would be interested in. I immediately was drawn to the mini Hoffman. It reminds me of a duffle bag but shrunk down to a cute hand held size. 

What's amazing about this brand is being able to customize your bag. I added an outside hemmed pocket, changed the rivets from brass to copper, and asked for striations on the leather. You can even change the handle drop from the standard 5 inches to a 4 or 7 inch drop. You can swap the strap out for one of their other straps. The one customization that's most important to me is the fact that you can request a specific hide. That is what really drew me in. There is a disclaimer that they will try their best to accommodate the hide request. Since these bags are made to order, there is a 15 to 20 business day turnaround. 

The bags are hand made in the USA. Marietta, Georgia to be exact. I was able to check out their store in person. It's more of a studio where you can look at a lot of their bags. You can buy bags that they have on display but it's not many. I would say they might have had about 100 items to buy from. They are only open Monday to Thursday, so definitely make sure the store is open before you drop by! 

When I placed my order for this Saddle Mini Hoffman, I didn't know that the batch of saddle hides they received was a darker color. Previously, they had a batch where the color was lighter which was what I was expecting, but after I joined the Facebook page I found out the batch they had came out darker than usual. At the time of this post, their current saddle is very different and so beautiful that I placed another order. It has a ton of pull up and a lot of character. Below is a picture that Nathan posted. While it's still Saddle, each Saddle bag can look very different from one to another.

I pulled this photo from the Facebook Group.

(It's a private group, so you do have to request to join.)

There is just so much to unpack about this brand and their bags, I haven't even gotten to explaining how this bag carries! 😆 The mini size is actually great for all your essentials and then some. I prefer to carry this bag handheld as the strap that it comes with is a little too stiff since it's brand new. I'm sure it would break in nicely, but I have so many other straps I could swap if I wanted to carry it crossbody. I prefer to just grab and go with this bag. I kept the standard 5 inch handle drop, but I think I could have went for the 4 inch drop as well. The 5 inch is probably more practical though.

Let's take a closer look at the bag.

Go Forth Goods Mini Hoffman Dark Saddle

This leather!! This is what I call real leather. It's minimally processed. You can see the natural markings on this bag. The striations are so beautiful to me. The color is closer to chocolate than it is to saddle if I'm being honest. When I first got the bag, I almost wondered if I had received the wrong one. Even though it's not what I expected, I still really love the bag. The hide is thick which means it is on the heavier side. When empty the bag weighs 1 pound 12 ounces or so. That's on the heavier side for a small bag. The handles are Mocha which is standard with this color. You can switch to a different color if you want to. Just keep in mind if you customize the bag it will be a final sale, which is totally fair. I just love that this is a bespoke bag made just for you, but at a very affordable price. 

Just how affordable? This bag without any customizations is $300. With all my customizations it is $385. I was able to get it for 25% off, which is such a great deal! I paid just round $300. Go Forth Goods also has sales about once a month. The discount is typically 25% off, but right now because of the holidays I would guess you might be able to wait for Black Friday sale and get 30% off. That's their deepest discount that I have seen so far. 

The bottom has no feet, but I would not expect that for this type of style. This brand has a very rugged, outdoorsy feel which is usually not what I go for, but the leather just pulled me in. The inside of the bag is raw suede, so there's no lining. There's also one side pocket. 

The handles are very comfortable for grab and go.

I love double zippers on a bag and zipper itself is a little coarse but should eventually smooth out with use or you can add some wax to the zipper teeth. Let me know if you have a Go Forth Goods bag. If you do, which style? That's it for me! Hope you all have a wonderful start to a brand new week!

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Go Forth Goods Mini Hoffman