back from holiday: galen leather writer’s bank bag pen pouch review

Headphones muffle the sounds of the café only so far, and the busy Saturday morning seeps through. A bright, warm day drives everyone outside to enjoy the lingering summer. The long, suffocating heat of summer is mostly gone, the autumn wind brings a refreshing chill in the mornings. That pleasant breeze brings the best times of the year, and the beginning of the new school year.

Hi, hello! It has been a while since I managed to put some time aside to write about hobbies. It’s always fun to see how fountain pens transform from a tool to a hobby back and forth. In busy times, they become another writing instrument, the fancy ones left in their boxes for the most part. Then, when I get a break, they become fun and interesting once more. Hopefully, this last move to take a step back will give me some new perspective, I need it these days. Moving back to Istanbul is a whiplash on its own too, especially considering that I was living in a small student town. I’m interested to see what this autumn will bring, maybe the chilly winds will bring some luck with them as well.

I’ve been out of the house a lot, including some traveling. During this time, Galen Leather’s Writer’s Bank Bag has been indispensable to bring a mix of fountain pens, regular pens and notebooks. It is said to allow for an A5 notebook and 7 pens, including oversized ones. I put this to test, and then took this pen pouch to hell and back for the past one and half years. I wanted to write a review about this pen case earlier, but that felt like cheating. Galen Leather usually has amazing and functional designs, and I want to find something to be critical about.

Safe to say, I couldn’t find many things to complain about.

My Banker’s Bag is made from Crazy Horse Brown leather. The colour is warm brown, slightly caramelly. It’s a soft, supple leather that has a velvety texture like nubuck. This type of leather lets it age beautifully in a rugged, well-used way. Little accidents or bumps become customisation. Mine has some spots of staining, wrinkles, scuffs, ripples and the leather is a stretched from stuffing it with too many notebooks. Still, the leather is strong and holds up to all kinds of carrying without losing its shape. I even took out the insert to use it as a camera bag for a small camera and some rolls of film. Afterwards, it went right back to its flat rectangular shape. The inside’s finish has held up well too, there is not a single thread out of place and the inside kept its cork-like texture. I am impressed with the craftsmanship and the quality that this pen pouch offers. It seems like it’s simple to make, it’s not a complicated design. Galen Leather delivers it again and again, making products that would survive the apocalypse better than I could.

I have to say, that’s why I was so surprised about the zipper. The zipper itself works great, even the dimensions of the pouch accommodate this exact zipper so that no rogue paper or pen gets caught in it, everything is safely snuggled inside. The problem is that the zipper sometimes gets stuck at the end, when you fully zip it all the way. You have to carefully hold the zipper down and pull it back like that. Zippers are hard to manufacture and fit into things, I understand that. Honestly, I developed such a huge appreciation for ones that fit seamlessly into a design. It’s just that I’m used to these pen cases being extremely easy to use, even opening and closing with a single hand, so maybe I’m just spoiled.

The pouch part is useful, even in non-pen circumstances. The insert comes with parts that are more goal-oriented, namely holding pens. There are seven pen loops on one side with some card holders, and a felt flap on the other side to hold notebooks or loose paper. I never use this flap. I think it’s nice to have, I can see other people using it to hold stickers or cards, but I just throw in my notebook(s) into it. Trying to fit the cover in and then out seems a bit too finicky. Same with the cards slots. It’s great to have, as I see other people loving them, but I tend to simply throw things into the pouch. It keeps a great job of holding everything together already.

The elastic pen loops are wide and snug enough to hold smaller pens like Kaweco Sport or Sailor Pro Gear Slim securely. The only time I had a pen slip out was once I didn’t realize that the oversized pens stretched the elastic band. The Opus 88 Minty used to stay in one of the loops permanently, as it’s a very flight-safe pen with the shut-off valve, and the loop stretched according to that. When I put a Pilot Decimo into it, it just dropped right off. Nothing happened, but now I have to be a bit careful with that one loop and make sure that I put my larger pens there. The upside of wide pen loops is that if something like this happens, you can also just clip a pen onto it and it stays there, safe. Again, this requires to fuss with the pen for additional fifteen seconds and I lack the patience for it.

I don’t think the elastic pen loops are the best due to their tendency to stretch, but I also don’t know what can be better. In the grand scheme of things, I don’t mind using them at all, they keep the pens neat and organised successfully.

I also put its capacity to test. Who doesn’t love inking up bulky pens and bringing out the big notebooks? It can technically take two bulkier notebooks like the Leuchttrum 1917 ones, but one big notebook and one slimmer one is a better fit with full pen capacity. It can even take some paperback books. The soft leather is lighter than harder, thicker notebook covers or pen cases. It might seem like it gives less protection to pens, especially against banging into other things, but I had no problems with it. This is enough protection to carry things around in a bag.

Overall, I like this pen pouch a lot. It became a mini writing kit for me, just take it and go. I enjoy the simplicity and build quality of it. It’s sturdy and pretty. There isn’t much left to say about it. The only thing is that I wish it had some loops. I would’ve loved to put a strap and make it into a full-on bag. It has pen loops and card places, enough space for notebook and pens… It’d be perfect.

Thank you for reading!

Disclaimer: I was sent this pen pouch in exchange for an honest review. This post is not sponsored by Galen Leather, all opinions are my own.