This summer I was spent many days and nights on the road. Along with my kids, I was travelling enough to start to notice how some of the gear that I carry functions, or does not function.
One of the pieces of gear that I always carry is my Dopp Kit – a little leather or waxed canvas bag that holds my toiletry essentials like toothbrush, razor, pit stick, and more.
An interesting aside, did you know that the first Dopp Kit was made by Jerome Harris who worked in his uncle’s leather shop. Harris made the first kit and named it after his uncle, Charles Doppelt who was a leather craftsman, who moved to the U.S. from Germany in the 1900s.
Anyway, I noticed that the Dopp Kit I was carrying was pretty big – although an average size kit, but like carrying any bag, no matter the size of it, it gets filled with stuff. So the Dopp Kit I carried, while a great kit, was bigger than I needed and full of stuff I do not really need.
I started looking at new Dopp Kits but then got side tracked by the small leather pouches on the Koch Leather website, especially the Leather Accessory Pouch (retail price of $50US).
So, rather than buying a Dopp Kit from Koch Leather, I settled on one of their Leather Accessory Pouches which is 10″ long, 5″ tall and 1 1/2″ across the bottom. Which, is just a little too small for a Dopp Kit.
I have purchased from Josh and Jen of Koch Leather before, and I know that they are willing to do simple modifications to their leather bags, so I asked them to make the bottom 2″ across. Just big enough to hold the essentials for going on the road.
And of course they said “no problem, give us a few days and we’ll get right on it.” And they did!
Anyway, I have put my new Leather Accessory Pouch – Dopp Kit into service and it works perfectly. As you can see in the photo above, it holds the essentials and more (you may notice that my toothbrush is not in the picture – rest assured, I DO carry, and use a toothbrush!).
The YKK zipper is VERY sturdy, quite stiff at first, but it is obvious it will last a lifetime, like the rest of the leather Dopp Kit.
While it is awesome to have and hold the leather work that Josh and Jen do at Koch Leather, perhaps the best part is receiving the parcel and smelling the leather when you cut the box open. The sweet aroma of quality leather absolutely fills the room. I love it!
I figured that I was having a parcel shipped out from their workshop so it would be kind of a waste to send a box with just one leather bag, so I added two Writer’s Pouches ($25US each) to my order. So far I have been testing one out and carrying my iPhone charger, a couple of Apple dongles, and a pen and pencil. I will see what purpose I put the other one up to.
Overall, I am VERY pleased with my purchases from Josh and Jen of Koch Leather. Very good quality leather and zippers, impeccable (perfect?) stitching, and that willingness to make sure the customer is happy is why I do not hesitate to recommend Koch Leather to my friends.
I am a very happy customer!