 This is the Humber from UK bag maker Covert, based in Bath in the south of England. Now obviously it's a wax canvas duffel bag or as the Brits would call it a hold-all. Come with me for another foray out of the world of boots and into heritage-style bags. G'day, how you going? Welcome to Bootlossophy and if you're new here, my name is Tech. If you're really new here, consider subscribing as you watch this video. I acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands I live and work on here in the Perth region, Western Australia, the Wadget people. As I said at the beginning, this is the Humber, named after the town or the river estuary in the north of England, near the ports of Hull and Grimsby. It's a duffel bag or a hold-all made of wax canvas, so it's light and water-resistant made by the UK bag maker Covert. That's with a K, not a C. I'll take you through it, but first, let me talk a little bit about Covert. Covert was founded in 2013 in Bath in the south of England. I think it might be pronounced Bath. They say that it was founded by a small collective of engineers, designers and environmentalists who brought together a love of natural things, technology and unique design into the bags and backpacks that they started to design and make. Now that is a very interesting mix of interests. Central to their business are the principles of reuse, recycle and repurpose, and they say that they consider sustainability in their design and operations. Their bags are handmade in small batches, much in the same way as a small batch of bootmakers, and that's in order to reduce waste and storage. Their bags are made in overseas though, not in the UK, so the carbon footprint is not exactly minimized, but they do say that they work with certified ethical workshops in China and in Vietnam. Let's go through the bag now and start with a look around the outside. So let's start by looking at the outside features. Now it's obviously a waxed canvas. This is a natural 18 ounce cotton canvas. It's been waxed actually very lightly, but it is water resistant. This canvas is dyed with vegetable dyes, and so should remain reasonably color fast. If we take a look at the features of the bag, there is one central sort of double pull zip. I filled the bag with towel so that it has a bit of bulk, and I'll delve into that in a minute. On the outside, it has an external pocket also zipped up here, which presumably you can put things like travel documents and the like that you need to easily reach, maybe your phone and ear pods, that sort of thing. On the other side, there is a side zip, which is also similar. And it's actually not that deep, it's about hands deep. So that might be where you put notebooks and that sort of thing. There's a covered sort of logo that you can get. And then if I just turn that around, you have two leather covered, really nice feeling leather covered handles, which I believe there is a kind of tube inside to give it a bit of bulk and quality. Now, I don't like handles where they're quite sharp on your palm. These are nicely rounded with the addition of, I think, a tube in there. It gives you a nice volume. There is a leather reinforcement that's stitched onto there, and it's adjustable, although I have no idea why. I, you know, why would you adjust that? What does the extra length give you? Maybe you can put a map around it, maybe. I don't know, that's a possibility. Roll something out and put that through, maybe. Who knows? And obviously on the other side, same thing. Underneath, on the bottom, these four studs to protect the lower surface of the bag. I have to say, though, that when you first see this bottom strip of leather, you think that the leather goes all the way down to protect it, but it does not. Ah, let's dive inside the bag. Oh, just before we do that, let me show you how this is, the hardware is connected here. There's a little clip that if you undo, lengthens the bag, or gives the bag of the height its full height, or in most cases, you can just simply connect it here. Fairly solid hardware. And the shoulder strap is also affixed to the same D-ring, which is properly reinforced and riveted. So, you know, overall the construction is really very solid. The shoulder strap is a webbing material with a leather and canvas padding. Very soft, very comfortable, very nice. Let's go inside. So, I've filled the bag with towels just to give a bit of extra depth. But as you can see, the lining is a cotton material, very soft and very nice to touch. If I have one complaint, it's very loose. Now, let me just take these towel stuffings out so you can have a bit of a look. See what I mean by being very loose and fluffy? I think the problem with that, because it's not stitched to the corners, is that you tend to lose things, like socks get rolled up and, you know, they go into a corner and you don't even see them there when you try and unpack the bag. On one side, they've got, I have no idea why, two, I think, pen holders, but why you put your pens inside, I'm not entirely sure. Plus, they have these two pockets, which I guess you can put things like notebooks in them. But I've found that when I put things in them, they get lost because, as you can see, when you try and pack the bag, sometimes they go upside down. And I have found loose items quite difficult to find in this bag. On the other side, they have, this is a bit better, they have a couple of zip compartments. And behind this front zip compartment is another compartment. It's not covered, it has this little pull loop, but it doesn't attach to anything. So if you put things in there, again, there's every likelihood it spills out and gets lost. The zip compartments are a little bit better. They're not too bad, they're actually quite deep, so you can put things in there and find them again. The good thing is, as you can see, the zips are really well made, in my opinion. And there's a second zip compartment, which is a bit shallower, it's about that shallow. So those are the useful parts inside. The hardware is all steel, I'm pretty sure. It's solidly riveted and so on, so I think it's secure. The stitching is very nice. I can't see, you know, it's a reasonable density stitching. I can't see any loose stitching or wayward stitching. The stitching of the wax canvas panels is really well done and that is reinforced. There's two panels put together and then there is a reinforcement on the inside. What's I telling you, I don't think I finished telling you. The hardware is steel, I'm pretty sure. In the website that says some of the bags use brass, but these are all steel as far as I can see. Some measurements. The bag is 42 litres big, so that's quite a reasonable size, hefty. It's a long weekender and really I could pack a week into that. Measurements, it's 36 centimetres tall, 51 centimetres long and 23 centimetres wide. But you couldn't tell the way it collapses. One good thing about the way it collapses, like all wax canvas bags, is, you know, you can store them very easily. The bad thing is, I think, when you're trying to pack, it's a bit unwieldy. But overall, I think it is nicely made. I think it's nicely constructed. There are some very secure rivets all over the place. The zips, they're not YKK, but they're very, very easy to use. They open and close very easily. The canvas is a suitably thick cotton canvas. I really like the colour of this sort of khaki colour. The patina on the very light waxing is just beginning to show, but it is very light. Not, that doesn't mean it's not water resistant, it is, but it's very light. So if you're expecting a crackling patina, I don't think you're going to get it with this. On the plus side, really nice hardware, really well sewn together, and it's very comfortable to use. I bought this in 2022, just over a year ago. I have used it on a few road trips, as well as a half a dozen or so business trips on a plane, and it fits in carry-on space very well, whether under seats or overhead. It is light and comfortable to put on your shoulder or carry in your hand. And light enough to throw up on the luggage bin quite easily. As for value, it cost me 243 Aussie dollars, which is astounding for this quality build. Being made in Vietnam makes a difference, obviously, and it actually shipped from Vietnam. I am, however, still surprised that they didn't add on a premium markup because it is pretty good quality from what I can see. At that price, it is pretty good value. Well, there you go. On the plus side, it's a well designed bag with plenty of room and compartments. It is light and easy to carry on shoulder or in hand. The price is certainly right, and at 243 Aussie dollars, really good value. The materials are good from what I can see, and the construction is good. On the negative side, look, there's nothing physical about the bag, but I kind of wish they dial back their website, marketing speak about sustainability and reclaiming when perhaps they do a good job. But well, take a look at this. In explaining what is reclaimed leather, they write reclaimed or repurposed leather means we source hides which would otherwise be discarded. I don't know what that means. Which hides are discarded? Do they mean hides rejected for other leather products? Or do they mean off cuts that would otherwise be ground into pulp? Or do they mean hides off food animals? And if so, isn't that what hides are used by tenories anyway? I wish they'd be clearer to to define that repurposing. They push the sustainability issue without my being able to really grasp it, making it overseas, for example, while good for the price isn't exactly think global at local. Anyway, I like it for the price and the quality, and I'll take the word about sustainability. Hey, don't forget to click on the like button to help me out. And if you haven't yet, click on subscribe as well. I'll be bringing you more boot reviews and reviews of heritage style bags and other stuff until next time. Stay safe and I'll see you soon.