Holey moley, it's dry!

I've done more work to our Gladstone bags this past week.  When checking the leather on Nick's bag, after my spa treatment, I noticed a small tear.  It's near the edge of one of the end gusset pieces, so not hugely noticeable - but I will mend it.  

Once I'd decided to repair the tear, I chose to also replace the holey lining on both ends.  I cut out two pieces, as neatly as possible.  Fully replacing the lining is probably beyond my skill-set and enthusiasm at this stage but I think I'll do OK with these smaller sections.  Fingers crossed!

Once the worn fabric was removed, I could see how dry the leather was - in spite of conditioning the outer side. I gave each end a liberal dose of conditioner.  I'll leave that a few days before trying to patch the tear.

After pondering, I decided to remove the pocket elastic.  The trickiest part was working in a deep bag, in a poorly lit room!  Yes, I could've found a head-torch rather than balancing this little one but where's the fun in that?!  

I threaded a double length of new elastic through.  It's pinned firmly, ready for the next step.  We have a property inspection later this week.  I find them stressful, so am probably doing a lot more preparation than is necessary.  On the bright side, while I'm busy with those other missions I'm also thinking about the best way to patch the leather tear - and attach the replacement lining sections.  I just hope the reality will be a good match for my vision!

Two Glad?!

I really enjoyed using my Gladstone bag on our latest trip.  It was such a good thing that I went searching for another one.  I was lucky to find a Gumtree seller not far from home, so bought this second bag for Nick today!

Measurements had been posted as part of the ad, so I thought the two bags would be similar in size.  When I got them home I sat them side by side and as you can see, there isn't much difference between the two.  (I saw one advertised further away but decided against it, as it was a smaller version).  

The styles are quite similar, though not identical - which is fine.  Both are lined in tartan, which seems standard.  The pockets were made differently, so Nick's has elastic which has aged.  I might be able to replace the failed elastic but will need to have a closer look at the interior first.

From chatting with the seller, I learned she had never used the bag.  I'm not sure whether she bought it new but she still had the keys.  Even better those keys also fit my bag!  Hooray!

As I'd done with mine, today's bag was also given a spa treatment.  Many of the scuff marks were removed or lessened - and a liberal application of leather conditioner was given. I'll check tomorrow to see if more moisturiser is needed.  Erin had some 0000 steel wool, so I used that to give the metal fastenings a bit of attention.  I wasn't trying to make them look new, just a little brighter.  They've come up really well and I'll do the same on my bag (when Erin finds the rest of the steel wool).  

I'm very chuffed with our lockable luggage!  Total paid was $100 - $40 for mine and $60 for Nick's.  I reckon that was money well spent.  I'm keen to take both bags away on our next adventure, whenever/wherever that might be!