A letter from a reader

At 58, I found five reasons not to buy a weekend bag. I was wrong about all five.

I have written to Jack Reid once before, about a rucksack. I said then that I was not a writer, and that has not changed.

I am writing again because of a bag I very nearly did not buy. I talked myself out of it five times. Helen, my wife, talked me back into it once, and that was enough.

I had a reason for every no. None of them survived the first weekend.

1. I thought I already had a bag

For years our weekends away ran on a wheeled case with one wonky wheel and an old sports holdall with a broken zip. They worked, in the sense that our clothes arrived.

Then we went to see our daughter in York by train. I spent the walk from the station dragging the case over the cobbles while Helen walked ahead with the DOOLIN I had bought to try. By the time we reached the door I knew which of us had the better bag.

2. I thought waxed canvas would be stiff and smelly

I had an idea that waxed canvas was something farmers wore and that it smelled of an engine shed. It is soft, it folds, and it smells faintly of wax and leather. Helen says it smells like her father's old jacket, which she means as a compliment.

The first proper test was a wet Saturday at the station. The rain ran off the canvas in beads. At home I wiped it with a cloth and that was the end of it. It is water-repellent rather than waterproof, and for a weekend bag that is all I need.

3. I thought it would be too big for the cabin

It looks generous, so I assumed it would have to go in the hold. I measured it with Helen's tape: 52 by 32 by 23 centimetres. That is inside the 56 by 45 by 25 allowance British Airways uses, and inside the large cabin bag on easyJet.

If your airline only allows 20 centimetres of depth, check before you fly. On the train it lives on the rack above my head.

4. I thought the price meant it was cheaply made

When I saw £154.95 for a bag like this, down from £619.95, my first thought was that something must be wrong with it. I have bought cheap things that looked good in a photograph before.

So I looked properly. Full-grain crazy horse leather on the handles, straps and trim. Brass fittings. Leather reinforcement and rivets where the bag takes the strain. Jack Reid gives it a lifetime quality guarantee and 30 days to send it back, which told me they expected me to keep it.

The reason for the price turned out to be simple. Jack is closing his ready-made range and going custom-only after 29 years, and this is the last of the stock.

5. I thought I would be too careful with it to use it

I am the sort of man who keeps a good thing in its box. I expected to leave this one in the wardrobe for best.

Instead it has been to York, to the Peak District twice and to the gym more often than I have. Our spaniel climbed into the boot and onto it within a week. The scuff rubbed out with my thumb, and the leather looks better now than it did when it arrived.

What I would tell Paul

Paul asked me at the pub whether it was worth it. I told him I had five good reasons not to buy it, and that I would have been wrong to listen to any of them.

If you are like me and you have been making do with the bag you already have, have a look while the Farewell Sale is on. When this stock is gone, Jack has said it will not be made again.

I am done making do with the bag I already have.

Daniel