With an estimated 74% of Americans owning a laptop in 2019, the need for laptop bags is pretty high. That said, most companies have turned to other countries for manufacturing purposes in a bid to save money and increase productivity. This can have adverse effects on the local economy and the environment.
In this article, I’ll be looking at laptop bags made in the USA.
Companies that Make Laptop Bags in the USA? (The Short Answer)
After doing a little digging, I was able to find 8 American-made laptop bag brands. They are DEFY, Copper River Bag Co, Topo Designs, Tough Traveler, Waterfield, Nutsac, Red Oxx, and Tom Bihn.
American-Made Laptop Bags (Here’s What I Found)
Now that we know which brands produce American-made laptop bags, let’s look at each company in a little more detail.
DEFY
Founded in Chicago in 2008, DEFY is a high-quality bag manufacturer that designs and produces bags to suit all needs, this includes a laptop bag. The company ships products to people all over the world making it a very popular and far-reaching American brand.
The owner of DEFY, chose the company name because he is against large corporate companies and he wanted to defy the norm by creating a company that manufactures all of its products in the US, relying on local talent to manufacture its bags.
All of DEFY’s bags are manufactured at its facility located in Chicago. This is where all of its bags are manufactured.
As for its laptop bags, at the time of writing this article, the company only has one laptop bag that it manufactures. It’s the Epic 48-Hour Briefcase. Some of its other bags may also be used as laptop bags, but that wasn’t in any of their descriptions. Here’s a link to all of DEFY’s bags for those wanting to check some out for themselves.
Copper River Bag Co.
Copper River Bag Co is an American manufacturer located in Lincoln, California. The company started thanks to Marlon Jefferson back in 2010. He designed and created a holder bag for his iPad. People kept commenting on how great his bag looked, this sparked the idea for him to turn his eye for bag designing into a company.
What sets Copper River Bag Co apart from some other competitors out there is that all of its leather comes from its tannery located in Napa, California. This makes Copper River Bag Co a solely US-based operation.
As for its laptop bags, the company has a very extensive range of bags for laptops of varying shapes and sizes. Here’s a link to its laptop bag page. For those wanting a little extra help, here are a few of its models for you to check out.
- 14” Medium Lewis & Clark Mail Bag
- 15” Large Sierra BuckHorn Laptop Bag
- 14” Medium Classic Black Leather Messenger Laptop Travel Bag
- 17” X-Large Vintage Satchel Briefcase
Topo Designs
This Colorado-based company was founded in 2008. It began as a small two-man operation but it quickly grew to become what it is today. These days, Topo Designs manufactures and ships its bags to customers all over the world.
Topo Designs manufactures products both inside and outside the US. Luckily, each of its products on its website are clearly labeled with its origin. On top of that, it also has a Made in the USA section that takes you directly to all of its American-made products. As for laptop bags, Topo Designs has one laptop bag that it produces, and that bag is the Commuter Briefcase.
It is worth noting that a lot of Topo Design’s manufacturing is carried out in Vietnam. So, before buying one of its bags, check the description to ensure that it clearly states that it was made in the USA.
Tough Traveler
Tough Traveler is an American founded travel bag company that was founded in 1970. The company takes a different approach when it comes to manufacturing laptop bags. Instead of pumping out as many bags as possible, it instead focuses on manufacturing bags that will stand the test of time.
It has always been a US manufacturer, and it has no intention of changing this any time soon. Its products are made using sustainable business practices at its factory in Schenectady, New York.
For those wanting to take a look at some of Tough Travel’s laptop bags, here are a few options.
- Enterprise Computer Bag
- Computer Lite
- Laptop Insert DB
- Superfolio Computer Briefcase
- Gombac Lite Computer Bag
Waterfield
Waterfield is a San Francisco-based bag manufacturer that was founded in 1998. This is an American company through and through. From its designing and testing to its manufacturing, it’s all carried out in the US.
Waterfield doesn’t agree with mass production when it comes to its bags. Instead, its bags are produced in small batches. This helps to reduce the waste produced by the company as well as to ensure that each product is carefully monitored throughout its production. This helps to make sure that all of its bags are built to the highest quality possible.
As you can probably imagine, with it being a company that solely focuses on manufacturing bags, it has a lot of options when it comes to laptop bags. So, instead of listing a handful of them below, here’s a link to its laptop bag page.
Nutsac
Nutsac is a bag company that produces bags for men. It was founded in 2015. The founder named the company Nutsac due to the fact that he’s nuts about bags! Although, there’s more than one tongue-in-cheek reference on the company’s website regarding its rather funny name.
Being an American manufacturer is something that the folks at Nutsac are very proud of. Not only is all of the manufacturing carried out in the US, but its materials also come from within the US too.
Nutsac’s main manufacturing facility is located in Chicago, it has also recently expanded and has taken on a second manufacturing factory in Florida. Nutsac gets its leather from a tannery in New England and its waxed canvas comes from Fairfield Textiles in New Jersey.
Nutsac has many lines of bags, this includes four laptop bags. They are as follows.
Red Oxx
Red Oxx is an American bag manufacturer. Initially, we didn’t come across this company during our research. However, a kind reader got in touch to let us know about Red Oxx.
Red Oxx is a proud American manufacturer. It operates a facility in Billings, Montana. It is also a veteran-owned and operated business.
Here’s a link to Red Oxx’s product laptop bag page for those wanting to take a look.
Tom Bihn
Just like the entry above, Tom Bihn was pointed out to us by one of our readers. It is a company that produces high-quality American made laptop bags to suit all needs and tastes.
According to the company’s FAQ section on its website, its bags are produced in Seattle. So, if you buy from Tom Bihn then you are guaranteed to receive an American made laptop bag.
For those wanting to take a look at what Tom Bihn has to offer, here’s a link to its page where you’ll find all of the company’s laptop bags.
Honorable Mention
I came across one company that does manufacture some bags in the US, however, it also manufactures bags abroad and I wasn’t able to find out which of its laptop bags are made in the US. Here’s what I found.
Filson
Filson dates back to 1897. It was founded in Seattle, Washington and it manufactures a wide range of products from clothing and footwear to travel bags and laptop holders. It is a very well-known company and it’s renowned for its high-quality products.
Regarding manufacturing, I found several sources stating that Filson’s products are made in both the US and China. However, I couldn’t decipher which of its products are made in the US, hence the honorable mention.
On Filson’s website, each of its products has a manufacturing section that you can check out. However, it doesn’t offer much information. It does say whether a product is imported or not, but it doesn’t go into detail regarding materials and assembly. Here’s a link to the company’s laptop bag page for those wanting to take a look for themselves.
Laptop Bags That Are Commonly Mistaken as Being Made in America
I came across one brand that several third-party sites had listed as being an American manufacturer. However, upon further investigation, this doesn’t seem to be the case. Here’s what I found.
Timbuk2
Timbuk2 was founded in 1989 in San Francisco, California. It is well known across the US for its stylish and practical bags. It manufactures bags for all types of things such as tote bags for going out and laptop backpacks for those who want to carry around their laptops with ease and security.
While its headquarters is still located in the US, its manufacturing facilities have since moved to Vietnam and Indonesia. It is in these two places that all of Timbuk2’s manufacturing takes place.
While it clearly states this on Timbuk2’s website, I came across a handful of third-party sources that had Timbuk2 down as an American manufacturer. Whether this is intentional misinformation or just out of date was unclear, but the misinformation isn’t coming from the company itself.
Topo Designs makes the majority of its bags in Vietnam now.
I have bags from Red Oxx and Tom Bihn. Both companies still make all their bags in USA.
Hi Pete. Thank you very much for your response. The article will be updated to show the information you provided us with. Comments like this really help our website to grow. Thanks again for your help.