Salkan Tripper Sacoche Bag Review

When you’re looking for a bag for your next trip, what type do you want? A backpack to carry a lot of gear, a waist pack-like sling to carry the bare essentials, or something in between? If you’re searching for a crossbody that will allow you to bring just a little bit more, you might consider something along the lines of a satchel or, if you speak French, a sacoche.

So, how much can you fit inside this small satchel, and is it worth bringing along on your next trip? Let’s dive into the details and find out!

External Components

So, if you’ve seen our review of the Salkan Tripper Cross Body Bag, you may be happy to know that the Salkan Tripper Sacoche Bag uses the same material. We’re certainly pleased about it because we liked the softness and durability of it on the other bag. We’ll catch you up if you’re not familiar: the fabric is a 900D recycled COTNA polyester with a wax finish and polyurethane (PU) lining. COTNA is a brand name for a high-performance polyester yarn used in technical, athletic, and leisure wear, but this feels more like a durable cotton than yoga pants, and we dig it. The bag liner is a 210D recycled nylon with a PU liner, presumably for additional durability.

As with the Cross Body Bag, there’s no option to choose a different colorway with the Sacoche Bag, so if sage green isn’t your style, you may want another sling. On the other hand, we like it and feel like the mellow color is a casual yet pleasant choice. Somehow, it makes the bag seem more relaxed, though, so you may not be able to pair it with as many more professional outfits as you could with something black (like the Cross Body).

There’s a fun scout-like logo patch in the bottom right-hand corner of the bag with the Salkan name and logo in the exact shade of sage (Or cactus? Salkan doesn’t spell out a name for the colorway, so you’re free to call it what you like!). That’s it for branding, and we’re digging the heritage feel it brings to the sling.

There’s one zipper on this bag, and we’re happy to take quality over quantity with this YKK zipper. It has a corded pull, which is easier to grab at the top of the bag than a metal pull that lays flat since the zipper is in a tiny valley between the two ridges of the front and back of the bag material.

We’ve also got Woojin hardware for the swivel clips. Its unique ball and socket design allows you to rotate the strap wherever you want. Of course, because it works so well, the strap can twist quite easily, but that’s pretty much par for the course with a swivel clip, and it also makes it easier to untwist when you need to.

These clips attach to D-rings that run through tabs at the top of both sides of the bag (left and right, not front and back) to hold the strap on the bag. It’s a narrow length of webbing with a small adjuster that stays put nicely. There’s no extra padding or anything else fancy on the strap, but we don’t miss it on a 1.5L bag. However, we will point out that the lack of structure on the Sacoche means that the top corners can pull upward, crinkling the middle, especially when we carry something bulkier in the bag. Wearing it crossbody smooths this out on some users, but wearing it over one shoulder can exacerbate the issue.

Unlike the Salkan Tripper Cross Body Bag, there’s no padding beefing up the material, so it’s super flexible. That’s great when we end up stuffing in snacks, receipts, and small souvenirs we pick up throughout the day, but it leads to a bit of sagginess when it’s not packed to the brim.

On the other hand, if you’d rather use it as a pouch in your travel daypack, the lack of structure makes it easier to pack, and you are unlikely to notice the sag since there won’t be a strap pulling up the corners while gravity pulls the rest of the sling down.

Fit Notes

We find it most comfortable to carry this small bag crossbody because it is less likely to slip from your shoulder that way. While it’s definitely possible to wear it slung over one shoulder, that is also when it is most likely to buckle in the middle due to the sides being potentially closer together than when the strap is more widely held apart (as it is when worn crossbody).

It’s great to wear while shopping or exploring a new destination for the day, and along with a larger travel backpack to keep your essentials close at hand. On the other hand, you’ll want to leave it at home for a destination wedding or a business trip because there’s no dressing it up. We like to pretend it’s casual Friday every day, though, so we don’t mind the simple, classic look.

Inside The Bag

Simplicity continues as we explore what’s inside this bag, too. There are no external pockets or hidden features; it’s very much a “what you see is what you get” vibe. And what you get is an open interior with a few sizable pockets.

These two slip pockets are on the back of the bag, and they’re the perfect size for a minimalist wallet and a standard size iPhone, which is what we used them for throughout the testing. We slid a pen next to the wallet, as well, for the few times we had to sign travel documents or receipts.

The rest of the space is completely open. The liner material is a light beige, so it’s pretty easy to see what you pack inside, which, for us, includes lip balm, tissues, hand sanitizer, AirPods, and keys.

If you like using a travel wallet to carry your passport on your trip, there’s plenty of space for that, although it won’t fit in the pockets. In that case, you can slide a battery bank and perhaps a short cord into one of them instead. There’s also plenty of space to toss in a few snacks and a collapsible water bottle to have hydration handy when you need it.

The Salkan Tripper Sacoche Bag is very much a choose-your-own-adventure style of sling, and since we sometimes find with other bags that the pockets don’t suit our needs or we don’t need all of them, we’re here for it. You will have to go digging for your gear, as everything jostles around unless you use other methods of containing tiny items, perhaps with a TOM BIHN Ghost Whale Organizer Pouch or a small toiletry bag. Nevertheless, it’s not that big, so it doesn’t take long to find what you need.