Bleu de Chauffe — Musette Business Bag Review

Bleu de Chauffe is a French company that makes clothing and bags but aims to do so in a sustainable approach. They manufacture in moderation, with environmentally friendly materials, and focus on the artisanship and cultural heritage channeled through their designs. Though many of their bags are made of leather, they also have a variety of canvas bags and their line-up ranges from backpacks to tote bags, to satchels, waist packs, briefcases, and everything in between. Today, I’m reviewing the Musette Business Bag, which is a modern take on a traditional fisherman bag.

Disclaimer: Our Musette Business Bag was provided to us by Bleu de Chauffe. We are hugely grateful for the chance to try it, but we also caveat that we strive to provide our honest opinions in the reviews, both the positives and the negatives. We also utilize affiliate links in this review.

Overview

The Musette Business Bag is a prime example of how simplicity works. This shoulder bag is easy, well-built, and has a classic style. But it still does the job well. This top-loading bag has a flap cover (like most messenger/ shoulder bags), with a single centered buckle. The buckle itself has guilloche decoration and is easy to use with one hand, but more stylish than side-release buckles. The bag is ~16 L in volume and only features the main compartment (with a laptop sleeve and one small internal zipped pocket) plus two slip pockets on the outer face of the main compartment, so it’s intended for a relatively simple EDC. I’ve been using it as my work bag and I have been carrying a laptop and charger, notebook, folder of papers, glasses case, a pouch with headphones and wireless mouse, a water bottle, plus various small items (e.g., lip balm, pens, snack bar). It still has a little bit more space, so I can also squeeze a small wireless keyboard in there or a small umbrella. At first glance it doesn’t look like it can fit that much, but it’s bigger than it looks.

Overall, it has served this purpose quite well, feels robustly crafted, and looks great.

Pros

• Easy to use one-handed
• Can fit more than it initially looks
• Well-crafted and classic style

Cons

• Shoulder strap does not articulate, so it can get twisted up
• Buckle and closure flap do not allow for overpacking
• Hefty price tag for a bag that is relatively simple (but that is the cost of hand-crafted premium bags)

Organization

The Musette Business Bag is relatively minimal when it comes to organization with just 5 compartments/pockets plus the laptop sleeve in the main compartment. Here is a breakdown…

• Main compartment — This is more-or-less a dump everything in type of compartment. If you want to keep things better organized, a small org pouch would definitely be helpful. I use a small pouch for my headsets and mouse to keep the cable from causing a mess in the main compartment. There is also a cotton, zipped internal pocket 8" x 6" (W x H) inside the main compartment that is removable — it buckles into the main compartment.

• Laptop sleeve — In the main compartment is a 14.5" x 10.25" laptop sleeve made of felt. The felt provides a gentle soft touch, which makes it nice for tablets too. The sleeve should fit 15" laptops and the manufacturer specs state that it will fit a 16" MBP. The only thing I can attest to is that my 14" ThinkPad fits very easily with a little room to spare.
• Back panel pocket — The back panel has a wide slip pocket that is 14.5" across x 7.5 in height and has a push-button closure. I didn’t use this pocket a ton since it’s quite flat and not quite tall enough to fit a folder. But if you have a relatively thin notebook that you want quick access to, this would be a good place to store it.

• Front slip pockets — Under the flap are two slip pockets. These have a little bit of their own volume, but they are not huge (6.5" W x 8.25" H). This is where you keep most of your small items. I have a couple pens, lip balm, and a pack of tissues in one (could throw your AirPods or wireless earbuds in here too), and some snacks in the other. While a small water bottle could technically fit, the flap won’t close properly.

While the organization is sufficient for a relatively simple daily carry like mine, I thought an internal bottle sleeve might be a nice touch to add a modern twist that would still maintain the classic exterior look. Not everyone would need it, but I bring a Yeti bottle or a S’well bottle to work every day.

Additional Features & Comfort

I’ve included notes on comfort in this section instead of in the Construction section, like I usually do, because all the additional features are modes of carrying, which is directly related to how comfortable the bag is.

• Shoulder strap — The shoulder strap is adjustable and removable. It is also primarily canvas but also has vegetable-tanned leather at the ends with notches like a belt. There is no padding on the shoulder strap, which helps maintain its simple style, but that would certainly be a nice comfort feature to have. The shoulder straps’ ends also do not articulate or rotate, so the strap can get twisted up at times.
• Grab handles — The Musette has a pair of grab handles that buckle together via a push button on a piece of leather padding. The leather padding adds both comfort and style. The handle’s straps are relatively long because they are anchored to the bag at the middle, below where the flap lays. So, when you don’t buckle the grab handles together, they can hang a little lower than you may expect.

Construction

The Musette Business Bag is about 15.5" x 13.5" x 5" (W x H x D) and about 16 L in volume. The bag weighs about 2.5 lbs, which is a medium weight for a 16 L bag. The primary fabric is a high-quality cotton canvas (590 g/m²) with a dry wax and is produced by a company called British Millerain. This is a tight-weave and gives the canvas some natural weather-resistance and durability

The hardware is all metal, though I’m not certain of any details beyond that. I can certainly say that it all feels quite robust and I don’t have any concerns about the hardware breaking down.

Additional Notes

Being made of cotton canvas, the Musette Business Bag doesn’t have a firm exterior and will thus look a little floppy if completely empty. This also means it doesn’t naturally stand upright on its own, but if packed in a certain way, it can stand on its own.

Summary

Overall, the Musette Business Bag is simple but uses that simplicity adeptly to provide a positive user experience and create a great and practical bag. It works well as an EDC, a work bag for a light carry, or even as a personal item for air travel. Bleu de Chauffe calls it a “photo reporter style and outdoor look”, which I think is a good description for its aesthetics. It’s very well crafted and you can see the signature of the artisan who hand-made the bag on interior pocket in the main compartment. While it is very minimal in terms of features, it is still well-designed. It is a premium quality bag, so it comes with a hefty price tag, but for some, it is well-worth the investment.

As always, thanks for reading. Drop a note in the comments if you have any questions about the Bleu de Chauffe Musette Business Bag and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up to date on what bags we’re trying out.