Our products come with a legal 2 year warranty. A fault/flaw occuring due to fabric, material or craftsmenship will be repaired by us free of charge. In rare circumstances where a repair is not possible, we will replace the faulty product with a new one. We always want to see you happy with your compagnon. That's our main goal.
Compagnon camera bags and backpacks are built to last and provide an enjoyable user experience for many years. It does not matter if you use your compagnon professionally or for your creative hobby, all parts and every seam will provide years of rugged durability. Should you be faced with an unlikely fault after the two year warranty, we're not leaving you high and dry. We can offer you a repair anyway. Send us an email about the issue and add some pictures of the fault in question. Together we can make things right.
Over time things which are not taken care of will look sad or even break. Just like living beings would. This is just the case for naturally tanned leather. In warmer and very dry climates the leather on your compagnon will dry out more quickly. Just like your own skin your compagnon needs some, ideally pure & natural, moisturizing every now and then. Does the leather on your compagnon look or feel dry/even chapped? With our beewax leather care the surface and color is refreshed and the water resistance will be as good as new. Generally applying some leather care ever 9-18 months (depending on usage and surrounding climate) is sufficient so your compagnon works & looks great for many many years.
Many products need to be scrapped if they break. Thanks to our talented seamstresses and leather artisans it is possible to fix nearly any kind of issue that may occur with our classic leather/canvas products. With our wonderful compagnon fabrics we can resew any seam, replace parts and segments and much more. But jobs like that require a lot of time and effort. Sometimes a product might have to be rebuilt to exchange a certain part. This adds up to a general repair time of 4-5 weeks. Please plan for this accordingly. We'll do our best to get the repair done as quickly as possible.
Personal customization requests are no repairs, obviously. Our manufacturing is usually not able to do custom built products. Projects like these require vast effort and time of multiple artisans which adds to the cost of making them. We're always happy to hear about special requests but generally we can not create them for you or even offer them at a reasonable price.
After some use every single compagnon looks like one of a kind. The developing leather patina mirrors the ways you're using your compagnon. Light brown leather retains the most characterful patina, dark brown tanned leather develops a medium character look whereas black leather looks like new for longer and will not change as much with time. Aspects like general durability, water resistance and so on are the same for all leather colors. Light brown leather will typically get a little darker and develop a rich caramel color after some time. In fall 2022 we have launched the newest Generation III models with an all new leather approach. This incredible leather shows more character, more durability and still an even silkier touch than before. In contrast we have reduced the patina effect significantly. The Gen III has character and darker, richer color from new. As you can expect of a compagnon, Gen III leather is just as naturally tanned and chemical-free as the previous versions. Finer details and even more sophisticated finish on each model included, of course.
General wear and tear is not covered by our warranty, especially if the product is handled with little/no care, wilfully damaged or not maintained at all. Based on years and decades of experience working in the leather and luggage industry, our artisans and designers can determine the cause of damages. But even in cases of inappropriate handling of your product we can still help you out with a regular repair for just a small contribution towards expenses of 29 Euros (Heritage products Leather/Canvas products only).
Nature does not create absolute consistancy. Our leather products are made from strictly naturally tanned leather from Southern Germany. The skins in themselves are never identical. Neither is the result after the long tanning process. There are leathers with a lot of character, surface texture and larger pores just as there are leathers which are very even with fine pores and low structure. As we don't apply any chemicals to the leather there is no such thing as 100% matching color tones. There may be fine differences which generally become even less noticable over time due to the individual patina of the bag. Completely identical colors would require Chrome-based tanning with chemicals, which we do not use at all.
One more step towards fairness and equality. Those talented artisans working together to create compagnon products receive fair pay for their ability. A wage that can actually support a family is important to ensure these skills and crafts won't die out forever soon. Furthermore we are very proud to announce that starting in 2020, our all-new 'Element Line' and 'Adapt Line' helps to introduce manufacturing conditions, pay and labour protection with European standards in Vietnam and Asia. Our partner in Vietnam is well-known for making products for the top-performing ultra-premium outdoor brands available and is working with us to lead the way towards western work conditions and fair pay for more people.
Nature protection needs to include more than just local, sustainable production. We make sure any transport routes are efficient, as short as possible and ecologically sound. We use natural fabrics where possible, in other cases we utilize parts and fabrics from recycled components. But the most important aspect of a truly green product is the lifetime of compagnon products. A bag or backpack you enjoy to use for years and years without having to get a new one every couple of months is the best way to avoid unnecessary pollution and waste.
