Hi Tfar, so the problem is that I have a terrible memory. The primary bag compartments are very uniform looking. I recently made a 2 week trip to LA with this bag as the "only bag". Basically, I always pack worth 1 week and laundry for the rest. So if any bag can take 1 week worth of stuff, its a winner. Now the other problem is that I often need to take this bag to business meetings after I check out of the hotel. I need this strap so that my clothes don't fall off or bend forward if I open it in by mistake.

But.... the primary reason is that after I figured out that the Tumi can open up fully on one side, the fact that it did not have a strap just kept buggin' me. And when I spend 500 bucks on a bag, I don't want things to bug me. So I modded it

WillCad, you idea of a nut-bolt is genius. I went to Michaels, bought an elastic strap and a click-lock and then went to Home Depot to get the nut-bolt. To make sure the elastic did not jump out of the nut, I burned the circumference of the hole I made, plus, added a non elastic patch on top of it as well to make sure.

I wish I found a black one, but I did not. Anyway, it worked super. If I get a black one later, I'll replace it. I drilled a small hole on the velcro side of the Tumi bags. These are really small holes. IF I took out the strap, you can hardly see them. The nice thing is that the velcro is stitched to the side of the tumi and there is an inside padding there too. So instead of drilling a hole elsewhere, I just used the thick velco areas - its offers a strong lock and I am sure the fabric won't tear because the hole is in the thick velcro.

Love the nut bolt concept - I can easily swap the elastic, or take it out completely without hassle and the hole just can't be seen :-) And if I ever need to send it back to Tumi for fixing, all I need to do is re-attach the top folio back to velcro and the hole totally disappears.

Without clothes:


and with clothes: