Originally Posted by
N1120A
I completely disagree with you on the looks thing. I much prefer the soft look and feel of Cordura to the "techie" look of ballistic. Also, Cordura can be done in more colors, which is reflected in the variety at Red Oxx compared to Bihn.
On the size thing, I think the 2 pocket Sky Train tends to expand on its depth axis more than the 3 pocket TriStar and Air Boss do. Can give an impression of greater size. I do find that it squashes in well.
Well, the looks thing is subjective, so I can't argue with you there.
I just like how the Tri-Star holds its shape whether packed or not.
I got the Sky Train first, but ended up with the Tri-Star because I found that when full, the front pocket started to bulge making it hard to slip papers in and out. With the Tri-Star, you're sort of forced to not overpack because there's structure (whether full or not) so the front pocket was always accessible to papers.
I do notice though that the rain guards of the Bihn bags have a tendency to peel off... little slivers of rubber keep coming off, eventually exposing the zipper teeth; that's my current biggest gripe with them right now.