Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer TSA friendly laptop bag
Oct 31, 2009, 2:08 pm
#31
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Berlin and Buggenhagen, Germany
Posts: 3,509
Paolo, that's awfully nice of you and I'd gladly take you up on it. But right now I am extensively traveling in Europe. At the end of November I'll be back in the States. Dec and Jan will have me very busy in Austin. February will have an important trip but it's business and I'll take my Tumi 26141 and the Plat5 roller. March might be an opportunity. In any case, I do thank you for the generous offer and hope I will be able to take you up on it, provided we can find a time where I actually have some traveling to do and you can be without the bag.
I was also invited to write a guest review on practicalhacks. I could write about the CPF but I doubt TB would be as forthcoming as you given that they know I am very critical of this model.
And I was thinking more of writing on something like a comparison between the BR 224 and the Eagle Industries Alpha. Both are convertible duffles but they couldn't be more different in their design. Final call is with Kevin from PH and the bag companies.
Till
I was also invited to write a guest review on practicalhacks. I could write about the CPF but I doubt TB would be as forthcoming as you given that they know I am very critical of this model.
And I was thinking more of writing on something like a comparison between the BR 224 and the Eagle Industries Alpha. Both are convertible duffles but they couldn't be more different in their design. Final call is with Kevin from PH and the bag companies.
Till
Oct 31, 2009, 7:18 pm
#32
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 11
There is a detailed real use review at http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.p.../03/13/0250226.
Regardless of where one falls on the snapped versus zipped issue, it is clear that the CPF is a thoughtfully designed case.
BTW, I've never found that the scanning process was so difficult or time consuming so that the added complexity and weight were worth it.
Oh, one last thing, there is a design from Aerovation that does away with both and claims to be fast and effortless.
Regardless of where one falls on the snapped versus zipped issue, it is clear that the CPF is a thoughtfully designed case.
BTW, I've never found that the scanning process was so difficult or time consuming so that the added complexity and weight were worth it.
Oh, one last thing, there is a design from Aerovation that does away with both and claims to be fast and effortless.
Oct 31, 2009, 9:00 pm
#33
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Berlin and Buggenhagen, Germany
Posts: 3,509
http://www.aerovation.com/checkpoint...g/prod_32.html
Feels a bit like a triumphal "See? I told ya so!". This is exactly the saddle principle that I was talking about. Two separate units that just spread apart and fall together again when you pick them up.
Strikes me that I've never heard about that bag. That's why I love this forum so much. Power in numbers; there'll always be one who knows just the thing I needed to know.
Till
Nov 4, 2009, 8:21 pm
#34
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: Marriott LTG, HHonors Diamond, Nat'l Exec
Posts: 3,581
Seriously, the bag was clearly designed to be opened on a flat surface, because that's exactly where you need to open it.
The Aerovation saddle design is nice, but the two non-laptop compartments on the CF have almost triple the volume of the Aerovation non-laptop compartment.
To be honest, my only beef with the CF is that I already have one of TB's Empire Builder briefcases, and I can pull my laptop out of it so quickly that I don't really feel any need for the new bag.
Last edited by dtremit; Nov 4, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Nov 9, 2009, 1:46 am
#35
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Arkansas/SFO
Programs: AA EXP 2MM
Posts: 333
As a computer professional, I can tell you one of the most common types of damage to a laptop used for travel is pressure marking to the screen. These appear as light colored areas when the laptop is turned on. Screen abrasions are often associated with these. In both cases the damage is caused by over packing a laptop bag which causes the laptop screen to be pressed against its keyboard. This can't happen with the Checkpoint Flyer design because the laptop section is entirely separate and merely straddled by the packed sections. Overpacking places no undue pressure on the screen.
I have been using the Checkpoint Flyer for a year. It takes no more time to unclip the bag at the TSA than it does to unzip the zipper used in other designs. My laptop never leaves its protective case and there is no chance to leave it behind, unless I forget the entire laptop bag.
The storage sections of the bag hold a remarkable amount of stuff. There have been instances when my Checkpont Flyer bag weighted more than my Travelite rollerboard, (5 hard drives for a RAID array can get heavy.) The Aerovation bag looks to be like my Checkpoint Flyer bag, minus one storage section. I would miss that extra storage section and the protection it gives my laptop.
The quality of the Tom Bihn bag construction is very high. After 100K+ miles of travel, my Checkpont Flyer still looks like new.
I join with the other owners in saying this is one terrific bag.
I have been using the Checkpoint Flyer for a year. It takes no more time to unclip the bag at the TSA than it does to unzip the zipper used in other designs. My laptop never leaves its protective case and there is no chance to leave it behind, unless I forget the entire laptop bag.
The storage sections of the bag hold a remarkable amount of stuff. There have been instances when my Checkpont Flyer bag weighted more than my Travelite rollerboard, (5 hard drives for a RAID array can get heavy.) The Aerovation bag looks to be like my Checkpoint Flyer bag, minus one storage section. I would miss that extra storage section and the protection it gives my laptop.
The quality of the Tom Bihn bag construction is very high. After 100K+ miles of travel, my Checkpont Flyer still looks like new.
I join with the other owners in saying this is one terrific bag.
Feb 6, 2010, 7:05 am
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: DCA
Programs: AMC MovieWatcher, Giant BonusCard, Petco PALS Card, Silver Diner Blue Plate Club
Posts: 22,297
First impressions -- I blogged recently about needing a new laptop bag, and by way of disclosure the Tom Binh folks reached out to me and sent me a Checkpoint Flyer to try. Just came yesterday so I haven't flown with it yet.
But it's much better than I'd have expected. I didn't think the TSA-approved designs would work for me, it would seem cheap and wouldn't sufficiently protect the laptop. Quite the contrary.
I much like the idea ofnot taking the laptop out, not leaving it so exposed through the checkpoint. Last April I was traveling non-stop for a couple of weeks, laptop in and out of bins, and I must have banged it around a little bit too much because the battery fell off. A clip broke. The computer was more or less toast as a laptop, it was more than 3 years old so as far as work concerned time for a replacement. Not yet sure how well this bag will protect the laptop, but it seems like it will, and fewer in and outs at the checkpoint strikes me as a plus.
And the storage is great without really being bigger than my previous bag that was just as big but could never have on its own worked as an overnight bag (IMHO this one would if I wasn't carrying a bunch of other stuff, and if it were a casual weekend overnight).
So much excited to try this out over the coming weeks.
But it's much better than I'd have expected. I didn't think the TSA-approved designs would work for me, it would seem cheap and wouldn't sufficiently protect the laptop. Quite the contrary.
I much like the idea ofnot taking the laptop out, not leaving it so exposed through the checkpoint. Last April I was traveling non-stop for a couple of weeks, laptop in and out of bins, and I must have banged it around a little bit too much because the battery fell off. A clip broke. The computer was more or less toast as a laptop, it was more than 3 years old so as far as work concerned time for a replacement. Not yet sure how well this bag will protect the laptop, but it seems like it will, and fewer in and outs at the checkpoint strikes me as a plus.
And the storage is great without really being bigger than my previous bag that was just as big but could never have on its own worked as an overnight bag (IMHO this one would if I wasn't carrying a bunch of other stuff, and if it were a casual weekend overnight).
So much excited to try this out over the coming weeks.
Mar 7, 2010, 7:58 am
#37
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,548
This looks very practical! I hope Rimowa and Prada will release their version soon 
Thanks for that here is the link:
http://www.aerovation.com/checkpoint...g/prod_32.html
Feels a bit like a triumphal "See? I told ya so!". This is exactly the saddle principle that I was talking about. Two separate units that just spread apart and fall together again when you pick them up.
Strikes me that I've never heard about that bag. That's why I love this forum so much. Power in numbers; there'll always be one who knows just the thing I needed to know.
Till
http://www.aerovation.com/checkpoint...g/prod_32.html
Feels a bit like a triumphal "See? I told ya so!". This is exactly the saddle principle that I was talking about. Two separate units that just spread apart and fall together again when you pick them up.
Strikes me that I've never heard about that bag. That's why I love this forum so much. Power in numbers; there'll always be one who knows just the thing I needed to know.
Till