GadgetFreak

Welcome Darcy.

The Tristar looks interesting although the Tom Bihn bag that looks most interesting to me is the easy through security bag that comes apart a bit so you dont have to take the laptop out. And of course the strap. The Ultimate Strap is king

tangoll

Hi darcy, I just posted this in another thread.

"Between the neck and shoulder is never perfectly horizontal, so no matter which shoulder strap I use -- wide, padded, etc. -- the strap slowly slides down towards the edge of the shoulder. Has anyone seen a shoulder strap which has an auxiliary strap which goes under the armpit of the other shoulder or around the neck of the other shoulder to hold the main strap in place?

I guess another way of describing of what I'm looking for is similar to the under the arm gun holster of police detectives where there is a sleeve or strap that the other arm goes through to hold the holster in place.

Anyone seen a shoulder strap product like that? Having such a shoulder strap frees the handon the side that the bag is on, and the hand doesn't need to hold the strap to prevent it from sliding down. Of course, I could wear the main strap diagonally, but I sometimes wish to use the strap on the same side as the bag."

The messenger stabilizer strap looks like what I'm looking for, but I need two of the female ends that clip onto the strap, and the messenger strap then needs two male clips to slide into the female ends. Would I be able to rig something up like that? I don't mind buying two of the stabilizer straps if something like that can be worked out.

tfar

I am not Darcy but I think I see what you are talking about and I don't think you are on the right path. I mean, try it out if you want to but most likely you will find that it is to cumbersome to put on and take off and that it is not comfortable. You could go with a backpack just as easily. Tristar anyone?

Otherwise there are a number of shoulder straps that might work in your favor. According to the reviews this (http://www.upstrap-pro.com/) is the one most photographers (porters of really heavy gear) swear by.

Otherwise Bihn's own strap has a good reputation. The Briggs Riley strap is excellent, as is the Tenba strap. I own both. Op-tech straps can also be had with anti-slip lining and have a nice flexibility to then.

Of course the easiest and most effective is to simply carry the bag cross-strapped over the torso. No special strap needed, best weight loading, best against theft, easiest on the shoulder pads of your suits.

Till

tangoll

tfar, thanks for your replies both here and in the other thread. Actually, I think the tom bihn messenger stabilizer auxiliary strap will do the trick for me. I've tried all kinds of non-slip, etc pads, but the main strap keeps sliding down the shoulder. So it's either cross the torso/diagonal single strap or backpack or that tom bihn mess stabilizer strap for me.

Thanks for your interest.

GadgetFreak

Maybe we can engineer a new human variant with upward upward sloping shoulders to be road warriors. Off to the lab!!

darcytb

Denier is a measure of the weight of a single yarn. Two 1050 yarns does not equal 2100, but rather "2-ply 1050". Denier is only a part of the story: the big difference between the high-end 1050 ballistic we use and other usually-made-in-Asia ballistic-weave fabrics used by most of our competitors is that the yarns in our cloth are high-tenacity nylon and the imports generally are not. That's why in abrasion tests our 1050 fabric lasts twice as long as the 1680 ballistic we tested it against.

darcytb

We can send you all of the extra hardware you'd need to rig this up - but you'll have to tell us how it works for you. Please email me about this and we can figure it all out. darcy at tombihn dotcom.

tangoll

darcy: thanks for reply. Separate email has been sent to you.

tangoll

SaigonCyclo

Thanks for the testing details. Yes, the 2100d is stronger than the 1680d (TUMI's has tested at over 3000, but they also used a special PU coating). Many Asian mills offer yarns that are HT (High Tenacity). It's up to brand on whether they want to spend the $$. Are your yarns twisted as well? That also helps out with the abrasion.

ScottC

First impressions - amazing bag. It really does fit perfectly between the Western Flyer and the Aeronaut. The Western Flyer is usually too small for a 2-3 day trip, and the Aeronaut is too big (though both are amazing bags).

The colors - oh man... those colors... the indigo/solar combination is amazing, it almost shines in the light. Plenty of pockets on the front, tie-down straps in the largest compartment and the same divider in the front compartment as in the Western Flyer. They even added a nice waterbottle pocket on the front.

I can honestly say that this is the best bag I've seen all year - and the fact that it is hand made in the USA only makes it better.

skipaway

Waahhh, I left for ZRH at 0500 Mon, and mine probably showed up later that day. Got the UPS notice last week.

tcook052

Now that's blue! Thanks for the pictures & review, Scott. ^

skipaway

First off, I agree--the color is spectacular, especially with a little peek of the solar showing through a pocket.

I used the Tristar and a handbag for a recent Tues-Fri trip (not business). This bag is the perfect size for me. With the Absolute strap, and not quite full but carrying a text I needed for review, it was as heavy as I'd want to carry. Any more stuff, and I would have had to break out the backpack straps. Although I looked for signs, I missed the tram to connect the C and F concourses in ORD, and with a tight connection I had to hustle, what? about a mile? It wasn't fun, but no more stressful than hauling a roller.

I used the middle compartment for my netbook and the aforementioned text book. The middle compartment doesn't zip all the way open--about half way down each side. The two side compartments zip around so both open flat. One has a zip-up divider if you want to configure this way. It divides about 1/3-2/3. The divided side compartment held my 3-1-1 bag and charge cords/bricks in the smaller area, the other was essentially empty. The other side held my clothes, bundle wrapped, more or less, and no need for a pack-it as it has compression straps. I had a pair of jeans, a skirt, two light weight cotton sweaters, a couple Ts and a blouse. Also some undies in a squished out Zip Lock. Not quite full.

Sudoku, passport, tickets, small notebook, pen in the little pockets outside. Plenty of space to spare.

But no strength to spare to carry much more. I can't begin to imagine carrying this by the handles for any distance and strongly recommend a shoulder strap unless maybe you're a steer wrestler or you plan to use the backpack option, which, I think, would allow you fill to your heart's content, or bag capacity.

I flew United Express-two models of Embraer. The gal handing out gate check tags didn't even hesitate as I walked by, and it fit easily in the overhead compartment. I think it would also have very easily slipped under the seat in front of me.

Granted, I'd love to have more stuff--I just don't want to carry more stuff, and I'm adapting. Really really happy I waited for this bag (and no, I'm in no way affiliated with TB)

tfar

Thnks for the review, skipaway. Just two questions. How did you carry the bag? Hand or back pack?

And did you weigh it, when full? If yes, how heavy was it?

Thanks,

Till

skipaway

Til, I used the TB Absolute strap. It does a great job of distributing the weight and making the load seem lighter. It still doesn't want to stay on my shoulder--no strap does. I hate carrying across my chest, though, and found that pushing the bag around so it's almost behind me keeps the strap in place.
I did step on my scale and just glanced for a general idea--weight was about 20 pounds.