TLDR
With 30% more volume than the Synapse 19, the Synapse 25 is an everyday backpack designed with ultimate utility in mind.
- Main compartment with 2 O-rings
- Interior, banded open-top pocket
- 5 exterior front pockets with independent volume
- Comfortable, durable, edgeless shoulder straps
- Breathable back panel
- Removable sternum strap and waist strap
- Webbing loop on exterior bottom of bag to hook items on the outside
- Meets the personal item size requirement on most airlines
- Generally fits folks between 5'6" and 6'6" comfortably
Full Description
Main Compartment
The main compartment closes with #10 YKK® Racquet-Coil zipper and is designed to fit large, flat items like notebooks. On the front interior side of the main compartment, there is a banded open-top pocket. It's spacious enough to fit a wide range of items, such as books, tablet, pair of sandals or our Clear 3D Organizer Cube. Above this open-top pocket is a set of Cache lops where you can secure a device as large as the 16" Macbook Pro in a Cache.
On the back interior side of the main compartment are an additional set of Cache loops and two O-rings for tethering additional pouches.
5 Front Exterior Organizational Pockets
The Synapse 25 has an abundant amount of organization for your everyday essentials, big and small. The exterior of the bag has five pockets with independent volume, meaning that the pockets are designed and patterned in such a way that they don't steal space from each other and they look good (not too caved in, not too bulgy) whether full or empty.
The water bottle pocket is intentionally centered in the bag, allowing one of the heavier objects in your bag to be balanced in the middle, resulting in a more comfortable carrying experience while maintaining a clean, straight-forward exterior aesthetic. We've found that most standard 32 oz / 1 liter water bottles can comfortably fit in the water bottle pocket.
Below the opening for the water bottle pocket is another small zippered pocket that is just deep enough for keys, a wallet, glove liners, or a small camera.
The side pockets are generously sized for sunglasses (in a case or alone), a first aid kit, or even a light Windbreaker-type jacket or down vest compressed in a Travel Stuff Sack. The right side pocket has a small organizational pocket; the left pocket has one pen slot and two wider slots for tools or more pens.
The bottom pocket is a great spot for extra clothing or snacks and will easily accommodate a thin sweater, light down jacket, or Windbreaker-type jacket. If you care to add organization, we recommend storing a Size 2 Handy Little Thing here.
Each of the top four pockets has its own O-ring, and the bottom pocket has three O-rings. You can use them to attach our mini or small Ghost Whale Organizer Pouches or Mystery Organizer Pouches.
Edgeless EV50 1/2" Shoulder Strap
Conformity is overrated — except, perhaps, when it comes to shoulder straps. The edgelessness of this strap allows it to more softly conform to your shoulder; we find that this increases comfort. Yet the straps aren't too soft: the 1/2" thick foam means the strap is robust enough to carry a heavy load.
There's enough length on the shoulder straps to accommodate a wide range of body types. If you need to tighten the straps to the maximum amount, don't worry about having dangling ends — we've included sewn-in strap keepers to help keep those at bay.
Breathable Back Panel
The back panel of the Synapse 25 is padded with 1/4", high quality, closed cell-foam with an exterior of Spacer mesh and 210 denier nylon. This combination of mesh and smooth nylon is designed to provide maximum breathability while still being gentle on your clothing.
Webbing Loop on Exterior Bottom
On the exterior bottom of the bag is a 1.5" / 38mm webbing loop. Originally, the Synapse was designed for hiking, so the intended use of the webbing loop was for hooking on a flashlight (highly recommended if you ride a bicycle or walk in the dark). If you're planning on using the Synapse for travel, we've found the webbing loop serves as an extra grab handle, allowing you to easily pull the Synapse from under the seat or the overhead compartment no matter which direction you stowed it on your flight.
What's Included
Included Removable Sternum Strap + Waist Strap
As with all of our major backpacks, we include adjustable and removable sternum and waist straps: if you don't like or don't use your waist or sternum strap, remove them!
8" Snaphook/Snaphook Key Strap
As with most of our bags, we've included a key strap. 8" long from tip-to-tip, a snaphook on either end. Good for attaching your keys to.
A Set of Black Zipper Pulls
A set of pulls to extend or replace your metal pulls.
What's Optional
Size 2 Handy Little Thing (HLT)
You can attach a Size 2 Handy Little Thing (HLT) to the pair of cache loops above the open-top pocket, or you can store the HLT in the bottom front pocket of the Synapse 25. It is the perfect clamshell organizer pouch for those looking for a lot of organization.
Packing Cube Shoulder Bag
The Packing Cube Shoulder Bag is the perfect 2-in-1 packing cube. It's big enough to store rolled up shirts. Once you reach your destination, attach a shoulder strap and use it as a crossbody.
Freudian Slip
Love organizing and want even more pockets? The Synapse 25/Synik 30 Freudian Slip adds an additional fifteen organizational pockets to your bag. One side of the Freudian Slip has two folder pockets that can fit folders/papers horizontally or vertically, as well as four open-top pockets for a small tablet in a Cache or a notebook. The other side has two mesh pockets for bulky items, two large zippered pockets, four pen slots, and a business card slot.
Cache
The Synapse 25 can accommodate a wide range of devices. If you plan on putting a laptop or smaller tablet in the interior banded open-top pocket, we recommend adding a Cache.
The main compartment closes with #10 YKK® Racquet-Coil zipper and is designed to fit large, flat items like notebooks. On the front interior side of the main compartment, there is a banded open-top pocket. It's spacious enough to fit a wide range of items, such as books, tablet, pair of sandals or our Clear 3D Organizer Cube. Above this open-top pocket is a set of Cache lops where you can secure a device as large as the 16" Macbook Pro in a Cache.
On the back interior side of the main compartment are an additional set of Cache loops and two O-rings for tethering additional pouches.
The Synapse 25 has an abundant amount of organization for your everyday essentials, big and small. The exterior of the bag has five pockets with independent volume, meaning that the pockets are designed and patterned in such a way that they don't steal space from each other and they look good (not too caved in, not too bulgy) whether full or empty.
The water bottle pocket is intentionally centered in the bag, allowing one of the heavier objects in your bag to be balanced in the middle, resulting in a more comfortable carrying experience while maintaining a clean, straight-forward exterior aesthetic. We've found that most standard 32 oz / 1 liter water bottles can comfortably fit in the water bottle pocket.
Below the opening for the water bottle pocket is another small zippered pocket that is just deep enough for keys, a wallet, glove liners, or a small camera.
The side pockets are generously sized for sunglasses (in a case or alone), a first aid kit, or even a light Windbreaker-type jacket or down vest compressed in a Travel Stuff Sack. The right side pocket has a small organizational pocket; the left pocket has one pen slot and two wider slots for tools or more pens.
The bottom pocket is a great spot for extra clothing or snacks and will easily accommodate a thin sweater, light down jacket, or Windbreaker-type jacket. If you care to add organization, we recommend storing a Size 2 Handy Little Thing here.
Each of the top four pockets has its own O-ring, and the bottom pocket has three O-rings. You can use them to attach our mini or small Ghost Whale Organizer Pouches or Mystery Organizer Pouches.
Conformity is overrated — except, perhaps, when it comes to shoulder straps. The edgelessness of this strap allows it to more softly conform to your shoulder; we find that this increases comfort. Yet the straps aren't too soft: the 1/2" thick foam means the strap is robust enough to carry a heavy load.
There's enough length on the shoulder straps to accommodate a wide range of body types. If you need to tighten the straps to the maximum amount, don't worry about having dangling ends — we've included sewn-in strap keepers to help keep those at bay.
The back panel of the Synapse 25 is padded with 1/4", high quality, closed cell-foam with an exterior of Spacer mesh and 210 denier nylon. This combination of mesh and smooth nylon is designed to provide maximum breathability while still being gentle on your clothing.
On the exterior bottom of the bag is a 1.5" / 38mm webbing loop. Originally, the Synapse was designed for hiking, so the intended use of the webbing loop was for hooking on a flashlight (highly recommended if you ride a bicycle or walk in the dark). If you're planning on using the Synapse for travel, we've found the webbing loop serves as an extra grab handle, allowing you to easily pull the Synapse from under the seat or the overhead compartment no matter which direction you stowed it on your flight.
Included Removable Sternum Strap + Waist Strap
As with all of our major backpacks, we include adjustable and removable sternum and waist straps: if you don't like or don't use your waist or sternum strap, remove them!
8" Snaphook/Snaphook Key Strap
As with most of our bags, we've included a key strap. 8" long from tip-to-tip, a snaphook on either end. Good for attaching your keys to.
A Set of Black Zipper Pulls
A set of pulls to extend or replace your metal pulls.
Size 2 Handy Little Thing (HLT)
You can attach a Size 2 Handy Little Thing (HLT) to the pair of cache loops above the open-top pocket, or you can store the HLT in the bottom front pocket of the Synapse 25. It is the perfect clamshell organizer pouch for those looking for a lot of organization.
Packing Cube Shoulder Bag
The Packing Cube Shoulder Bag is the perfect 2-in-1 packing cube. It's big enough to store rolled up shirts. Once you reach your destination, attach a shoulder strap and use it as a crossbody.
Freudian Slip
Love organizing and want even more pockets? The Synapse 25/Synik 30 Freudian Slip adds an additional fifteen organizational pockets to your bag. One side of the Freudian Slip has two folder pockets that can fit folders/papers horizontally or vertically, as well as four open-top pockets for a small tablet in a Cache or a notebook. The other side has two mesh pockets for bulky items, two large zippered pockets, four pen slots, and a business card slot.
Cache
The Synapse 25 can accommodate a wide range of devices. If you plan on putting a laptop or smaller tablet in the interior banded open-top pocket, we recommend adding a Cache.
Still Have Questions?
- emailus@tombihn.com
- Call 1-800-729-9607
- Ask in our Forums
Materials
Exterior
bluesign® and OEKO-TEX® certified Ultralight 400 denier Halcyon
— or —
bluesign® certified 630 denier High-Tenacity 2x2 Ballistic nylon
Interior
bluesign® and OEKO-TEX® certified 200 denier Halcyon/nylon ripstop
bluesign® certified 210 denier High-Tenacity 2x2 Ballistic nylon
Upper Back
Back Pad
Closed-cell foam
Shoulder Straps
Edgeless EV50 1/2” / 12mm shoulder straps (EVAZOTE® OEKO-TEX® foam)
Racquet-Coil Zipper Bags
1x #10 YKK Racquet-Coil water-repellent zipper with metal slider (main compartment)
5 #8 YKK Racquet-Coil water-repellent zippers with metal sliders (all other exterior zippers
Specs
Dimensions
13.4" (w) x 20" (h) x 9.1" (d) / 340 (w) x 508 (h) x 230 (d) mm
Weight
400d Halcyon/420d nylon ripstop: 1 lb 13 oz / 822 grams
X-Pac®: 1 lb 13.1 oz / 825 grams
630d Recycled: 1 lb 13.2 oz / 827 grams
525d Ballistic: 1 lb 15.8 oz / 900 grams
1000d Cordura: 2 lb 0.3 oz / 914 grams
Volume
25 liters / 1526 cubic inches (ASTM Standard Measure)
What's Included
1x 8-inch Black Webbing Snaphook/Snaphook Key Strap
1x Black Zipper Pulls w/ Plastic Ends (8-Pack)
1x Sternum Strap Assembly
1x Gatekeeper Waist Strap
Straps
.375" / 10 mm padded and contoured backpack straps with .75" / 20 mm removable sternum strap
Total O-Rings
9
(2 in the main compartment
1 in the top center pocket
1 in the small center pocket
3 in the bottom front pocket
1 in the left side pocket
1 in the right side pocket)
- CalebBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Durable, Good Storage Size, Easily Adjustable, Versatile1 year agoBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Durable, Good Storage Size, Easily Adjustable, VersatileRated 5 out of 5 starsUse as Onebag, not EDC!
I've had this bag since about 2016. They market it as an EDC bag, and that is exactly what I did with it nearly every day for most activities throughout that time, but I bought it to use as a travel Onebag, and that's also what I've done with it for every single trip I've been on for these last 6 years.
Personally I believe these 40L "standard" long trip bags to be absurdly massive. Reviewers, bagmakers, marketers, all pitching bags even bigger than this one as "only good for weekend trips." Madness.
This bag has come with me on 2 week trips in Japan and France. It was my bag for a trip that started in Autumnal cold London and finished with me riding a motorcycle west to east from the French Riviera to warm Italy. It's been motorcycled across Japan, Taiwan, and the entire West Coast of the USA. It's been dragged on bus, train, car, and scooter. I've stored it in overhead compartments and under a flight seat in front of me. I've never had trouble with it being my single bag on even the cheapest of European flights. I've lived out of it for a month and a half in a feverish trip across every ecosystem the continental USA offers, finishing in Taiwan.
On top of that, I bicycled, motorcycled, bused, and trained with it to work every nearly every single day over the past 6 years in San Francisco and Taipei. Gym clothes, work gear, tupperwared lunch, after work hacking hardware for meetups, all inside with no issues. It's survived curry tupperware exploding inside of it more…
Was this helpful? - NoahVerified BuyerBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, High Quality Craftsmanship, Made in USA, High Quality Finishings1 year agoBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, High Quality Craftsmanship, Made in USA, High Quality FinishingsRated 5 out of 5 starsYou may have a Tom Bihn addiction if...
You may have a Tom Bihn addiction if, when cars pass you by, you tell your friends the colors using words like Solaris, Acuity, Cloud, and Northwest Sky. I was using a Synapse 19, but like a game of Jenga, I added one to many items, and sadly the stack came crashing down. In this case, I ran out of room (picture tear running down my face). These Tom Bihn bags are the greatest. The Bugatti of backpacks. Switching bags was easy due to the design, as everything from the 19 went into the 25, with room left over. I am actually not adding much else (maybe a few small items). I just needed slightly more room. I have never purchased more items in my life with the word "packable" in them so they easily fit in my bag. These bags will change your life. It takes time to get the perfect setup. Years. From key straps you'll find you're wearing as a necklace and bracelet, to a travel tray you'll wear as a hat, to organizer pouches. The list goes on. Pretty soon, you're ending relationships and the only thing you care about is your backpack which you tell everyone is "fire". Buy one now. You will never be the same. You can read about most of what I carry in my S19 review. If you have any questions, you can find me in the mental institution. I'm the one with my arms around a Synapse bag, up every day at 7 a.m, checking the website for an internal frame.
Was this helpful? - Steven S.Verified BuyerBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, High Quality Craftsmanship, High Quality Finishings, Durable1 year agoBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, High Quality Craftsmanship, High Quality Finishings, DurableRated 5 out of 5 starsMy every day bag of choice
Easily holds everything I need for a day (15 inch laptop, miscellaneous chargers, water bottle, odd and ends, documents, extra shirt or sweater)
Straps are the most comfortable I’ve used, even among other high end brands. They didn’t cheap out on anything, nylon and lining material are top notch (I have 525d and 200d halcyon). Zippers, hardware, and webbing are all top notch. Sewing is reinforced at stress points and back padding and mesh material are breathable. I did not notice heat building up on my back even when during a strenuous activity.
Highly recommended. It’s more expensive because more thought and care went into the design, material choices, and manufacture of the product. It’s the last bag you’re likely to need for a decade or more.
Was this helpful? - Blisscosity3 years agoRated 5 out of 5 starsThe last backpack.
This is THE ONE. This is it. My search is over.
Except: what's my favorite color combo???
More research needed!
This is my work EDC and has been for three years. I love the pocket arrangement. It is epic. Build quality: forever.
Have used for travel, but it wasn't my favorite bag for that, since I am so not a minimalist. Use it for day trips. Love the halcyon and Guide's Edition the best.
I prefer using it without the frame sheet, but just started carrying a laptop and more work stuff, so am doing further research.
Tried the Synik 30 and did not like the shoulder strap placement, clamshell, heavier weight, but DO like the new water bottle arrangement, which gives more space to the side pockets.
Thanks, Tom & crew, for giving me this great bag in my life. I LOVE IT! Oh, and thanks to Chase Reeves, for sending me here.
Was this helpful? - Corrine R.Verified BuyerBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, High Quality Craftsmanship, Good Storage Size, Durable, Sewn in USA1 year agoBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, High Quality Craftsmanship, Good Storage Size, Durable, Sewn in USARated 5 out of 5 starsLove this bag!
Black ballistic/island 200 Halcyon. Love this bag, it’s perfect for work, it holds all my paperwork needed to take from the office as well as my purse. I also have a grab bag and it fits perfectly in the front bottom pocket as well. I love the quality of the construction and it looks so great and it’s comfy to wear. I will be using this as my carry on bag for travel. I’m 5’2” and I feel it does not overwhelm my frame. I can tell I will use this for many years to come! Huge fan
Was this helpful?
Recommended Accessories
Sewn in Seattle
Our bags are designed and sewn right here in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
That allows us to be control freaks in the best way possible; we have direct control and oversight of the quality of our materials, our products, and the jobs and working environment that we help create. It also offers us a unique spontaneity: when we have an idea for a new product or accessory, we can design it, figure out how to build it, add it to our website and be ready to ship it out our front door all within just a few weeks. How cool is that?
Intrigued? You can find out more about the unusual way we do business on our Company Philosophy page.
THE BIHN Guarantee
Everything you buy from us here at TOM BIHN is satisfaction guaranteed. We’ve been in business since 1972 and we stand behind what we make.
If something goes wrong and it's our fault, we'll fix it for free. Repairs due to normal wear and tear or due to other things that are not our fault will be performed, when possible, at a reasonable charge right here in our Seattle factory where your bag was made. Defects in materials or workmanship are uncommon and almost always evident while the product is still new. Keep in mind that bags and packs are often subject to extreme wear in everyday use: do not expect them to last forever. Only true love lasts forever! You can expect a TOM BIHN product to give years and years of hard service.