Tony Giacomo of SurfBits Reviews the Ego

Excerpt:

“The fit of the Brain Cell is perfect and everything else has a place in the Ego bag. After 3 weeks she said that she can’t live without it (that puts the Ego in the exclusive company of her Macbook and our Tivo, I am jealous). I agree with her, this bag is big enough without being huge, her stuff (notebooks, reports, and other miscellaneous preschool teacher stuff) fits well with a little room to spare. The bag looks nice and is easy to use. On top of that the quality of materials and workmanship is first rate.”

Links:
Read the full review

The Ego

The Brain Cell

TB Crew | 24 April 2007 11:55 am

Customer Review: The Medium Cafe Bag

renegadeot, a frequent poster in the TOM BIHN forums, recently shared with us a link to a review he had written on his blog of the Medium Cafe Shoulder Bag, complete with pictures of his very own Medium Cafe Bag.

Read the full review | Discuss it in our forums
Post Your Review | See the Medium Cafe Bag

Excerpt:
“The cafe bag’s are shoulder bags meant to carry a few things, and not be complicated. They are pretty simple, but still very high quality. My bag still looks brand new after a year. It has a big open main compartment, that is covered by a flap that buckles in. Inside the main compartment are pockets for a phone, pda, and pens. There’s loops to attach keys or organizer pouches. There’s a zippered pocket on the side that the flap clips on, and a open stash pocket on the other side. They have many cool color combinations, and they have three sizes. Unfortunately I was fearful of ending up with a purse at the time, so I got a plain black/steel combo. To meet my carry requirements I got the medium version. It fits quite a bit, and carried what I needed it to do for school. “

TB Crew | 20 April 2007 12:22 pm

Organizer Pouches Review by DragonSteelMods

Excerpt:

“The last pouch only comes in one size, and that is small, why it only comes in small, I’m not quite sure, but it is the coolest of the three pouches I have today, at least I think it is… This Organizer pouch is made from cork, making it a bit more expensive than the other organizer pouches but worth it really. Since this pouch is made of cork it offers a bit more padding for more delicate things like Ipods, cellphones etc.

Of course the Cork Organizer Pouch also has the quality zipper and the snap hook as well, and a small Tom Bihn logo tag in the corner.”

Read the full review.
Dragon Steel Mods Reviews the TOM BIHN Organizer Pouches

TB Crew | 18 April 2007 2:14 pm

In Stock: Size 2S Vertical/Horizontal Soft Cells + 2S Vertical Brain Cell

The new Size 2S Horizontal and Vertical Soft Cells are now in stock and ready to ship. Also in stock is the Size 2S Vertical Brain Cell. The Size 2S Horizontal Brain Cell is available for order now and ships in

The Size 2S Soft Cells and Brain Cells were designed for those of you who have widescreen PC laptops that are too big to fit in the Size 3S, but too small to fit in the Size 2XL. To determine what size of Soft Cell or Brain Cell you need for your laptop, consult our Laptop Bag Fit Guide.

TB Crew | 18 April 2007 2:03 pm

Bad Weekend, Great Bag (And a Recipe for Pear Sorbet)

Customer Lisa K. wrote in to tell us about her 2006 Labor Day weekend, and also included an amazing recipe for Pear Sorbet.

“I think I’ve finally recovered from my rather bizarre Labour
Day weekend, enough to report on how great the Medium Cafe Shoulder bag is. I’m not going to go into the details about the fire I put out, after someone dropped a cigarette into the cedar chip mulch in front of the Shelbourne Plaza — or the unexpected two-mile hike when I missed my bus to the Saanich Fair — or what the bank said about the paycheque I tried to deposit just before the long weekend, since they didn’t involve the bag at all. I can’t even use the title “A Series of Unfortunate Events”, because apparently it’s already taken.

(Click through for the rest of the story.)

Suffice it to say that when I discovered that the jar of fireweed honey I’d
bought at the Moss Street Market had come open in my Tom Bihn bag, I was pretty well resigned to a bad situation getting worse. But after I got home, I was amazed to find that the bag, after more than two years of winter rains and trips through the washing machine, had retained almost all the honey. The superior quality of the cloth and the stitching meant that I was able to pour the honey into a stockpot, saving not just my hard-earned cash but the work of countless bees! I ended up boiling the honey in some water, and making pear sorbet with it, so the weekend immediately got better. Even after the clothesline snapped, dumping my laundry into the yard next door, the weekend seemed a little brighter. (The bag survived and is as good as new — and “the label” still delights my friends and co-workers.)

I am including the recipe, which is bound to be better if you get the honey
out of a jar, rather than a shoulder bag.”

Cheers,

Lisa K.

Victoria, B.C., Canada

Honey and Pear Sorbet

  • In a large pot, heat 1 cup of honey and 1 cup of water to boiling point. (You can also substitute organic sugar — make sure the crystals are dissolved in the boiling water.) Let simmer for 10 minutes, then set out to cool.
  • Peel and core 4 or 5 ripe Bartlett pears, and put in blender. Liquefy —
    there should be about 4 cups in total. Pour in the cooled syrup, and blend
    until smooth.

  • You could use an ice-cream maker for the next step, but it seems to work just as well without. Put the mixture into a large bowl or pan, and place in the freezer. After 3-4 hours, it should be getting slushy. Mash it up with a fork or a pastry blender, and return it to the freezer. Repeat a couple of
    more times, an hour or two later each time (to break up the ice crystals).
    Store in a covered container.

  • Serve in chilled glasses or bowls — makes 8-10 servings.
    • TB Crew | 16 April 2007 9:09 am

    Monica Edwards Reviews the Small Cafe Bag

    “Overall, I will say it again…I LOVES my Tom Bihn Cafe bag. It is not just for mommies like me, but made for everyone on the go. I would highly recommend any of Tom Bihn’s products as I have yet to be disappointed by any of his wonderful bags. Added bonus, it makes me feel good to know that Tom makes all his bags here, in the good ‘ol U.S.A. and loves to show off his employees hard at work–go for a factory tour, he is happy to oblige. It is a very fascinating and informative tour of how his bags go from just a mere concept to the finished product.”

    Read the full review.

    Monica Edwards Reviews the TOM BIHN Small Cafe Shoulder Bag

    TB Crew | 13 April 2007 12:08 pm

    New Customer Pictures From Around the World

    We’ve revamped the Customer Pictures From Around the World section of our Web site, and added many new pictures of TOM BIHN customers with their bags in places such as Pompeii, Kjerringøy in Norway, New Mexico, Italy, Chile, and more. Check it out!

    We would love to add your pictures to our Customer Pictures page. Email them to us, or post them to our TOM BIHN forums or the TOM BIHN Flickr Group.

    TOM BIHN Bags Customer Pictures from Around the World

    TB Crew | 12 April 2007 12:07 pm

    Mini Organizer Pouch In Stock + Limited Edition Colors

    The Mini Organizer Pouch was so popular after its debut that it sold out in just a couple of weeks. It’s now back in stock and ready to ship in the usual colors (Black, Steel, Crimson, Olive, Navy, Kelly, Wasabi, Deep Blue) and also in three unusual colors: Purple Antron/Cordura, Periwinkle, and Plum Ripstop. We found small rolls of these fabrics in the TOM BIHN fabric vaults.

    Antron/Cordura is a fabric that’s used to make racing suits (think Nascar). The ripstop pouches are made out of 500 denier Cordura with a 1000 denier ripstop.

    The TOM BIHN Mini Organizer Pouch in Limited Edition Colors

    Clockwise: Periwinkle Ripstop, Plum Ripstop, and Purple Antron.

    TB Crew | 11 April 2007 4:20 pm

    Jason O’Grady of ZDNet Reviews the ID and Archetype

    Jason O’Grady has posted a review of the TOM BIHN ID messenger bag and the Archetype Molded Cork laptop case on his ZDNet Apple blog. Here’s an excerpt of his review:

    “Instead, I paired the ID with the new and visually stunning Archetype sleeve (US$95) which protects my MacBook Pro with 0.25″ thick closed cell foam, a #8YKK Uretech “splash-proof” zipper and an outer skin made of killer-looking genuine cork fabric. The sleeve alone is sure to be a conversation starter and the bag’s no slouch either.

    At US$225 the ID/Archetype combo might be a little pricey for people on a budget, but it’s been my experience that quality bags built with good materials cost a little more – but they’re worth it.” Read the full review.

    Jason O'Grady of ZDNet Reviews the TOM BIHN ID messenger bag and Archetype laptop case

    TB Crew | 10 April 2007 11:59 am

    In Stock: Size 5 Brain Cell + Brain Bag in All Colors

    The Size 5 Brain Cell is now in-stock in all colors: Black, Steel, Crimson, Deep Blue, Wasabi, and Olive.

    Also in stock is the Brain Bag in all colors: Black, Steel, Kelly, Navy, Sapphire, and Olive.

    TB Crew | 10 April 2007 11:47 am