“I have had the Ristretto for about 1 week now and the bags continues to impress me. I am based in an office but spend at least part of everyday in nursing care facilities seeing patients. The Ristretto is surprisingly light, even fully loaded – Macbook, Kindle, USB cable, iPhone, a couple of pens, 4 thin file folders, one full patient records, reading glasses, various individual sheets of paper (sandwiched between file folders). Still has lots of room for other things.” — Read rabergnc’s entire post.

“Alright. Here’s my follow-up. I was going to create a new thread for it, but I figured I’d keep it here to prevent having to repeat what I was looking for in a bag. So I received my Empire Builder and Snake Charmer today and the first thing that came to mind was, “oh man, this bag isn’t as big as I was expecting… all of my stuff isn’t going to fit in here.” So I start examining it. Lots of pockets and absolutely amazing quality. The zippers Tom Bihn uses rock! I simply love them. So I start putting stuff in.” — Read Larry’s entire post in the TOM BIHN Forums.

“I just got this new bag yesterday. Tom Bihn is my favorite bag company… the attention to detail is amazing. I was concerned that it wouldn’t hold everything I needed, but I was wrong. It holds my MacBook Air, the power adapter, an Airport Express, my Verizon Aircard, a little bag of misc. cables and adapters, my Shure SE530 earbuds (another essential), a power extension for my power adapter, an ethernet cable, and a magazine for the subway — all with room to spare. One of the things I love about it is the number of plastic O-rings with whcih you can clip your keys and the little bags for quick access. GREAT JOB, TOM!” — Posted by sapridyne in the TOM BIHN Forums. See the Ristretto for yourself.

“Hi guys,

Finally got the Black/Steel/Cayenne ID the other day, and I’m really happy with it. Thanks to Darcy, Josh and forum posters for helping me decide.

Here are my first thoughts after three days with the bag:

ID: The fabric and colors on the bag are great – much more vibrant than shown on the website. The new cayenne color is *orange *with a touch of brick red, but still bright enough to provide contrast against the contents of the main compartment. And though I was most looking forward to the cayenne, the black/steel combo of the exterior of the bag is just as dazzling. The ballistic nylon that Tom uses is smooth without being slippery and looks as if it will hold up to years of abuse. Even the dyneema looks better in person than on the site.” — Read rdowd’s entire review in the TOM BIHN Forums. Or check out the ID.

I have been toting around a Buzz (the sling bag on the left) for a few years now since it was recommended to me by Scott Collins. Like many other Bihn fans, Scott is very committed to the brand and evangelizes it to anyone he talks to. Since then many of my friends have been infected by the Bihn bug. (And yes, some of us are starting to become pretty zealous in recommending them to other people). Read more at jorge’s stompbox.

Read dwa’s review of the Empire Builder briefcase and Brain Cell laptop case in the TOM BIHN Forums.

“In doing my mandatory research, I came across the Tom Bihn Brain Bag. I’ve read almost their entire website, done multiple Google searches for reviews, and even had a buddy who lives in the Seattle area drop by to take a gander at their setup. One thing is for sure, there aren’t very many bad comments out on the web about Tom Bihn’s products.
Mine arrived today. I ordered the Brain Bag (in navy) and a 2S Brain Cell (a sleeve for the laptop) to hold my Dell. All of my research was right on target…I love it.” — Read the full post over at Random Thoughts of an Engineer or see the Brain Bag.

“I just received a small padded pouch yesterday, and I’m really pleased with it. It fits my digicam (Olympus 730SW – exact dimensions are 3.7″ W x 2.2″ H x 0.8″ D) which is roughly the same size as the 120G “classic” iPod. Like Alicia, I got the small size so I could fit the cable in with my camera, and the design of the pouch is such that there’s not much room for the contents to slide around inside. It’s a very good fit.” — read rdowd’s entire post in the TOM BIHN Forums or check out the Padded Organizer Pouches.

“Like many here, I agonised about the Zephyr/EB decision. I plan on using it as a work briefcase, probably not carrying the laptop frequently, but one of my considerations was to be able to use it as a one-bag travel solution. It was probably this that pushed me towards the EB.

So, my impressions – first up, the delivery time was incredible. Ordered Friday evening and arrived 10 days later (on the 2nd Monday after). The postage is expensive (a third the cost of the bag), but this is the quickest I’ve ever received anything from the states.”

Read Abbadon’s entire review of the Empire Builder in the TOM BIHN Forums. Or, take a look at the Empire Builder or the Zephyr.

“My first impression when unveiling was simply ‘wow’. The Buzz is of course manufactured with impeccable precision, and it looks terrific. The bag is both larger and thinner than I had anticipated, both in a good way. I had been a little concerned that my laptop wouldn’t leave much room for anything else, but I shouldn’t have worried. The Buzz easily holds the laptop while also offering to hold much more. At the same time, the profile is very slim depth-wise, which allows it to fit comfortably against your back.” — Excerpted from a review posted in the TOM BIHN Forums by ellismc.