New Bags

Our new Ultrasuede® Screen Cloth is available for order and ships within one business day. It's great for cleaning smudges off of the iPad, iPhone, and laptop screens. We should know: we've been using the first prototypes of the Ultrasuede® Screen Cloth for months.

$7. US First Class Mail Shipping is $2. All Ultrasuede® Screen Cloths are shipped in a custom-printed envelope, which can fit up to five. Available in six colors.

Above: maverick's video of the Ultrasuede® Screen Cloth.

We're excited to share with you a new color of our custom-produced Japanese Dyneema/nylon ultra-light rip-stop fabric. Iberian - a red that is deep, but not dark, rich, but not bright - is a color Tom spent quite a bit of time developing and is excited to inroduce. Iberian will join our current Dyneema/nylon rip-stop fabric colors of Steel and Solar.

Bags available for pre-order now in Iberian are the Packing Cube Shoulder Bag, Large Shop Bag, Packing Cube Backpack (Aeronaut), Packing Cube Backpack (Tri-Star/Western Flyer), Clear Quarter Packing Cube, the Aeronaut (Black/Iberian), Tri-Star (Black/Iberian), and Yarn Stuff Sacks in Small (All Fabric), Medium (Clear Bottom), and Tall (Clear Bottom). We may offer more bags in Iberian in 2011.

We've posted a poll in the Forums asking you which paper you'd use with your Field Journal Notebook (a new, soon-to-debut notebook design by Tom) - lined, unlined, graph, and/or other. You can vote in the poll if you are a forum member. If you are not a forum member, send your vote to customerservice@tombihn.com or @tombihn on Twitter.

Tom has updated the design of the Western Flyer to feature the organizational front face of the Tri-Star (with two pockets instead of three) and offer the user the choice of back panel:

Backpack Straps: For longer sprints through the airport or across town, the backpack straps (same as those on our Aeronaut and Tri-Star convertible carry-on travel bags) are comfortable and help one carry a heavy load more easily. The padded, contoured shoulder straps feature a removable/adjustable sternum strap and can be tucked away in their own compartment when not in use. With this version of Western Flyer, you also have the option of a removable waist strap.

Zip-Open/Shut Pocket for Handle of Rolling Luggage: This design offers two pockets: one for your boarding pass or map and a magazine/newspapers pocket that can zip-open at the bottom creating an open-end pocket that allows you to slip the bag over the handle of your rolling luggage.

The Western Flyer is $200 and available for pre-order in colors Indigo/Solar, Steel/Solar, Black/Steel, and Crimson/Steel. Ships by late July.

Tom has updated the design of the Co-Pilot, a new personal carry-on sized travel bag made available for pre-order last month and scheduled to ship in June. The back pocket of the Co-Pilot now features a zip-open (and shut) pocket designed to allow you to slip the bag over the handle of rolling luggage, as seen in the photo below. When not being used in that way, the pocket can be zipped shut for magazines, newspapers, maps, etc. The interior of this pocket is lined with our Dyneema/nylon rip-stop fabric. All Co-Pilots - even those pre-ordered on the very first day - will have the new pocket for rolling luggage handles.

The below photos were shot today in our Seattle factory, using Chris and Jolie Guillebeau's rolling luggage. (Chris also carries an Empire Builder, which makes perfect sense.)

We're hard at work on the next batches of Ristretto for iPad bags. Colors Olive/Cayenne and Black/Steel are available for backorder and ship by early June. Colors Cocoa/Olive and Black/Wasabi have already sold out of that batch and are available for backorder with a shipping date of by late June. We've added two new colors for pre-order, which will also ship by late June: Cocoa/Cayenne and Cocoa/Steel. All backorders ship on a first come, first serve basis, but if you need your bag by a particular date, please email us and we'll try to give you a more exact shipping date.

We'll be posting a stock update on the Ristretto for iPad tomorrow, along with photos of two new color combinations available for pre-order: Cocoa/Cayenne and Cocoa/Steel. Stay tuned!

The Clear Organizer Wallet is now available for pre-order in four new materials -

Cork: Fabric that is durable and gorgeous, made from real cork bark from Portugal.

Waterproof Ultrasuede®: the luxuriously soft Waterproof Ultrasuede® that we use provides elegent durability and stain resistance. It's manufactured in Japan using 80% post industrial recycled monofiber.

Kiwi 1050d U.S. ballistic nylon: heavy-duty abrasion-resistance in an elegant weave.

Vulcana Hemp/Recycled Rubber: this material, produced in the U.S.A., is made from post-consumer recycled tires with a bonded overlay of sustainable hemp.

$14-$15. Available for pre-order. Ships by early June.

Above: the back of a Vulcana Hemp/Recycled Rubber Clear Organizer Wallet with a second Clear Organizer Wallet in front of it, showing clear front.

The Little Swift is a smaller version of our Swift and Swift in Cork tote/shoulder bags. Originally designed for knitters and crafty types, The Swift was designed by Tom in collaboration with the readers of Knitty® magazine. Since its debut, the Swift has become popular among knitters and non-knitters alike seeking a uniquely styled tote/shoulder bag. Tom noticed that many of the women who work at TOM BIHN and carry Swifts didn't always need a bag as large as the Swift. On some days, a smaller version would work better. And the Little Swift was born.

Available in four materials: Waterproof Cacao Ultrasuede® ($110), Cork ($110), Vulcana Hemp/Recycled Rubber ($100), Kiwi U.S. 1050d ballistic nylon ($70)

Included with each Little Swift is a Small Stuff Sack - a smaller version of our Regular Stuff Sack.

80% the size of the Swift and Swift in Cork.

Clear Organizer Wallets in Waterproof Ultrasuede, Vulcana Hemp/Recycled Rubber, Cork, and Kiwi 1050d U.S. ballistic nylon are also available for pre-order.

Fits an iPad inside of our Horizontal iPad Cache

Available for pre-order, ships by late June

Taken from our recent email newsletter (sign up here) but with updates:

The Small Swift will be available for pre-order soon. We've made our decision on the new fabric, and we will share that with you when the Small Swift debuts.

The Camera Insert continues to make serious progress. It's a great combination of fabrics and molded foam. It's almost done and should be available for pre-order this June.

Tom has completed the design of the Field Journal Notebook. There's a few details left to sort out. It should be available for pre-order in May.

The diaper bag - the Parental Unit - will be available for pre-order in May or June.

The "Kennedy Center" travel bag will be available for order in May or June.