Be sure to check out episode #44 (direct link) of the Mac ReviewCast for an in-depth review of the Brain Bag.
Reviewed by Tim Verpoorten, producer of Mac ReviewCast and publisher of SurfBits.com, the details and layout of the Brain Bag come alive. If you can’t come to our Seattle Factory Showroom to see a Brain Bag in person, listening to this podcast review is the next best thing.
You may remember customer P.D. from this blog post, where we posted a section from his email about being in India during the 2005 tsunami. He wrote that he and his family, safe and unharmed, spent the remainder of their holiday in India volunteering at relief camps to help those displaced or otherwise affected by the disaster, and he also wrote to us to let us know how his Tom Bihn Brain Bag backpack held up.
P.D. recently wrote to us again to tell us how his Brain Bag did during another trip where he experienced extreme weather — in New York, during record snowfalls. Below are pictures P.D. took of the snow and his comments about his Brain Bag.
“My latest adventure was in New York. I decided to spend a weekend there at the end of my business trip in order to explore and see some sights in the Big Apple. Snow – Lots of pretty white snow. The most snow to ever fall in New York since record keeping began over a hundred years ago. Now this was the first time I have ever seen snow falling (seen a light cover on the ground once before) and it was beautiful. Why would you care? Only in that my trusty Brain Bag and Large Cafe Bag (recently re-waterproofed) took the snow admirably. As with everything else I have put them through, they took it smiling and said, “Is that the best you can do?”
Brett Burney is the Legal Technology Support Coordinator at Thompson Hine in Cleveland, Ohio. He regularly reviews products for Law.com’s Automated Lawyer and Law Office Computing Magazine. And he recently reviewed our Empire Builder briefcase, Absolute Shoulder Strap, and Snake charmer bags.
Excerpt:
“Their products are not cheap. You can’t buy Tom Bihn bags out of your local office supply store. But you do get amazing quality and superior craftsmanship. If you really depend on your laptop and need a carrying bag that will protect it thoroughly, then a Tom Bihn bag is for you, and I heartily recommend the Empire Builder.”
Go here to read the full review on the LLRX web site. On our site, check out the Empire Builder, Absolute Shoulder Strap, and Snake Charmer.
Yesterday, Popgadget featured a post on the Jimi and had lots of good things to say about it. And we do, too.
I’ve never met a person who didn’t like the Jimi. Almost every time I buy something in a store and pull out my Jimi, the salesperson says they’ve never seen anything like it and asks where they can get one. And they’re really surprised to hear that the Jimi is only $14.00. And even more surprised when they find out that the Jimi is made in the U.S. out of partially recycled materials. (By the way — we only sell products made in the U.S., Canada, and Germany on our Web site. You can relax and shop knowing you don’t have to check every label or detail to make sure what you’re buying is made by people who are paid fair wages and work in comfortable conditions.)
I’m a little bit abusive with my Jimi. I stuff it with more cards than you should, and on days where I end up with more than a few bills, I force the Jimi shut. I recommend you be a lot nicer to your Jimi than I am to mine, but even with my harsh treatment of the Jimi, it still works and looks pretty new.
Check out the Jimi at PopGadget, the Jimi Web site (where there is a cool flash demo of the Jimi), or visit our Jimi page.
We’ve been listed as a favorite blog on Gekko Blogs! Very cool. While you’re checking out the Gekko Blogs site, be sure to listen to some of their podcasts. Their podcasts have inspired us to start podcasting, which brings up a question I’d like to ask you: What should we podcast about? What would you like to hear? Would you, our customers, be interested in participating in our podcast? And while you’re at it, what do you think of our blog? Let us know what you think by posting in our forums or emailing us.
Tom Bihn Forums — A Tom Bihn Podcast: What would you want to hear?
Aten Imago, who recently reviewed the Brain Bag, the Buzz, and yes, the Super Ego, posted this picture in our forums:
See a bigger version of the picture here.
Aten wrote:
“Here I am killing time at Dulles International Airport 2/21/06
My Tom Bihn Super Ego is packed with travel goodies, including a big Photo Album, iBook, Nikon CP5K ( taking the picture), PDA, iPod,travel papers, 2 16oz drink bottles,4 Lara Bars, Meds, Smoke Escape Mask, Magazine, Work papers and change of underwear & socks in the back sleeve. Everything traveled very effectively and the 20 lb load was nothing to carry thanks to the amazing suspension of the bag & strap. I got drenched in a surprise rainfall on the other end and not a drop of water entered the bag- Ya gotta love those zippers! I also discovered a bonus feature of the ergonomic shape of the Super Ego- it makes an EXCELLENT pillow! Thanks for an amazing bag!”
Aten’s web site: Imago Metrics
The Aeronaut is now available for pre-order with a shipping date of early April.
A maximum carry-on size duffel bag, the Aeronaut converts to be carried as a backpack with zip-away backpack straps. A padded handle allows it to be carried on-edge as a one would an old-fashioned suitcase, and steel “D”-rings accept a shoulder strap so you can carry it on your shoulder as well.
Details:
Be sure to visit the Aeronaut page for a longer description, more details, bigger pictures, and a F.A.Q.
Thanks to all of you who participated in the “Carry-On Traveller’s Bag” thread in our forums. This Aeronaut is for you!
Our Seattle factory showroom, which features the full line of TOM BIHN bags and a selection of Trager products, has moved from its Pioneer Square location to our new Seattle headquarters, located in the South Downtown district of Seattle at 2203 1st. Avenue S., Suite #200.
If you are in Seattle, a visit to our factory showroom is a must. You’ll be able to experience and purchase in-person the bags available on our Web site (and don’t forget to check out our way cool Marmoleum floor.) As the showroom is right down the hall from our production facility, you may even be able to sneak a peak at the bags being made. The connection between buying a product and knowing where it comes from and who the craftspeople are who made it is often lost in today’s world. One reason we decided to move our Seattle retail store is because we want that connection to be one our customers and employees can experience.
Seattle residents also have the option of placing an order through our Web
site and picking it up at the factory showroom store to save on shipping costs.
Hours, contact info, and directions are after the break.
TOM BIHN Seattle Retail Store
2203 1st Avenue S.
Suite #200 (2nd Floor)
Seattle, WA 98134
If you’re having trouble finding us, please call or email us at
the phone number or email dress below, and we will provide you with
directions.
Hours:
Customer and forum member Jed posted this picture of himself with his Brain Bag backpack in our Customer Pictures forum:
We’ve recently featured pictures from customers using their Tom Bihn bags in Tanzania, Antarctica, Egypt, and at the Burning Man Festival. If you have any pictures of your Tom Bihn bags that you’d like to share, you can post them in our forums or email them to us at | 22 February 2006 3:49 pm
Back in September 1999, NASA lost the $94 million Mars Climate Orbiter due to an internal communications error regarding metric vs. standard
measurements.
What does this have to do with Tom Bihn and the Size 4X Brain Cell?
The good news: We are in good company with NASA.
The bad news: Due to a small miscommunication within our design team, the first production run of our new Brain Cell Size 4X (specifically designed for the new 15.4″ MacBook Pro) was produced 15mm (about 5/8″) too short (too shallow) to fit the MacBook Pro 15.4″.
The correctly sized version of the Brain Cell 4X will be ship in mid-to-late March. Orders placed now for the Size 4X Brain Cell will be orders for the correct size and will ship in mid-to-late March.
Customers who have already received the Size 4X Brain Cell, or who have already placed orders for it, have received an email with further instructions, apologies, and solutions. If you are a Size 4X Brain Cell customer and you did not receive that email, please email us at inquiries@tombihn.com or call us at 1-800-729-9607.
We are sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.
The Size 4X Monolith, which is perfectly sized for the 15.4″ MacBook Pro, will ship on March 7th. The Size 4X Soft Cell will ship late March.
