Bag Reviews

"I was noticing the other day that my Tom Bihn backpack [Brain Bag] is still pretty much as good as new. I cannot find any way in which it is not in the same condition as the day I bought it. Seriously. I blogged about it when I got it two and a half years ago, and I’m happy to report that reports of their excellent durability are true. I use it every day, take it every where, shove it in my trunk every day on the way to and from work, and it appears to me to be as good as the day I bought it. I am not kidding — this thing is in tip-top shape. I can’t recommend them enough. Seriously excellent product."

Read the full review @ Nick Hodges blog.

"For years I’ve been crazy about luggage. But my biggest issue has been trying to find a decent laptop carry-on bag. I’ve struggled with various makes and models and have encountered the same problem with each bag or backpack – the ones I’ve been using just aren’t roomy enough.

However, all of that changed when I received my Brain Bag from Tom Bihn — the official luggage of The Vacation Gals. When my family traveled to Orlando last month I had the opportunity to test this backpack. The Brain Bag and my Tom Bihn Imago messenger bag (used as my purse) were our only carry-on items. And they worked out perfectly. Here are the reasons I haven’t been able to stop raving about this work-of-art laptop bag."

Read the full review: Perfect Carry On Laptop Backpack: Tom Bihn Brain Bag

Translation: "Tom Bihn's bags are union of functionality and design. Owner and designer, Tom Bihn, likes outdoor activities from an early age and started making bags for outdoors more than twenty years ago. Their durable and functional bags are waterproof and highly recommended for bike commuters. Their unique design and color scheme make your day more fun. Among the variety of bags including laptop bags and backpacks to suit your purposes, hand-carry travel bags are especially popular for the numerous pockets that help you organize your belongings. "Checking your bags in at the airport sometimes require a fee nowadays, so the demand for bags like this has been increasing," says Tom. To maintain the quality rather than cutting the cost, all of their bags are made in their factory in Seattle. Their bags are sold exclusively through their website, but you can also visit their show room, which opens to the public once a month."

Read the full story - in Japanese - here.

Excerpt: "But the Checkpoint Flyer has been just perfect. And I do mean perfect.

It’s much better than I’d have expected. I didn’t think the TSA-approved designs would work for me, most of the ones I’ve seen look and feel cheap and my sense was that they don’t provide sufficient protection for a laptop. Or they don’t let me haul all the crap I take along with me in my bag. But this one satisfies on both counts."

Read the Gary Leff's full review of the Checkpoint Flyer - including interesting thoughts on colors and the Made in USA factor - at View From the Wing.

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Visit Gear Ninja for reviews of and features on more cool gear.

"Tom Bihn
...makes the best bags in the world. I purchased my Tom Bihn backpack from his store in Santa Cruz in 1997 or so, and I still use it on a near-daily basis. It saw me through graduate school; I took it to Mongolia. It has never had a zipper break, never had a stitch fray, has acquired no holes either through abrasion or piercing or any other means. It looks, as it sits on the desk return behind me, almost like new."

Read the full review @ The Bear Flag blog.

"The Tom Bihn Checkpoint Flyer bag is designed specifically to get your MacBook through an airport security screening.

No more pulling out your MacBook and putting it in a plastic bin. With the Checkpoint Flyer, you can leave your MacBook inside the bag and breeze through the X-ray machine."

Read the full review @ Cult of Mac.

"I like this little organizer a lot, and will probably order one or two more. For the price, the quality, and the fun they are well worth it."

Read the full review - featuring more photos - at Pocket Blonde. Or, see the Clear Organizer Pouch.

"No exaggeration: The Tri-Star is so well made, it’s hard to tell the bag has suffered the indignities of being sat on/bounced on by bored children, hauled across the Pacific Ocean and the United States, and stuffed with what is likely the legal limit of wine bottles to be driven across county lines."

Read the full review by SoCalGal at the Vacation Gals.

Beth Whitman, Editor and author of Wanderlust and Lipstick - a site with blogs, guides, and gear reviews for women travelers - has posted reviews of our Small Cafe Bag, 3D Clear Organizer Cube, and Organizer Pouches.

"I have found myself recently in need of a bag that falls somewhere between a large backpack/laptop bag and a purse. Something that’s large enough to hold my journal or notebook but doesn’t need to hold a laptop, like when I’m traveling. The Small Cafe Bag (above) is the perfect fit for this. There’s plenty of room in this shoulder bag for a guidebook, bottle of water and journal."
Read the full reviews @ Wanderlust and Lipstick.

If you subsrcibe to the Wanderlust and Lipstick newsletter during the month of February, subscribe to the Wanderlust and Lipstick blog RSS feed, or if you're already subscribed to both, leave a comment in the review of our bags, you'll be entered to win $200 donated by us on your behalf to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, earmarked for Haiti relief.

See also:

The Small Cafe Bag

3D Clear Organizer Cube

Clear Organizer Pouches