Week of 20 July, 2008 - 00:00 to 26 July, 2008 - 23:59

From the {position: relative;} blog:

"I’ve had an Olive/Wasabi Small Cafe Bag from Tom Bihn for almost 8 years. I love this bag - it’s the perfect size, it looks cool, and it’s very clean-lined.

One of the buckles broke yesterday. I emailed customer service about 15 minutes ago and have already gotten a response - they offered to fix it for free. But I decided to order a new one, because my old one is getting a bit frayed (and I can try a new color). This is a company and a product I highly recommend."

Many of you -- the readers of this blog -- are also readers of One Bag, One World (for those of you who don't: OBOW is a blog featuring news, reviews, tips and tricks for light travelers.) Our Aeronaut and Western Flyer bags have been reviewed at One Bag, One World, in addition to being widely discussed in the OBOW forums.

TravelSmith recently interviewed Brad Isbell, founder of OBOW. In the interview, Isbell tells of learning how to travel light and gives advice to fellow travelers. It's a good interview and will definitely be of interest to those of you who travel light. Click here to read the interview.

"But quickly, from what I gather, the bag [The Super Ego] has impressive build quality, lots of room, and is not as intimidatingly huge as I feared it would be. It is noticeably bigger than the ID, much like you'd put a side-by-side comparison between a MBP 17 against a MBP 15, that type of ratio. But from an aesthetic point of view, the bag's size shouldn't be feared at all, I am only 5' 9" (albeit on the heavy build side), and the bag doesn't look disproportionate."

Read lpotr4's entire review (with more pictures!) in the TOM BIHN Forums.

Recently, Tom and Darcy flew to a select U.S. airport to consult with TSA staff, testing Tom's prototype of a new checkpoint friendly briefcase.

Quoting the TSA:
"One project we're currently working on that has been widely discussed on the Internet and several blogs is a "checkpoint friendly" laptop bag. This bag would allow our officers a clear, unobstructed view of the laptop and allow passengers to keep the laptop in the bag during screening."

At the airport, we were given exclusive access to an x-ray machine and conveyor for the testing process. We tested Tom's prototype briefcase in every way we could, from the best to the worst case scenerio. We also tested the Archetype case (with Darcy's 15" MacBook Pro inside) -- an existing bag that already meets the "checkpoint friendly" requirements. (See below for more. Note that, until the TSA launches the "checkpoint friendly" program, you still must take your laptop out of your bag when going through security.)

The results? The prototype briefcase is a success: in multiple configurations, it provided x-ray images that met the TSA screening standards.

Tom continues to refine the design of the as-yet unnamed prototype checkpoint-friendly briefcase. We expect the briefcase to be available for pre-order within weeks.

Tom also has designs in process for a "checkpoint friendly" backpack and messenger bag.

These bags aren't and won't be just checkpoint friendly: they will offer the same tough materials and handsome, cleverly engineered design that you've come to expect from a TOM BIHN bag. We think that you will also appreciate that your TOM BIHN checkpoint friendly bag, specifically designed to go through U.S. airport security, was also designed and manufactured in the U.S.A. under the watchful eyes of our Seattle factory crew.

Two current TOM BIHN laptop cases -- the Archetype molded laptop case and the Soft Cell laptop sleeve -- are already "checkpoint friendly."

That means that sometime in August/September -- when the TSA officially initiates the "checkpoint friendly" program -- you can leave your laptop in your Archetype or Soft Cell while it goes through the x-ray machine, protecting your laptop from scratches and bumps. (Note: these bags will meet the new TSA requirement as long as you put *only* your laptop in the case, no accessories.)

Our experiences testing Tom's prototype "checkpoint friendly" briefcase revealed the potential this program offers that will save you, the traveler, both time and hassle as well as protect your laptop.

"After tons of research I settled on the Tom Bihn Aeronaut bag."
......
"I was stunned to discover that even with 2 pairs of shoes, 2 skirts, 2 dresses, 2 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, 10 pairs of underwear, 4 pairs of socks, pajamas, my toiletries (not insubstantial), an iGo charger, 3 guidebooks, and all of my other stuff placed in it, I had room to spare. Before succumbing to temptation and packing some of the items I had taken out of my pile as unnecessary (bathing suit, etc.), I decided to weigh the bag. First I stepped on the scale (that’s another post by itself), then I put on the bag as a backpack. I was amazed that it weighed 20 lbs and still felt comfortable enough to walk around the airport for a few hours, race to catch a metro or wander the streets before check-in time at our hotel."

Read the entire post. See the Aeronaut.

Above: Pictures from the One Bag, One World (OBOW) Review of the Aeronaut.