Week of 8 March, 2009 - 01:00 to 14 March, 2009 - 23:59
Checkpoint Flyer Reviewed on Slashdot
Excerpt:
"Oh, and the Checkpoint Flyer handles rain like you'd expect from a bag out of Seattle. For reasons that do not here bear examination, I ended up taking a very long walk through empty parts of Haifa for much of one Saturday night, during which time it mostly alternated between drizzle and downpour. Even for someone used to living in Seattle, this was a wet night to walk. And though the Checkpoint flyer was in no way protected from the rain, all it did in that ongoing rain was get very wet -- on the outside. The fabric is tight enough that most of the water just rolled off; none of the paper, food, or clothing I had stuffed in there at the time saw a drop of rain, and after an hour or so in my hotel room I couldn't tell it had ever been wet. So I had zero worries about walking in milder rain over the weeks that followed." Read the full review at Slashdot.
"Oh, and the Checkpoint Flyer handles rain like you'd expect from a bag out of Seattle. For reasons that do not here bear examination, I ended up taking a very long walk through empty parts of Haifa for much of one Saturday night, during which time it mostly alternated between drizzle and downpour. Even for someone used to living in Seattle, this was a wet night to walk. And though the Checkpoint flyer was in no way protected from the rain, all it did in that ongoing rain was get very wet -- on the outside. The fabric is tight enough that most of the water just rolled off; none of the paper, food, or clothing I had stuffed in there at the time saw a drop of rain, and after an hour or so in my hotel room I couldn't tell it had ever been wet. So I had zero worries about walking in milder rain over the weeks that followed." Read the full review at Slashdot.
darcy | 14 March 2009 2:09 pm | Bag Reviews |
Update: tombihn.com is up and running
tombihn.com was down for over 4 hours today due to massive amounts of traffic directed to our site from this review of the Checkpoint Flyer over at Slashdot. (More on the review tomorrow.)
We're now back up and running. Pages may load slowly here or there, but they will load!
Thanks for your patience and offers of help. We have the best customers in the world.
darcy | 13 March 2009 5:45 pm | Our Company |
Yes, our site is down.
We're working on getting it back up ASAP. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please feel free to call us at 1-800-729-9607 - we would be glad to answer any questions you may have. And because you cannot make it through to our site to actually see pictures of our bags, perhaps we can describe them to you over the phone. :(
darcy | 13 March 2009 2:26 pm | Our Company |
New Large Cafe colors now shipping...
The Large Cafe Bag is now shipping in the following colors....
Navy/Cayenne
Storm/Sapphire
Sapphire/Steel
Black/Steel
Black/Wasabi
Storm/Sapphire
Sapphire/Steel
Black/Steel
Black/Wasabi
darcy | 12 March 2009 12:18 pm | New Bags |
TOM BIHN Bags: 100% NO PVC
Our Clear Organizer Pouches, Clear Quarter Packing Cube, Clear Bottom Yarn Stuff Sack, Clear Organizer Wallet and all bags in which we use clear material (including the Swift knitting bag) are made with clear Urethane, and not PVC.
In fact, all TOM BIHN bags are 100% PVC-free.
PVC is pretty nasty stuff: it isn't good for your health (ever open a brand new PVC shower curtain, get a headache, and wonder why?) or the environment. The Europe Union has gone so far as to to ban PVC children's toys. Unfortunately, PVC is still the third most widely used thermoplastic polymer, in part because Urethane and other alternatives tend to be more expensive than PVC.
Clear vinyl isn't the only place you might find PVC on a bag - the coatings on cheaper, lesser quality fabrics (including some 1680 ballistic nylon) are often PVC coatings. Because we only use U.S. made 1050 denier ballistic nylon and 1000 and 500 denier Cordura, our fabrics are coated with Urethane coatings.
Above, left to right: Clear Organizer Wallet, Tall Yarn Stuff Sack, Clear Quarter Packing Cube, Medium Clear Organizer Pouch.
darcy | 11 March 2009 3:07 pm | Our Company |
My Aeronaut - First TB Bag!
Buzzard posted on the TOM BIHN Forums:
"I just received my Aeronaut a couple of days ago. It's my first Tom Bihn bag and I am thrilled with it. It's going to be a couple of months before I actually travel with it, but I've done some experimental "loading" just to see how it handles my stuff. I was a little concerned about my clothes because I am a 2X size woman. Not to worry! I was able to load it up with what I would need for a typical pleasure trip and it was not overstuffed. I am especially impressed by the color - mine is crimson. It was a little hard to tell online what the color was actually like. Reading the various reviews, it sometimes looked like it had either a pinkish or an orange cast to it. It does not. It is a beautiful, rich red. I can't wait to see how it performs on an actual trip! I have a feeling I'm going to be a TB addict like many of you. I've already got my sights on some packing cubes, organizer pouches and I'd love to get a medium Cafe bag, too!" MsMoon replied: "I just received my very first Aeronaut yesterday, too! Mine is in steel, and I absolutely love it! I will try it out this weekend for a quick trip, and can't wait! I also purchased a small and large packing cube and the absolute strap. Now on to the Cafe bag! Or maybe an Imago. Or shop bag..."
Above: a picture of the Aeronaut in Heathrow Airport posted by Zephyrnoid in the TOM BIHN Forums.
"I just received my Aeronaut a couple of days ago. It's my first Tom Bihn bag and I am thrilled with it. It's going to be a couple of months before I actually travel with it, but I've done some experimental "loading" just to see how it handles my stuff. I was a little concerned about my clothes because I am a 2X size woman. Not to worry! I was able to load it up with what I would need for a typical pleasure trip and it was not overstuffed. I am especially impressed by the color - mine is crimson. It was a little hard to tell online what the color was actually like. Reading the various reviews, it sometimes looked like it had either a pinkish or an orange cast to it. It does not. It is a beautiful, rich red. I can't wait to see how it performs on an actual trip! I have a feeling I'm going to be a TB addict like many of you. I've already got my sights on some packing cubes, organizer pouches and I'd love to get a medium Cafe bag, too!" MsMoon replied: "I just received my very first Aeronaut yesterday, too! Mine is in steel, and I absolutely love it! I will try it out this weekend for a quick trip, and can't wait! I also purchased a small and large packing cube and the absolute strap. Now on to the Cafe bag! Or maybe an Imago. Or shop bag..."
Above: a picture of the Aeronaut in Heathrow Airport posted by Zephyrnoid in the TOM BIHN Forums.
darcy | 11 March 2009 2:02 pm | Customer feedback |
Flickr: Large Cafe Bag Contents
Above: A picture showing what Reina's Large Cafe Bag holds. View the whole picture set here.
darcy | 11 March 2009 12:34 pm | Customer pictures |
Checkpoint Flyer PC Sizes Coming Soon
New sizes of the Checkpoint Flyer designed specifically for larger PC laptops will be available for pre-order within the next two weeks.
The sizes will be:
Size 3ST: 330 x 285 x 42mm / 13 x 11.25 x 1.65"
Size 2ST: 373 x 300 x 42mm / 14.7 x 11.8 x 1.65"
Size 2XLT: 418 x 305 x 42mm / 16.5 x 12 x 1.65" Note: many PC laptops fit well in the currently available Checkpoint Flyer sizes designed specifically for Mac laptops. Consult the Checkpoint Flyer Laptop Fit Guide or email us to determine which Mac or new PC size is best for your laptop.
Size 2ST: 373 x 300 x 42mm / 14.7 x 11.8 x 1.65"
Size 2XLT: 418 x 305 x 42mm / 16.5 x 12 x 1.65" Note: many PC laptops fit well in the currently available Checkpoint Flyer sizes designed specifically for Mac laptops. Consult the Checkpoint Flyer Laptop Fit Guide or email us to determine which Mac or new PC size is best for your laptop.
darcy | 10 March 2009 3:58 pm | New Bags |
"I am writing to thank you for the Swift that I ordered last week."
"I am writing to thank you for the Swift that I ordered last week. I honestly did not hear about your company until the day that I bought the bag. What impressed me about your product was the design; the pockets, attachments, shoulder straps, and the size of the Swift was just what I was looking for. I gasped when I saw and read the description of the Swift and thought to myself, "That's my bag!" It took all of 4 hours to show my husband the bag and description, feel a little guilty about the purchase (especially with Stitches West 2009 coming up), IM my friends about the bag, warn my husband about the impending purchase, waver on the colors, and finally give in and finally put in the order.
I appreciate the way the ballistic nylon Swift in black stands up on its own (believe me, I have enough slouchy purses that double as knitting bags, thankyouverymuch) and that it feels as durable as it looks. This is very important to me, having 2 very active children. Also, thank you Tom, for answering my call the morning after, and assuring me that my order change request went through. What was I thinking ordering the Plum/Olive bag? While I LOVE those colors together, I have nothing in my wardrobe that would match. Black is really more my style.
I seriously never anticipated the arrival of anything as eagerly as I did the Swift. Now when anyone asks me to recommend a knitting bag, the only one that I can truly recommend is the Tom Bihn Swift.
Thanks again!" - Claire.
Above: Just some of the colors that the Swift is available in.
Above: Just some of the colors that the Swift is available in.
darcy | 10 March 2009 1:38 pm | Customer feedback |
Update on Seattle store hours
Our Seattle store will be open from 12:00pm - 4:00pm this Friday, March 13th. During the following week, we will be open on Friday, March 20th from 12:00pm - 5:00pm. Stay tuned to the blog and Twitter for updates on store hours after that.
darcy | 9 March 2009 6:46 pm | Miscellaneous |
