Week of 21 June, 2009 - 00:00 to 27 June, 2009 - 23:59

BPritchard asked:
"My wife and I are planning a trip to the Seattle area next year. We are thinking that the end of June and first week of July would be a good time. We want to avoid any park closures due to late snow."

Just a short excerpt of timothy's reply:
"June / July: excellent time to visit, esp. if you're put off by the though that Seattle is a rainy place. It does rain (less than many other cities, blah blah blah, a gentle soothing mist, blah blah blah ), but seldom in the summer -- most summers are about like this one has been, mostly glorious blue skies, sun glinting on water, good weather for biking, picnicking, walking around, admiring flowers.

It's a good town for food -- I think it's great, in fact! (I'm a fairly low-brow eater -- once in a while, I like to get great sushi, though; my favorite place -- with great vegan options, if that matters to you -- is Mashiko, on California Street in West Seattle. A slight pain to reach from the rest of Seattle, but also the home of the quite nice little in-city Alki Beach.) The Bihn factory is between West Seattle and the downtown, if you're there one of the days open to the public. If you are an omnivore, I recommend Pho (Vietnamese soup) as being a local favorite -- Than Bros. is my favorite, and they have several locations. The "large" bowl is nearly impossible for one human to comfortably finish. Vietnamese coffee is a thing unto itself -- sweet, strong, electrifying. Plus, Than Bros. serves you a cream puff as a sort of micro-dessert. "

Read timothy's entire reply - with a lot of great Seattle tips - in the TOM BIHN Forums.

The Aeronaut is now in-stock and ships within one business day in all colors: Steel/Steel, Steel/Solar, Indigo/Steel, Black/Steel, and Crimson/Steel. If you know the Aeronaut, you know that it sells out pretty quickly - if you need one for a trip within the next 2-1/2 months, we'd recommend ordering ASAP.

Above: Pictures from the Building Bridges review of the Aeronaut.

We've added new pictures of our Swift knitting bag in Indigo/Indigo, Linen/Olive, Plum/Black, Punch/Cocoa, Punch/Navy, and Navy/Storm to the Swift page.

The Tri-Star is now in-stock in all colors, including Indigo/Solar. However, there are only a small quantity of Indigo/Solar bags left - and more will not be completed by our Seattle factory until mid-late August. If you are interested in an Indigo/Solar Tri-Star, we recommend ordering now.

"Yes, as the person who was quoted in Glamour Magazine for my "organized chaos", the Vertical Freudian Slip has help me keep papers in order on one side, and extra pens and my Crackberry on the other."

Read the full review @ Shannon Hurst Lane's blog.

View the slideshow above then read the thread in the TOM BIHN Forums.

Tom's second shot on the Ristretto is the upgrade for which you've all been waiting. The new Ristretto has the same basic form-factor as the first version - it's still a vertical way to carry a MacBook Air, 13" MacBook/Pro or similar sized computer.

Design changes include:

Main compartment is 3/8" (10mm) is thicker

Front pouch now has 1" (25mm) of depth

Organizer pockets are now in the front pouch instead of in the main compartment

Flap is now edged with contrasting black trim

Instead of adjustable toothed slides to attach the shoulder strap, the Ristretto now features the same steel eyelets as the Empire Builder and Aeronaut which allows the use of a wider variety of shoulder straps and allows the strap to pivot. A version of our Standard Shoulder Strap with metal d-rings is included with the Ristretto. For an additional $10, one can upgrade to the TerraGrip; for $15, the Q-AM (yes, with d-rings); and for $20, the Absolute.

More pictures and information coming soon. The new Ristretto - available for pre-order now - will be in-stock and shipping by July 8th.

Brad at One Bag, One World has posted 15 new pictures of the Tri-Star, including Tri-Star/Western Flyer size-comparison pictures and pictures of the Tri-Star Packing Cubes (now in-stock!) in use. Click here or on the picture below to see them.

The 3D Clear Organizer Cube is now in-stock and ready to ship in colors Black, Steel, Olive, Plum, Indigo and Punch.

Below: a video demonstrating use of the 3D Clear Organizer Cube.