Week of 6 December, 2009 - 01:00 to 13 December, 2009 - 00:59

Use this handy guide to help figure out which shipping method you need to choose to ensure your TOM BIHN order will arrive by or on December 24th. Note that our shipping cut-off time is 12:30pm PST. Need help? Wondering if an out of stock bag can get to you or your loved one in time? Email us or call us at 1-800-729-9607. We would be glad to help.

December 16th: Last day for folks on the East Coast to place an order with UPS Ground ($8) as their shipping method with guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery. Don't worry: you can still choose expedited shipping ($17-$55) up until the 23rd!

December 17th: Last day for folks in the Mid-West to place an order with UPS Ground as their shipping method with guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery.

December 18th: Last day for those on the West Coast and in Colorado, Arizona, Wyoming, and Southern California to place an order with UPS Ground as their shipping method with guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery.

December 21st: In Northern Oregon or Washington State? This is your last day to order via UPS Ground. Everyone else: order today and choose 3 Day Select ($17-35) as your shipping method, and your order will be guaranteed for delivery on December 24th.

December 22nd: Everyone can place orders with UPS 2nd Day Air ($20-40) as their shipping method and have guaranteed December 24th delivery.

December 23rd: Everyone can place orders with UPS Next Day Air ($35-55) as their shipping method and have guaranteed December 24th delivery.

December 24th/25th: We will be closed. Happy Holidays! All orders received over the holiday will ship Monday, December 28th.

December 31st/January 1st: We will be closed. Be safe and have fun - that's what we'll be doing! All orders received over the holiday will ship Monday, January 4th.

Tom has improved the design of the 3D Clear Organizer Cube with a plastic hook that makes hanging the cube in your hotel bathroom easy. When not in use, the lightweight hook tucks easily inside of the cube. The new version of the 3D Clear Organizer Cube is in-stock and shipping now in all colors: Black, Steel, Olive, Plum, and Indigo. $18.

TOM BIHN Customer - Daniel Beltra - pictured above with his Empire Builder briefcase - was named ABC Person of the Week on the ABC Nightly News for his work photographing and documenting the changes to our earth due to deforestation and climate change. You can watch the segment - Conservation Through Photographing Decline - at ABC.com.

We have a few Synapse backpacks in Kelly/Steel and Steel/Solar Dyneema available now. While our Seattle factory will make Steel/Solar Dyneema in the next batch of Synapse backpacks, we won't make Kelly/Steel again. That makes this your last chance to get what (we think) is a pretty great color combination.

Casey is hard at work at our Seattle headquarters shipping Swift, Tri-Star, and Yarn Stuff Sack backorders. Backorders are shipped in the order in which they were received; some will ship today, others will ship tomorrow.

"I've got about 10 knitting bags, and this [TOM BIHN Swift] is a favourite for going out into the world. It's seriously durable and has lots of neat accessories, and even comes with one of those yarn stuff sacs with the clear bottoms. Nifty."

Check out Yarn Harlot's complete gift guide for knitters here.

Note: The Swift in Cork is in-stock and ships within one business day. The Swift in Cordura is in-stock in colors Plum/Indigo, Navy/Storm, Punch/Plum, Punch/Cocoa, and Punch/Navy. All other colors of Swift in Cordura in 1050 denier U.S. ballistic nylon - including Kiwi/Black, Steel/Steel, and Cocoa/Olive - are available for backorder. Already placed backorders for out of stock color combinations are expected to ship this week. New backorders should ship next week.

"Tom Bihn was featured in our best of 2008 lineup with their Checkpoint Flyer bag, and this year they did it again. Their Tri-Star bag beat every other bag I tested in 2009, and earns a well deserved spot in the this lineup. The Tri-Star is an astounding bag - it is a shoulder bag, backpack and carry-on all in one. There is enough space for a laptop, documents and clothes for a couple of days. "

Read: The top ten travel products of 2009 @ Gadling.com

Above: The Tri-Star. While temporarily sold out in all colors but Crimson/Steel, the Tri-Star is expected to ship by the end of this week.

maverick posted so many great photographs of his family's Disney World trip that we're featuring them for a second time. Remember: you can see all of the photographs, in their original size, in maverick's thread - "the tom bihn aeronaut, western flyer and synapse go to disney world" - in the TOM BIHN Forums.

See also:

The Synapse

The Aeronaut

The Western Flyer

Above: photo by Rister1978 featuring his new Zephyr. See a larger version of the photo at Flickr.