Synapse continues to surprise.
TIL (Today I Learned) just how handy those side pockets on the Synapse are, and how much attention went into their design.
After 5 months of ownership, and always taking off the backpack to access the sides (since this is how every backpack I've ever owned had been) I was thinking about the backpack and how I see everyone else here in Japan with their shouldered-bum-bags (fanny packs?) and how they just swing them over and have access.
Today I learned that by swinging the backpack under your shoulder, the side pockets are the EXACT SHAPE to pull open with one hand, grab whatever you need, and close again. Mind = BLOWN.
Really ... 5 months of ownership and I never realized this. This single fact has changed how useful this bag is, how I lay out the potkcets, and just how I approach the designs I see here to begin with.
This fact should be mentioned on the product page, just so people who apparently can't see the obvious don't make this mistake again!
Of course, no post would be complete with out photos ... so I give you: Synapse Side Pocket ... and the train gate.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5113/7...387706ca_z.jpg
Using the Synapse by G e o cycle, on Flickr
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5271/7...937c7af6_z.jpg
Using the Synapse by G e o cycle, on Flickr
Carry a Small Shop bag in the Synapse side pocket for easy access
In a few earlier forum posts I've mentioned that I carry a Shop Bag in my Synapse, but that I use the side pocket rather than the bottom zipped pocket. The kind of easy access that GEOcycle describes is the reason why. Instead of folding the Shop Bag into a pocket, as shown in Maverick's YouTube video on how to fold the Shop Bag, I fold down the top of the bag so that the carrying handles rest inside the bag, and the top of my fold runs above the Tom Bihn label, but below the black piping for the top of the bag. Then, I roll the bag and slip it into the side pocket that GEOCycle is using.
This works really well with the small size Shop Bag, and it's very easy to pull out the bag when you need it. I usually carry the Small Shop Bag in Sapphire Dyneema (shown in Maverick's video) in my Indigo/Solar Synapse, but I also have this size bag in Solar, Steel, and Ultraviolet. (I'd really like to get a Small Shop Bag in Iberian Dyneema, too, but I don't think they ever made it in this size. And the last time I tried asking for this option, Darcy said they were considering dropping the small size Shop Bag, which really sent me into a panic. Fortunately, they reconsidered this, and even offered their latest Dyneema color option, Ultraviolet, in the small size Shop Bag.)
moriond
