Objection!

[doug-nicho]

All right, time to come clean, Tom. I bought a bag from you in 1976. That, in my less-than-objective opinion, would make you a bag maker of 30 years, not the weak, mis-leading "well over twenty" on your bio. Plus, you've got a claim to have been making them since you were 13. I can't personally authenticate that, since I think we were 16 or 17 when we met. However, it certainly wouldn't surprise me, since that bag: a/ still exists, b/ hasn't popped a stitch, and c/ clearly was not a first-time-ever construction.

Update your bio, Tom. C'mon. You know it's true. "Over 30 years." I'll back you up.

xo,
Doug

ps: I like the fun name your forum made up for me. Can I edit that, I wonder? Looking forward to receiving my Empire Builder. I mean, it IS time for a new bag.

pss: Not that I haven't bought interim bags. The 30 year old one got shuffled aside when I bought a shoulder bag years back. Looking at your product page, it looks like you don't sell that model, either. How does your stuff do on ebay?

[Tom Bihn]

Yes indeed, that does make 30 years of bags. I think I made my first pack when I was maybe 10 years old, so I could say 35 years. But no one's going to believe that, so I go with the more plausible "more than 20 years".
35 is more than 20, after all.
Hope you like the Empire Builder, Doug!

[MikeD]

Come on now, we really need a picture of this 30 year old bag!