Carry-On Traveller's bag

[Zephyrnoid]

Aeronaut Breve? Could use that tomorrow on the quick get-away from Rimini to Venice, although my Aeronaut wants to visit Venice too!...and so it shall. "Forza Italia!!" .

Zephyrnoid has it -- that's exactly why the Aeronaut doesn't have a waist strap.

The Aeronaut Breve ("smaller" Aeronaut) is now available for order. Note: The Aeronaut Breve ships early August.

"Forza Italia!!"

[eristick]

Zephyrnoid has it -- that's exactly why the Aeronaut doesn't have a waist strap.

The Aeronaut Breve ("smaller" Aeronaut) is now available for order. Note: The Aeronaut Breve ships early August.

MUCH better name than "smaller-framed-person Aeronaut." :)

[chess]

What are the chances of there being more colors available again within the next few months... dare I say SAGE?

[alouzan]

I would love a Sage Breve! I have been hinting to my husband for months that this would be my luggage of choice! I don't travel much but on occassion I go with him to a convention or even . . gasp. . on a vacation and this would certainly cover all of my needs!

Thanks for Listening!
Alouzan!

[Sacharissa]

Yes! Yes! Sage, please!

[Darcy]

Introducing: Tom Bihn Packing Cubes

[dsg29]

That's so cool. Thank you Darcy, Nicole and everyone. I'm in the process of moving to a new house. As soon as that's done, I'm ordering a bunch of these.

[eristick]

Sorry I didn`t have time to post before I left...but I am now in Montreal. The Aeronaut is perfect, the packing cubes work better than I even expected, and I today I took the Imago on a long bike ride down the Canal Lachine.

Plenty of pictures of the bags, packing, and me-wearing-the-bags when I return early in August.

[Zephyrnoid]

Ok. So many of us have used the Aeronaut for Carry On Right? Well hey, I'm in a daring mood so the next week I'm trying something different.
I'm curious to see how much shopping will fit into an Aeronaut worn as a backpack. So all next week, I'll fill it with my groceries and other purchased goodies! Think of the plastic I'll save- Oh! I'll be on my bike too.
Pix to follow

[AndrewGHo]

This is a fun discussion thread, and I just wanted to add a post here about my personal experience with the Aeronaut.

I started doing research on travel packs earlier this year for a May/June trip to Japan where we were going to move between cities and hotels a bit. There are actually a number of travel pack choices out there, you can find the fruits of my research on my website: http://www.zeuscat.com/andrew/person...o/travelpacks/

I stumbled on the newly released Aeronaut and ordered one in basic black, with an Absolute shoulder strap. Total cost including shipping to California was $192.

I flew carry-on with the Aeronaut, with a mini Timbuk2 messenger bag as my personal bag. I also had a small Jansport daypack stashed in the Aeronaut for day to day use. My girlfriend used a Victorinox duffle and a Krumpler camera bag (her digital SLR and lenses took up a lot of room and weight, so I carried toiletries, books, and other shared items). Our carry-on-only setup held enough for 15 days of travel through Kyoto, Nikko, Osaka, and Tokyo, doing a couple rounds of light hotel-room laundry.

The Aeronaut carried comfortably on the shoulders, although I don't recommend walking more than a couple miles with it in humid weather while lost, like we did! The sternum strap was essential given that there isn't a waiststrap. Being able to stow the straps was great for when we were in the hotel, or just waiting around in the airport. The Absolute shoulder strap is very nice, although I only ever used it when boarding or exiting the plane (it's nice to hold a bag in front when walking through a narrow aisle). I absolutely loved the end grips, they're very convenient for slinging the loaded bag around!

I'm only 5'6" and not particularly broad-shouldered, so I wish the Breve had been an option when I ordered. However, I found the straps on the standard Aeronaut to be pretty usable, although I notice that to fit me comfortably, I have to cinch the straps almost as tightly as possible.

The Aeronaut packing cubes weren't yet available when I ordered, so I ended up using some mesh drawstring bags for organization, which worked out okay, but more internal structure would have been nice (I lined some of the softer sections with my travel books, which worked okay, but wasn't very elegant).

I didn't find the small outer zip pocket very useful, since I already had a small bag for plane tickets, etc. that I never took off. I also agree that one downside to a non-wheeled bag is that it's hard to balance multiple bags on your body (for example, the Timbuk2 would flop around my front side while I had the Aeronaut on my back). My recommendation would be to choose a secondary bag with a handle.

By the way, when I passed through work while getting a ride to the airport, a bunch of co-workers ooh'ed and aah'ed over how nice the bag looked, too. One co-worker, who is indeed a Mac geek with hipster black glasses and everything, came to check it out, and said "nice bag! oh, it's a Tom Bihn, say no more..." which I guess is a nice compliment.

Since the Japan trip, I've also found the Aeronaut useful for transporting bulky stuff (like taking a huge picnic blanket to the park). It's certainly a little large for everyday use, though.

Overall, I found the Aeronaut to be an excellent travel pack and would definitely recommend it.

[Just]

The Crimson Aeronaut is not Screaming bright actually.After working with VizGuard fabrics - I KNOW screamingly bright. The Crimson projects a very neutral red and is a nice standout on the conveyor belts. I call it Rojo Picante Jaleo

I just wanted to say that I *absolutely LOVE* the Crimson color on the Aeronaut! Looks much better in person than on the webpage! (It looks good on the webpage too, but seriously... I LOVE the color!!!)

[mruseless]

I'm a big advocate of the "bundle wrapping" and bundle folding (without a center core). However, these methods are easiest with a bag that unzips to lie flat when packing (like the Red Oxx Air Boss).

How does the Aeronaut do with bundle wrapping? (I'd have bought one already were it not for this nagging question)

[Just]

I'm a big advocate of the "bundle wrapping" and bundle folding (without a center core). However, these methods are easiest with a bag that unzips to lie flat when packing (like the Red Oxx Air Boss).

How does the Aeronaut do with bundle wrapping? (I'd have bought one already were it not for this nagging question)

I think it would do just fine... you'd just have to bundle wrap/fold outside of the bag, and then put your bundle into the bag. Really, compared to the Aeronaut, the Red Oxx Air Boss just bulges too much to be an ideal bag for me (despite being designed by Doug Dyment)... and without bulging, each compartment is a bit on the thin side. Save for the middle compartment, but that's not really meant for clothes.

[eristick]

I do a modified version of bundle wrapping, using the packing cubes, with my Aeronaut. Instead of bundle wrapping everything together, I divided clothes into a couple of categories for wrapping & rolling. Photos are posted here.

[mruseless]

Has anyone tried either the Tough Traveler "Tri-Zip", or the Easy Going Carryon? These are the other two bags that Doug Dyment recommends on Onebag.com in addition to the Red Oxx Air Boss.
E