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I'm a newbie, so I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but I'd love a Tom Bihn small daypack. The Synapse is a great daypack for travel, but I'm thinking of something that could be worn everyday, just as a place to put a paperback/kindle, phone and wallet. Maybe it's a Co-pilot with backpack straps?
You mean like a single strap backpack that can go across the chest or hung on one shoulder easily?
Ooo a Co-Pilot with backpack straps!
Actually if you wanted something plain, have you looked at the Packing Cube Backpack for the Western Flyer/Tri-Star? It's made from Dyneema and crumples down into nothing. It's big enough to fit a laptop in a pinch, and it's REAL simple.
If you want a teeny tiny little backpack like some of those purse-packs that women wear, then what I LOVE to see is a Packing Cube "Purse Pack" -- same size as their fantastic Dyneema Packing Cube Shoulder Back, but with a vertical version with a zipper along one end, and simple backpack straps just like its bigger cousin! :-)
Lani, you have the best ideas!
My vision is for a basic, small backpack with two straps. Dyneema is great, but personally I like a little more structure for my everyday pack, so the current choices aren't for me. I'm thinking that the backpack would be about half the size of the Aeronaut packing cube. A teensy Synapse perhaps?
Something that small reminds me of the beach drawstring backpacks with rope straps.
Mine is 12" x 8" x 5". It has one main area, with two pockets (one zipped) inside, plus two front pockets like the Synapse. They seem to be pretty popular with Moms with young kids out of diapers (at least that seems to be the group that runs after me to find out where I got mine). It isn't big enough to hold a jacket, but it can hold snacks, a water bottle and everything else needed for a day of running around. I can't get my big backpack into a museum without checking it, but I just hold my daypack by the top loop like a purse and walk on in.
Back in the day I used to have a pleather teardrop-shaped bag that had a sling strap that zipped apart into backpack straps. The zipper to get into the bag was against your back, so it was hard for pickpockets to get into. There was a snap pocket on the front; of course you couldn't put much in there as it was small and stuff fell out of it (it would be better zippered). You could either sling the zipped-together strap over a shoulder, or wear it as a backpack.
I used that thing until it literally fell apart. The strap snapped one day in the train station. I think I cried.
Something like that...in Dyneema...or perhaps kiwi ballistic...would be awfully cool. Just saying.
The Backpack Packing Cube for Aeronaute is just that a north south version of the Packing Cube Shoulder
Bag.
It holds, a windbreaker and a hoodie, a Clear Quarter Packing Cube with various things inside, a water bottle holder and water bottle, a big sun hat, long scarf, a Medium and Small Pouch on the bottom pocket.
It has been the bag that has helped lighting the load of my Large Cafe Bag.
I also want a Synapse because, in summer, I use the Small instead of Large Cafe Bag and this year I want to add a Large Shop Bag and a Field Journal Notebook to the thing I have been carrying in the Packing Cube Backpack for the Aeronaut.
Another non-Bihn alternative would be the Red Oxx Rock Hopper. Bihn makes something vaguely similar called the Buzz, but it would seem too bulky for what the OP was talking about.
I think the Buzz in indeed the solution for you, small, made of Cordura, hip and sporty.
A Sling Bag That Carrys a Laptop | The Buzz by: TOM BIHN
One of many Tom Bihn bags attraction is workmanship.
I still own and use for storage 2 small nylon backpacks, one Stuff Sack size and the other Tall Stuff Sack size.
The bigger one was used as a purse for the last time on a trip car/train trip in which my Brain Bag performed flawlessly but that little nylon backpack was a pain in the neck.
I also own an expensive sling bag which is also used for storage, as it is big but cannot hold letter size documents and the seams are holding on any better.
It seems that novelty bags, no matter how cute have a tendency to disintegrate if handled on a day to day basis.
For a really minimalist lightweight bag on walks or light errands, the Stuff Sacks are perfect!
Chime in if you think so too. :)
Ah, yes, the Buzz would be very similar to what I would like, except for the teensy-tiny problem of the strap. I don't know too many women who wear sling bags because of where the single strap falls on their body. But a Buzz with two straps seems like a fine idea!