Favorite TB Bag?

[Tlacltme]

I'm brand spanking new to the Tom Bihn family, became officially a part of the family with the recent arrival of my Synapse and an Ego for husband's birthday in a couple of weeks (shhh!). I must say, I'd looked at all of the pictures and comments about the Synapse and was a little skeptical about its capacity potential and overall wonderful-ness. I'd been looking for a Goldilocks backpack (not too big, not too little, just right) to use while flying with a small infant. Wow. I think I've found it! I'm so impressed and, I gotta say, usually my experience is the opposite- I find a bag that I think will be perfect for a certain purpose, I get it, and...disappointment. Not so with the Synapse. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks when I've actually flown with it and baby, but I did a dry run and- shazaam! Everything fit wonderfully with no bulk! (I'm hopeful the hubby will be equally thrilled with his Ego, but you never know with him.) Anyway, I'm starting to understand how y'all get lured into TB addiction and it got me wondering, which bag do I "need" next? In that vein, I'm curious to know what is your favorite TB bag or accessory?

[dorayme]

Welcome and congratulations! My favorite for looks is hands down my Little Swift in Hemp. No matter where I go, if I am sporting it, I feel put together and smart looking. I'm a stay-at-home-schooling-mom of three and the put together part is not an easy feat for me to pull off.

My most used and all around multi purpose bag is the Shop Bag both regular and large. I almost always have one with me, they fold into nothing, hold almost anything I would want to carry, are super strong and durable, have saved me in a pinch of over packing more than once, are the perfect size (seriously), have a cute jellybean style unless you go for steel and then they just look sharp, and they are very affordable. I think every customer needs at least one of the Shop Bags.

Favorite accessory would be the Organizer Pouches, and the newly designed site has them all in one spot now so you can look at your choices all at once. My personal favorite size is small.

[kcarroll55]

Although I don't have nearly as many bags as others in the forum (or as many as I'd like to have), I absolutely love my small and medium cafe bags. The medium is my everyday purse; if I need to go smaller, I just swap over the the small CB with pouches. This is absolutely the last purse I will ever buy and I wonder how I lived without it for so long. (I'll be hauling a bunch of purses down to the next church yard sale.) Regarding how well the cafe bags are made - I had a cup of McDonalds honey mustard leak in the MCB - just turned it inside out (and it looked just a good that way as right side out, let me tell you!), scrubbed it with a little soapy water, rinsed well, hung it up to dry and headed out the next day. You couldn't even tell where that icky sticky stuff had been.

[gmanedit]

Synapse or Large Cafe Bag (depending on the day's rounds), Large Shop Bag (unbelievably useful).

[misterN]

As of right now--My Super Ego is pretty much my go-to bag for everything. If I'm feeling a bit lazy--I'll can easily swap into my Ristretto because all it takes is 2 pouches to be swapped over.

[AVService]

For me it is pretty much whichever one I am using at the moment.

Really!

Each time I use each bag i find myself gaining a new fondness for it all over again.

I probably carry my Super Ego the most right now and though I need to get a different strap for it still ,it is an amazing piece of work.
As is the Tri-Star,Synapse,E.B. Brain Bag......I think you get the idea?

Oh and I can stop anytime! I just do not plan too.

Welcome to the fold.

Ed

[jeffmac]

TB bags are like children, it is just wrong to pick a favorite!

OK, that is a touch over the top. I still smile every time I pack up my Tristar for a trip, when it goes on a plane when others are turned away or when somebody picks me up and says "is that all you have?"

Have to say that the new bag (today!) is on my list to potentially be my new favorite!

[marbenais]

Well, I'm very fond of the Co-Pilot (such a good little briefcase!) and the Swifts are useful for knitting, but I think the Dyneema Synapse and Cordura Imago tie for my favorite bags overall. They just . . . fit my body in a way that other bags don't.

[gizmo]

I'm fairly new to Tom Bihn bags as well, I got a Ristretto for my 11" Macbook Air at the start of the year and love it. The absolute strap is amazing at making the bag feel like there is nothing in it!

I ordered a steel/solar Dyneema Synapse a few weeks ago as I've been carrying a bit more to work on a daily basis and am in love with it. The dyneema looks amazing and the backpack is like something out of Mary Poppins! Just when you think it is full, you can add something else!

[123veo]

Small shop bag, co-pilot, synapse. But the order changes from day to day. LOVE the poron handles on both the shop bag and co-pilot.

[Tlacltme]

Thank you all for your welcome and feedback- I think! Based on more browsing and reading what you all have to say, I'm already anxious to place another order. Oh man, so this is how the disease progresses :) And of course with the introduction of the Cadet yesterday, I'm second-guessing the Ego I bought for hubby (the one hiding under the bed waiting two weeks for his bday). I'm thinking I may try to snap up a few plum items as I really like the color and it seems to be phasing out, we'll see. I was curious though, I see references to "FoJ" and "FOT." What are those?

[gmanedit]

FoJ: Fourth of July pouch, sent with a minimum order in late spring; navy ballistic nylon with white and red trim.
FOT: Friend of Tom pouch, sent as a Christmas present last year; blue Ultrasuede.

[Tlacltme]

An ultrasuede pouch?! A 4th of July pouch?! Sigh. I missed the boat. Big time :( I was going to place a big order soon- I'm calling it a jump start on the Christmas shopping (ha ha) but now I wonder if I should wait to place my next big order closer to Christmas! Thanks for catching me up to speed, gmanedit.

[gmanedit]

Tlacitme, the FOT pouch was not an incentive to order, so don't delay your order on that account. It was a present, not a quid pro quo. The previous year's present was a donation to charity in our names.

[Tlacltme]

Thanks for the clarification, gmanedit. I'm very impressed with the products and people--including the fellow afficionados!- associated with Tom Bihn. And I didn't delay my order :) (much of the above advice was reflected in that order so thanks again everyone)