The Ristretto in Black 525 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Black 525 Ballistic with Northwest Sky (light grey with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior. The Ristretto in Nebulous Grey (medium grey) 525 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Nebulous Grey (medium grey) 525 Ballistic with Island (blue with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior. The Ristretto in Deep Blue (dark blue) 525 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Deep Blue (dark blue) 525 Ballistic with Northwest Sky (light grey with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior. The Ristretto in Black 1050 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Black 1050 Ballistic with Northwest Sky (light grey with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior. The Ristretto in Verde (green) 1050 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Verde (green) 1050 Ballistic with Northwest Sky (light grey with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior. The Ristretto in Steel (medium grey) 1050 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Steel (medium grey) 1050 Ballistic with Northwest Sky (light grey with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior. The Ristretto in Aubergine (dark purple) 1050 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Aubergine (dark purple) 1050 Ballistic with Wasabi (green with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior. The Ristretto in Navy (dark blue) 1050 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Navy (dark blue) 1050 Ballistic with Ultraviolet (purple with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior. The Ristretto in Burnt Orange 1050 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Burnt Orange 1050 Ballistic with Northwest Sky (light grey with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior. The Ristretto in Coyote (tan) 1050 Ballistic. The Ristretto in Coyote (tan) 1050 Ballistic with Northwest Sky (light grey with white grid) 200 Halcyon interior.
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$160.00


Color: Black 525 Ballistic/Northwest Sky 200 Halcyon

A vertical messenger bag with a built-in compartment for laptops or tablets up to 13".

9 liters / 550 cu. in.

We've retired the Ristretto so we can focus our efforts on other projects. You can sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of the page to receive updates on what we're working on next!

Description

Built-in laptop compartment fits laptops or tablets up to 13".

The Ristretto is designed to help one realize the dream of a mobile office: working at a coffee shop, on the light-rail, at the airport, or on the plane, essentials at hand, and unencumbered by extraneous stuff. It’s a vertical messenger bag with a padded interior compartment sized to fit everything from tablets such as the iPad and laptops up to 13” in size, such as the 13" MacBook Pro or Air. (Previously also available in sizes for the iPad and 11” MacBook Air, we now make the Ristretto in one size only, as most folks told us they preferred this larger size over the two smaller sizes because of the extra room it provides.)

The padded compartment in the Ristretto, which measures 12.8" x 9" x 1" / 325 x 228 x 25 mm, is made of 1/4" (6 mm) open-cell foam laminated with durable 4-ply Taslan and has an interior of supersoft brushed tricot. The back of the Ristretto is padded with 1/4" closed-cell foam. Your tablet or laptop is protected from all sides.

The main, open-top compartment and front, zippered pouch of the Ristretto are covered by an asymmetrical flap that closes with the distinctive offset Duraflex® Warrior buckle.

Under the flap, you'll find a curved, #8 YKK Aquaguard® water-repellent zipper, which secures the front pouch of the Ristretto. Inside this front pouch are organizational pockets for a pen, phone, and passport or wallet. There's also plenty of room inside this pouch for your power supply, phone charger, and sunglasses and the like.

The front, zippered pouch has one O-ring. The main compartment of the Ristretto features three O-rings. Attached to one O-ring is an 8" Key Strap. The Key Strap is useful for keeping track of your keys (many folks leave their keys attached to the Key Strap). It can also be used to clip a pocket watch or Swiss Army knife to the bag.

Behind that front, zippered pouch is the main compartment, which has a middle section and the padded compartment for your tablet or laptop (up to 13” in size). You'll have room in the middle section for an additional tablet or a light jacket or small water bottle.

The back of the Ristretto has a slanted, open-top pocket ideal for storing papers, a magazine, or a newspaper. The handle, situated on the top/back of the Ristretto, is padded with PORON® foam.

Included with the Ristretto is a removable waist strap, which secures the bag to your body — a good thing if you ride your (motor or push) bike while wearing the Ristretto. The waist strap attaches to two of four available points on the back of the Ristretto: you can attach the strap so one end is high and the other low, or both high or both low, whatever is most comfortable. We also considered those times you don't plan to use the waist strap; it is easily removable and leaves no hardware behind.

You can choose between two different shoulder straps for use with the Ristretto. The Standard Shoulder Strap is included in the price of the Ristretto. A 1-1/2" wide heavy-nylon-webbing strap, it features a comfortable, wide foam pad that won't slip off your shoulder and is designed to conform to your shoulder and back. For an extra $20.00, you can switch out the Standard Strap for the Absolute Shoulder Strap.

Most people will be satisfied with just one kind of shoulder strap, but, should you choose to do so, you can purchase more than one kind of shoulder strap and switch between them.

Materials

525 denier 2x2 bluesign® Ballistic nylon Exterior
Lined with 200 denier Japanese Halcyon/nylon ultralight ripstop fabric
Padded Compartment: .25" / 6 mm thick foam padding laminated between black 4-ply Taslan and brushed tricot
#8 YKK Aquaguard® water-repellent zipper
Tough Duraflex®, Nexus, and Woojin buckles and related components
PORON® foam padded handle

Specs

Dimensions: 11.8" (w) x 14.6" (h) x 4.7" (d) / 300 (w) x 370 (h) x 120 (d) mm
Padded Compartment for 13" MBP/MBA Dimensions: 9" (w) x 12.8" (h) x .9" (d) / 227 (w) x 325 (h) x 24 (d) mm
Weight: 1 lb 3 oz / 538 grams
Volume: 550 cubic inches / 9 liters (ASTM Standard Measure)
What's Included:
1x Standard Shoulder Strap, May be Upgraded to Absolute Shoulder Strap
1x 8-inch Black Webbing Snaphook/Snaphook Key Strap
Total O-rings: 4 (3 in the main compartment; 1 in the front zippered pocket)
Want to see the specs for all of our bags?
5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 13 reviews
100%would recommend this product
13 reviews
  • Robert A S.
    2 years ago
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Disappointed

    Disappointed that this was retired. Would have purchased one as it looks like it would meet all of my needs.

    Is there any extra stock leftover?

    How similar would this be to a Medium Cafe Bag with Freudian Slip and Cache for an iPad 11?

    Cheers

  • Aaron C.
    Bought For Myself
    Product Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, High Quality Craftsmanship, Good Storage Size, Unique
    9 months ago
    Bought For Myself
    Product Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, High Quality Craftsmanship, Good Storage Size, Unique
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Please bring back

    I’ve used my Ristretto for over 10 years. It’s it still hands down the best laptop bag I have ever owned. With the world going back to the office I came here to spoil myself with a new bag and alas it is discontinued. Please bring this or a similar sized vertical messenger with a built in laptop sleeve back. This is THE bag that got me into Tom Bihn and I now have a dozen bags and organizer pouches of all kinds.

  • Jason D.
    Verified Reviewer
    Bought For Myself
    Product Standouts Thoughtful Design, High Quality Craftsmanship, Compact, Durable
    9 months ago
    Bought For Myself
    Product Standouts Thoughtful Design, High Quality Craftsmanship, Compact, Durable
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Reliable bag - please bring back

    Bought this back in 2013 and have used as my everyday carry bag since. Lug my laptop, lunch, notebooks and more in this. Is fantastic for public transport as sits vertically and can sit under your arm. Easy to move through crowds than horizontal bad.

    Has served extremely well. As you would expect, after 10 years of dedicated service, some parts are now starting to wear. The fabric itself is sound, the webbing and fittings are the sites of wear - absolute strap in particular has stretched and the swivel has worn at the swivel such I am concerned it will break on a commute. That being said it is 10 years old with everyday use.

    Came looking to get a replacement and a change in colour from my purple and have found to be discontinued :(

    Please bring back!

  • Fraser
    Verified Reviewer
    Bought For Myself
    Product Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, High Quality Craftsmanship, Durable
    7 months ago
    Bought For Myself
    Product Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, High Quality Craftsmanship, Durable
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    15 Years going strong

    I have used this bag daily for fifteen years, it shows almost no signs of wear, the zippers, the stitching, the clips are all still perfect, the swivel joint on the strap failed just recently but that's the only think that I've ever had a problem with. It has outlasted over ten MacBooks and still looks great. I cannot recommend this enough.

    TB Profile picture for TOM BIHN
    TOM BIHN
    7 months ago

    Wow! That is amazing, thank you for sharing this with us.

  • John
    Bought For Myself
    Product Standouts Thoughtful Design
    11 months ago
    Bought For Myself
    Product Standouts Thoughtful Design
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    The One Thing I Want is Unavailable

    My wife has had one for years. I finally decide I need one and they're retired? Seems like a hugely popular item. Too bad.

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Sewn in Seattle

Our bags are designed and sewn right here in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

That allows us to be control freaks in the best way possible; we have direct control and oversight of the quality of our materials, our products, and the jobs and working environment that we help create. It also offers us a unique spontaneity: when we have an idea for a new product or accessory, we can design it, figure out how to build it, add it to our website and be ready to ship it out our front door all within just a few weeks. How cool is that?

Intrigued? You can find out more about the unusual way we do business on our Company Philosophy page.

THE BIHN Guarantee

Everything you buy from us here at TOM BIHN is satisfaction guaranteed. We’ve been in business since 1972 and we stand behind what we make.

If something goes wrong and it's our fault, we'll fix it for free. Repairs due to normal wear and tear or due to other things that are not our fault will be performed, when possible, at a reasonable charge right here in our Seattle factory where your bag was made. Defects in materials or workmanship are uncommon and almost always evident while the product is still new. Keep in mind that bags and packs are often subject to extreme wear in everyday use: do not expect them to last forever. Only true love lasts forever! You can expect a TOM BIHN product to give years and years of hard service.