There's lots of news and information to share, so let's get right to it.
New Pre-Order System
This debut's offerings -- The Truck, Large Zip-Top Shop Bag, Small Zip-Top Shop Bag, and Original Small Shop Bag -- will be available for pre-order on July 24th with an estimated ship date of early September. All four bags will ship on the same day. Each bag will be available for pre-order from July 24th until July 31st OR until the maximum production batch quantity sells out.
Those of you who've known us for a while know that we used to offer new designs for pre-order. The world (and our shopping cart system) have changed since then and there's a few key differences in the new pre-order system: first, your credit card will be charged for the full amount when you place your pre-order, and second, you'll be able to add In-Stock bags to your open Pre-Order up until two days before your order ships.
We expect you'll have a lot of questions about pre-orders and have done our best to answer those in a mini-FAQ on each pre-order product page and in the two blog posts linked below. As always, you're welcome to give us a call, live chat us, or emailus@tombihn.com if you have additional questions.
Read more:
Pre-Orders: Frequently Asked Questions
Pre-Orders: Past, Present, Future
This post also goes into the details of why we're offering pre-orders once again -- and shares how, if our pre-order system doesn't end up being all it's cracked up to be for either you or us, we may not opt to offer new designs for pre-order in the future.
New Designs: The Truck, Large Zip-Top Shop Bag, Small Zip-Top Shop Bag
We present for your consideration three new tote bag designs. To learn more about our various tote bag options and learn the answers to questions such as "Why do you offer so many different tote bag designs?" and "If I knew I was going to be stranded on a deserted island, which tote bag would you recommend that I take with me?" see Tote Bags: Frequently Asked Questions.
The Truck is a multipurpose carryall bag: it'll haul groceries of course, but it might also become your go-to beach tote, laundry bag, work/tool bag, or gym bag. Like a pickup, you’re likely to find more uses for a Truck than you ever thought possible.
The Truck will look familiar to those who know our bags: it shares the basic design and layout of the Moveable Feast grocery tote. We saw that folks were using the Moveable Feast for more than just groceries, and how they appreciated its organization and utility. What if we made a simplified version of the Moveable Feast, removing some the grocery-specific features? How about making it a bit bigger? A bit shorter and shallower, to allow for longer handles so we could carry it over the shoulder? We made some prototypes, tweaked them a bit, and then made some more prototypes; we tested them ourselves and gave some to friends to use. The feedback was all good—and not just from the users, but from the baggers at the local co-op as well: the Truck was easy and intuitive to load up, and seemed to swallow far more than anyone expected.
P.S. You guys might prefer The Truck to The Moveable Feast or vice versa: we'll just have to see. In the meantime, we're holding off on making another batch of The Moveable Feast. You can still sign up to be notified via email when/if we make another batch on the Moveable Feast page.
More:
The Truck page
The Moveable Feast
Over the years, we received feedback here and there from folks who asked if we could add a zipper closure to the top of the Original Shop Bag. This was an especially common request from those who used the Shop Bag as a personal carry-on bag, every day carry tote, or lunch bag that would get stuffed into a locker or cubby. Darcy, who often carries an Original Small Shop Bag as her EDC, finally convinced Tom and Nik to tackle the project of adding a zipper to the Shop Bag.
Seems simple enough, right? Just add a zipper to an open-top tote bag so you can zip it shut. However, a zipper must have a beginning and an ending that must be engineered into the design. If that’s not carefully thought out, the zipper can constrict the size and utility of the very opening which you’re trying to close. We think we’ve managed to nuance these conflicting realities quite well in our Zip-Top Shop Bags. The zipper is longer than necessary, thus does not reduce the effective size of the opening. The fabric we added to the top of the bag on either side of the zipper (which allows you to close the bag even when its chock-full) drops graciously away from the opening when unzipped, and in doing so doesn’t encumber access to your stuff. And there you have it.
More:
Small Zip-Top Shop Bag page
Large Zip-Top Shop Bag page
The Return of the Original Small Shop Bag
Left to right: Large Zip-Top Shop Bag, Large Original Shop Bag, Small Zip-Top Shop Bag, Small Original Shop Bag. Photo by Ilkyway.
We announced the retirement of the Original Small Shop Bag in February 2018. Thanks to the new pre-order system, we're able to offer another production run of what's become a beloved design for many good reasons. Will there be another production run of the Original Small Shop Bag after this? Maybe, maybe not: part of that depends on whether you guys prefer the Original Small Shop Bag or the Small Zip-Top Shop Bag.
This is an example of one of the reasons we wanted to try a new Pre-Order system: it allows for the possibility of an occasional production run of a retired design. See "What’s all this about some retired designs possibly being offered for pre-order at a later time?" from our Pre-Orders FAQ.
More:
Original Small Shop Bag page
Original Large Shop Bag page
Last but not least..... three new colors
Three new colors are debuting for the first time in The Truck:
Aubergine 525d ballistic nylon
Nebulous Grey 525d ballistic nylon
Island 210d ballistic nylon
The second bag to be made in Nebulous Grey (after The Truck) is the Synapse 19:
The Synapse 19 in Nebulous Grey/Northwest Sky is In Production. Sign up on its page to be notified via email when it's ready for order.
We'll be offering various other bags in these new colors over the coming months. To be notified when more bags are available in the new colors, subscribe to the New Bags and Colors Ready To Order thread in our Forums.
