Videos

Zeke -- the person behind the camera of many of our videos -- recently took a trip to Hawaii with his wife and son. Each of them took a Daylight Briefcase and a Daylight Backpack in the spirit of packing light. The first video below shows what and how they packed; the second video is of the trip itself. Our Q&A with Zeke: What do you wish you had packed that you didn’t? I've been ultralight packing for a long time -- over 100 trips by now to all different climates and with stays of all different lengths -- so...

Zeke had always dreamed of visiting New Zealand. Here's what he packed when the trip became a reality: On the Plane T-Shirt Carbon fiber buckle Grip 6 belt Olukai Eleu Trainer shoes - Later switched to Vans slip ons FITS Ultra Light Runner socks Bluffworks Chino Bluffworks Meridian shirt Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket Synapse 25 In the Synapse 25 2x Hydro Flask 18 oz Wide Mouth RFID Passport Pouch & Passport Sungod Custom Classics2 Sunglasses In the 3D Organizer Cube, Clear Electric Toothbrush, Tooth Powder & Hair Puddy in Contact Lens Cases, Soap & Shampoo Bar in Zip Lock Deodorant...

In this series, we’re sharing some packing videos we’ve had but never posted.  In Part I, we featured the Aeronaut 45 and Aeronaut 30.  Today we’re bringing you Part II: Synapse 25 and Western Flyer. The Synapse 25 and the Western Flyer are organizational powerhouses.  They both have clever internal and external compartments and pockets that make them easy to pack and carry with little forethought or additional accessories.  We show them here with a number of cubes and pouches** to give you an idea of what they can hold and different ways you can use them. ** Click the links below to see updated versions of this...

Some months ago, we experimented making some packing videos but never got around to sharing them.  So here they are: a series of videos demonstrating how to pack a few of our popular bags.  Let us know what you think—if people like them, maybe we’ll be inspired to make more. Part I: The Aeronauts 45 and 30 Besides snacks, dogs, and naps, there’s nothing we like more than the pleasure of packing a well-organized bag.  We’ve designed our travel bags (like both sizes of the Aeronaut) with strategically-placed compartments and pockets so they’ll pack like a dream right out of the box.  At the...

Zeke, the filmmmaker behind many of our videos, documented a 30 day trip through Northern Italy with his wife and son. In this post, Zeke shares an essay about the reasons for the trip, as well as the videos he captured: how his family packed for the trip, their favorite travel hacks, and their tour of Italy.  The Videos Episode I: How To Pack For 30 Day Trip Without Checking a Bag Episode II:  Zeke's Top Travel Hacks Episode III:  One Month In Italy The Essay Ten years is a long time. That’s why my wife and I wanted to do...

A brief history of TOM BIHN logo labels over the years. See also: History of Portable Culture

Zeek (you know him from SHEP, the people who make our videos) and his friends went to Mexico City. With their TOM BIHN bags, of course. Here's a video that Zeek made of the trip and, below the video, some of his tips for bringing cameras and shooting stills and video while on vacation. - When I travel, I try to reduce my camera setup to the absolute minimum. For Mexico City, I picked a single prime lens that made it easy to take a few steps back for wider shots and a few steps forward for closeups. It was...

In 1990, after 18 years of designing and making bags at night and on the weekends, Tom opened his first shop in Santa Cruz and founded TOM BIHN. Today there are almost 50 of us working here. To us, it's a number that means a lot. That's a lot of steady growth and hard work over the years. We're proud of our designs. We're proud of using the best materials we can find or have made for us. And we're proud that we're creating careers. You share with us how you use your bags—in the Forums, on Facebook, via Insatgram...

After we debuted our new Cord Zipper Pull options, some of you asked for a written tutorial on how to achieve the Robust Knot seen in our how-to video. Here you go! The Robust Knot is a simple knot that can be customized to the desired length of the loop as well as the pull itself. As seen in the video below, fold the line in half with the bottom facing yourself. Keep in mind that the knot builds downward, so make the loop longer than you will want it when finished. We recommend starting with about 2"-2 1/2", depending...