Bixi

I'm a big Tom Bihn fan. After having traveled on business and walked miles with the Bixi, Technonaut 30 and Aeronaut 45, here is my comparison of the three.

The Bixi is a great, single bag for both flying days and office days between flights. I can use the Bixi as both an everyday carry and carry-on luggage. I can fit both a laptop and spare monitor in the laptop compartment. The external water bottle holder works great. There are, however, some limitations. If you stuff the Bixi really full, the short height (17") to volume (32L) ratio makes the bag almost begin to feel like it wants to be a sphere, which makes the bag pull backward on the shoulders. I'm only 5'7", and I have to make the Bixi sit really low on my back (at least it looks quite low) to then use the supplied hip strap. With the Technonaut 30, I could load it like crazy and it was always comfortable without a hip strap, and I think that's due to the extra height (19") on the Technonaut. Therefore, I recommend not loading the Bixi to the hilt. I'd say it's more of a 28L bag that can be stuffed to 32L, with compromises on comfort. In particular, I recommend not overloading the rear-most pocket, as there's just a single layer of fabric, and even keys can make that part of the Bixi look really pokey.

The Technonaut 30, is very comfortable for 6 mile walks, even when stuffed. That said, for office days between flight days, it looks a bit amorphous with only a laptop and accessories. That's why I carry a Daylight…

The Bixi is proving to be an excellent EDC and travel bag for my unusually heavy load of tech gear. The admin pocket is spacious (although, like others, I find things kind of dump down to the bottom if they are loose items), and the main compartment holds my Side Kick and Alpaka Vertex for EDC, plus a camera cube for longer trips (even then, there's room for another couple of smaller pouches for organizing). Most distinctive for this bag is the spacious laptop compartment, which holds my laptop, external monitor, and rare double-zip large clear organizer pouch. :-)

You are already making one of my wishes come true by introducing 420D Spectron. But there are a few things that I think would put this head-and-shoulders above other bags:

1. It screams for a quick access pocket of some kind - perhaps a Paragon-style pocket on the front of the bag? I really miss this pocket when going through TSA or waiting for a shuttle bus or Uber, and it is awkward having to just throw things in the admin pocket and fish them out later.

2. When the bag isn't fully packed out - let's call it "EDC Mode", it can tend to sag. This isn't as much of a problem when packed out for travel, but only when not fully packed. There are two ways other bag makers address this issue on carry-on bags in the 30-40L size: cinch straps of some kind on the side, or a zip-around expansion option - for example, taking it from 26L to 32L. I'd be happy (and willing to pay) for either of these options, but prefer the…

I love the bag. It's very well made, a pleasure to use, perfect for one-bagging. That said, it'd work better in my use case if:

- Lockable zipper pulls on the laptop compartment, similar to the zippers on the main section.

- Without a quick access pocket on top, it would be nice to have 2 water bottle pockets instead of one. The extra pocket is not necessarily for a second water bottle, but more for anything that I need to take out quickly while waiting at the airport.

- Sacrifice a little bit of volume and material to shorten the height and for a lighter weight. Some international airlines only allow 15Lbs for carry-on. At 2.92Lbs, capacity is significantly reduced.

I also have the Osprey 26+6, the Almond Oak 25+5, and the Ula Dragonfly which are somewhat in the same category as the Bixi (price point aside). While the Bixi is much better in built, materials and workmanship, I now hesitate between the four because of the size and weight. A bag this small might benefit from a simpler design, less engineered to be a bit more mobile in my use case.