TLDR
A twist on our classic Truck tote. It's made with Organic Cotton that's grown in Texas, woven in small mills in North and South Carolina, and finished in North Carolina. And, of course, it's handcrafted right here at our Seattle factory.
Full Description
U.S.A. Organic Cotton
The Texas Organic Cotton Cooperative, through whom we sourced the material, has high standards for environmental impact as well as quality, and it truly shows.
The hand of this cotton is the perfect balance between structured and soft: the Organic Cotton Truck stands up on its own so it's still easy to load, yet has a just-right amount of softness and slouch that makes it soft and comfortable in-hand and against the body.
The three colors that we had custom-produced and dyed (or left undyed) just for us include:
Santa Cruz is a purple with shadows of electric blue. It's inspired by the TOM BIHN logo t-shirts and sweatshirts of the 80's and early 90's, back when the TOM BIHN company was a one-man shop in Santa Cruz, California.
Talus could be described as a pastel black or a dark grey. It reminds us of a perfectly weathered and worn t-shirt.
Natural is truly au naturel: an undyed, warm off-white with flecks of darker and lighter yarns throughout. This color truly lets the character of the cotton shine through. If you choose to go au naturel, realize that you will be embracing the character that could come over time with life, stains, age, and wear. We've been using a sample Truck in Natural for the past eight months at farmer's markets around town: the bottom shows some darker coloration from being set on the asphalt or dirt ground, though the rest of the bag still looks new except for an incident with a beet. We personally embrace this: it shows the bag is used, loved, and is all the better for it.
Cotton canvas was the go-to fabric for bags and backpacks for decades prior to the introduction of nylon fabrics by the military in the early 1940s. Though synthetics fabrics are definitely longer lived materials (sometimes to the detriment of the environment), cotton has a certain aesthetic charm unmatched by synthetic materials.
Expect the wear, age and lifespan of cotton to be different than that of ballistic nylon. Of course, by no means is a TOM BIHN tote bag made of cotton a single-use, disposable product: you can still expect years and years of use from it, though perhaps not decades.
Stands Up & Easy To Load
The Organic Cotton Truck features a large, squarish center space that’s perfect for gallon jugs of water or milk. Open-top pockets are situated front and back—for your shopping list, of course, but they'd easily hold a book or an iPad. We made the pockets big enough to accommodate folded brown paper grocery bags, too, which are handy to have if you need the overflow capacity. The side compartments are huge and can handle quarts/liters of milk or a pair of running shoes.
A plastic stiffener in the center compartment adds stability to the load; you can fold the bag loosely around the hard bottom when necessary.
Comfortable Padded Handles
Like our other carryall tote bags, the Truck has über-comfortable Poron® padded handles.
Moon Label
The Moon label revisitation of a label Tom used briefly back in the mid-1990s.
Two Exterior Pockets
Open-top pockets are situated front and back—for your shopping list, of course, but they'd easily hold a book or an iPad.
The Texas Organic Cotton Cooperative, through whom we sourced the material, has high standards for environmental impact as well as quality, and it truly shows.
The hand of this cotton is the perfect balance between structured and soft: the Organic Cotton Truck stands up on its own so it's still easy to load, yet has a just-right amount of softness and slouch that makes it soft and comfortable in-hand and against the body.
The three colors that we had custom-produced and dyed (or left undyed) just for us include:
Santa Cruz is a purple with shadows of electric blue. It's inspired by the TOM BIHN logo t-shirts and sweatshirts of the 80's and early 90's, back when the TOM BIHN company was a one-man shop in Santa Cruz, California.
Talus could be described as a pastel black or a dark grey. It reminds us of a perfectly weathered and worn t-shirt.
Natural is truly au naturel: an undyed, warm off-white with flecks of darker and lighter yarns throughout. This color truly lets the character of the cotton shine through. If you choose to go au naturel, realize that you will be embracing the character that could come over time with life, stains, age, and wear. We've been using a sample Truck in Natural for the past eight months at farmer's markets around town: the bottom shows some darker coloration from being set on the asphalt or dirt ground, though the rest of the bag still looks new except for an incident with a beet. We personally embrace this: it shows the bag is used, loved, and is all the better for it.
Cotton canvas was the go-to fabric for bags and backpacks for decades prior to the introduction of nylon fabrics by the military in the early 1940s. Though synthetics fabrics are definitely longer lived materials (sometimes to the detriment of the environment), cotton has a certain aesthetic charm unmatched by synthetic materials.
Expect the wear, age and lifespan of cotton to be different than that of ballistic nylon. Of course, by no means is a TOM BIHN tote bag made of cotton a single-use, disposable product: you can still expect years and years of use from it, though perhaps not decades.
The Organic Cotton Truck features a large, squarish center space that’s perfect for gallon jugs of water or milk. Open-top pockets are situated front and back—for your shopping list, of course, but they'd easily hold a book or an iPad. We made the pockets big enough to accommodate folded brown paper grocery bags, too, which are handy to have if you need the overflow capacity. The side compartments are huge and can handle quarts/liters of milk or a pair of running shoes.
A plastic stiffener in the center compartment adds stability to the load; you can fold the bag loosely around the hard bottom when necessary.
Like our other carryall tote bags, the Truck has über-comfortable Poron® padded handles.
The Moon label revisitation of a label Tom used briefly back in the mid-1990s.
Open-top pockets are situated front and back—for your shopping list, of course, but they'd easily hold a book or an iPad.
Still Have Questions?
- emailus@tombihn.com
- Call 1-800-729-9607
- Ask in our Forums
Materials
Exterior
12oz Organic Cotton
Handles
PORON® foam handles
Components
Duraflex®, Nexus, and Woojin components
Specs
Dimensions
17.3" (w) x 12.5" (h) x 11.0" (d) / 440 (w) x 320 (h) x 280 (d) mm
Weight
17.1 oz / 485 grams
Volume
25 liters / 1525 cu. in.
Handle Length
22" / 560 mm
Total O-Rings
5 (3 in the main compartment, 1 each in front and back pockets)
- Mary H.Verified BuyerBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, High Quality Craftsmanship, Unique, Versatile, Durable4 days agoBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, High Quality Craftsmanship, Unique, Versatile, DurableRated 5 out of 5 starsMore colors like this one, please!
A photo can't do the color of this bag justice. It's also endlessly useful—just a freaking goldilocks bag. It has enough room to be the bag I carry when I'm out with my 2-year-old for the day or going to the market, but it's not so bulky that it can't function as a regular bag. It has enough organization to keep the payload sane, but not so much that it interferes with using the thing. I would actually just use this for my EDC if it wasn't for the plastic stiffener.
Back to the color! Does anyone else get envious seeing old colorways in the product photos? Holy moly, I'd go broke on Bihn bags if they all had some options this aesthetically pleasing. What also helps is that, unlike the nylon Trucks, the cotton ones don't have black trim dragging them down. I have a Monster Truck that makes me happy, but it definitely looks like it sprang fully-formed from a car trunk. I was holding back on getting another for my gardening stuff because I just really wanted something that was nice to look at, but then you brought the raspberry colorway into my life, which is pretty enough to overcome the black trim, so that's definitely going to happen.
Anyway, if you're thinking about getting this bag, you want it. Trust me. Don't wait for the color to disappear on you.
Was this helpful? - Maryann W.Verified BuyerBought For Myself1 month agoBought For MyselfRated 5 out of 5 starsThis bag is beautiful.
Both the color and the texture of this bag are just lovely. I use it for my gym bag and it’s perfect. I find that packing this special bag makes going to the gym more fun, somehow.
Was this helpful? - JudyVerified BuyerBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Good Storage Size, High Quality Craftsmanship, Sewn in USA1 month agoBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Good Storage Size, High Quality Craftsmanship, Sewn in USARated 5 out of 5 starsGorgeous color and the perfect size
The color is what grabbed me first (I got the Santa Cruz, which is a gorgeous vibrant blurple) but I kept telling myself I didn't need another tote bag. Turns out I did. I'm using it in the car to hold odds and ends like gloves, extra reusable water bottles, first aid kit, extra jacket (just in case), etc. I had an extremely large bag that I was using but it was too big and kept getting in the way in my trunk This size is perfect to fit behind the passenger seat where I can reach it if I need to. Plus (yes, I'm saying it again), the color is gorgeous!
Was this helpful? - Grace C.Verified BuyerBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, High Quality Craftsmanship, Durable2 months agoBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, High Quality Craftsmanship, DurableRated 5 out of 5 starsGreat for weekend car trips
Great bag for everyday/weekend trip carries. The canvas color is so classic-looking! I use it to carry books, clothes, makeup etc to and from my boyfriend’s for little weekend trips. The only thing I’d like is one zippered section—but for now, I make do by clipping a cubelet to the inside key leash.
Was this helpful? - Matthew W.Verified BuyerBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, Great Gift, Good Storage Size, High Quality Craftsmanship3 months agoBought For MyselfProduct Standouts Thoughtful Design, Comfortable, Great Gift, Good Storage Size, High Quality CraftsmanshipRated 5 out of 5 starsPerfect Toss and Go Bag
I use this when I want to run to the coffee shop. It’s perfect for tossing a book in and a water bottle. You can fit a lot more in here if you say use it at the grocery store. Love it — might get a second or even a third!
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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.