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Tom Bihn Laptop Bag?

Not the laptop bag but I do have one of their messenger bags. Material quality is excellent, and read those same great reviews, but I'm not impressed with build quality. Had it for a little under 2 years and a zipper tab has broken off already and there's something funky going on with the padding in the shoulder strap. There haven't been any loose threads or bad seams and the waterproof YKK zippers do an excellent job of keeping water out.

Also have a Booq laptop bag and a Timbuk2 messenger and prefer both to the Tom Bihn bag though.
 
I have a Zephyr from Tom Bihn plus the inner laptop sleeve. I absolutely love it.
 
I have not owned that specific Tom Bihn bag, but I have 2 other bags that I use regularly from them, and they are all very well constructed/designed and definitely worth the price.
 
RexTraverse said:
Not the laptop bag but I do have one of their messenger bags. Material quality is excellent, and read those same great reviews, but I'm not impressed with build quality. Had it for a little under 2 years and a zipper tab has broken off already and there's something funky going on with the padding in the shoulder strap. There haven't been any loose threads or bad seams and the waterproof YKK zippers do an excellent job of keeping water out.
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RexTraverse -

Darcy from Tom Bihn here.

Your bag has a lifetime guarantee (as all of our bags do) - please email us -darcy at tombihn.com - with your name and/or order number and we will fix your bag at no charge in our Seattle factory.

Unfortunately, about 1 out of 300 cord zipper pulls may pop off, but that is something that we can easily fix - we'll just send you a replacement that you can put back on yourself. We are considering including an extra zipper pull in a little plastic bag with each bag much like you get an extra button or two when you buy a shirt.

As for the shoulder strap padding - I've not heard of issues with padding on any of our four shoulder straps, but it's possible you received a bad one. We can definitely fix that or replace it.

Our Seattle factory crew has over 100 years of combined bag making experience - they were making LL Bean and Eddie Bauer bags back when those bags were made in USA. They are perfectionists at what they do, and will no doubt want to inspect every inch of your bag when we get it back for repair! :)
 
I don't have that bag, but have been using an Empire Builder for over a year. Build quality is excellent, although the little rubber "nubs" did come off the Absolute Shoulder Strap rather quickly. Nice stuff!

John B.
 
johndoe588 said:
I don't have that bag, but have been using an Empire Builder for over a year. Build quality is excellent, although the little rubber "nubs" did come off the Absolute Shoulder Strap rather quickly. Nice stuff!
Click to expand...

The underside of the Absolute Strap changed a couple of years ago - no more "nubs"! Rather, the entire underside is a smooth yet moderately grippy material. Email me your order number and/or name - that is the kind of thing that could very well fall under the Lifetime Guarantee.
 
Good to see Darcy here. Tom Bihn has probably the best customer service I have seen. When I was first looking for a bag they were very helpful in helping me select the Zephyr. I'm glad this thread came up. It's reminded me to look at another bag to carry day to day when I don't have to take my laptop into work.
 
Since we have a Tom Bihn rep here, Darcy maybe you can help me out.

I'm looking for a bag that can accomodate 2 laptops (my MBP and an HP). Something that is approved by the TSA would be great (similar to the one posted in this thread). Otherwise what are my options?

Thanks for the help!
 
CrownSeven said:
I'm looking for a bag that can accomodate 2 laptops (my MBP and an HP). Something that is approved by the TSA would be great (similar to the one posted in this thread). Otherwise what are my options?
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What make/model is your HP?

The Brain Bag backpack is designed specifically to be able to carry two laptops. It has two main compartments of equal size, and each compartment can accept, via secure Annex clips, our Brain Cell hard-sided laptop case, which is what protects your laptop(s) inside of the Brain Bag. I've talked with countless customers who use the Brain Bag to carry two laptops - they choose it because, even with two laptops, it still has room for more stuff, and it's comfortable to carry because of the high density, closed-cell "Zote" foam shoulder straps that have a special knit on the underside (the side that touches the user) that is designed to reduce friction and heat build-up. It also has removable waist and sternum straps.

That said, the Brain Bag is not "checkpoint friendly". And, technically, neither is the Vertical Brain Cell - because while it has no metal parts, it does have two expandable mesh pockets on the front. (The TSA doesn't like laptop bags with exterior pockets because users might put stuff in those pockets, obscuring the view of the laptop.) Various customers have reported that they have sent their laptop in a Vertical Brain Cell through the airport x-ray machine with no problems, but I would not rely on that/guarantee that.

Our Soft Cell sleeve is checkpoint friendly, and while it will fit in the Brain Bag, it won't clip in like the Brain Cell would.

I've talked with a few customers who have wanted to carry two laptops with the Checkpoint Flyer - usually a 15.4" MBP and a small PC laptop or MacBook Air. I've suggested that they put their larger laptop in the Checkpoint Flyer's laptop case, and then put their smaller laptop inside of a Soft Cell and put that into the main compartment of the Checkpoint Flyer. That means, at the security checkpoint, they'll unzip the main compartment of the Checkpoint Flyer, pull the small laptop in the Soft Cell out, and send that through separately, while keeping their larger laptop (the 15.4" MBP in this case) in the Checkpoint Flyer. Not necessarily as quick as sending the Checkpoint Flyer with one laptop through - but it is still a solution that keeps both laptops protected from banging around in those plastic buckets or on the conveyer belt.
 
The HP model is nc6400.

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into the Brain Bag and see if that will work for me. Otheriwse using the Checkpoint flyer for both as you described below would work as well for me.


darcyh said:
What make/model is your HP?

The Brain Bag backpack is designed specifically to be able to carry two laptops. It has two main compartments of equal size, and each compartment can accept, via secure Annex clips, our Brain Cell hard-sided laptop case, which is what protects your laptop(s) inside of the Brain Bag. I've talked with countless customers who use the Brain Bag to carry two laptops - they choose it because, even with two laptops, it still has room for more stuff, and it's comfortable to carry because of the high density, closed-cell "Zote" foam shoulder straps that have a special knit on the underside (the side that touches the user) that is designed to reduce friction and heat build-up. It also has removable waist and sternum straps.

That said, the Brain Bag is not "checkpoint friendly". And, technically, neither is the Vertical Brain Cell - because while it has no metal parts, it does have two expandable mesh pockets on the front. (The TSA doesn't like laptop bags with exterior pockets because users might put stuff in those pockets, obscuring the view of the laptop.) Various customers have reported that they have sent their laptop in a Vertical Brain Cell through the airport x-ray machine with no problems, but I would not rely on that/guarantee that.

Our Soft Cell sleeve is checkpoint friendly, and while it will fit in the Brain Bag, it won't clip in like the Brain Cell would.

I've talked with a few customers who have wanted to carry two laptops with the Checkpoint Flyer - usually a 15.4" MBP and a small PC laptop or MacBook Air. I've suggested that they put their larger laptop in the Checkpoint Flyer's laptop case, and then put their smaller laptop inside of a Soft Cell and put that into the main compartment of the Checkpoint Flyer. That means, at the security checkpoint, they'll unzip the main compartment of the Checkpoint Flyer, pull the small laptop in the Soft Cell out, and send that through separately, while keeping their larger laptop (the 15.4" MBP in this case) in the Checkpoint Flyer. Not necessarily as quick as sending the Checkpoint Flyer with one laptop through - but it is still a solution that keeps both laptops protected from banging around in those plastic buckets or on the conveyer belt.
Click to expand...
 
CrownSeven said:
The HP model is nc6400.

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into the Brain Bag and see if that will work for me. Otheriwse using the Checkpoint flyer for both as you described below would work as well for me.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. Your nc6400 will fit best inside of our Size 4 Horizontal Soft Cell - which will fit inside of the main compartment of the Checkpoint Flyer - woohoo!

Also - I have yet to receive emails from either of the folks who posted in this thread about the problems they experienced with their bags. Please email me if you see this - that's what your lifetime guarantee is for.
 
darcyh said:
The underside of the Absolute Strap changed a couple of years ago - no more "nubs"! Rather, the entire underside is a smooth yet moderately grippy material. Email me your order number and/or name - that is the kind of thing that could very well fall under the Lifetime Guarantee.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I'll write....out of the country now and a little busy. Good to see you here.

I'm amazed how good the Empire Builder still looks. It's seen a lot of miles.

John B.
 
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