I want to tell you about my favorite bag. I've been meaning to do this for a long time.
Some Background
I travel. For the past nine years or so, my commute has never been less than 2,500 miles. I take quick trips and long trips. I sometimes have to pack tons of crap; I sometimes get to travel light. I drive (the Viggen is about to hit 100,000 miles); I fly (130,000 miles in 2005); I ride trains and buses and cabs and bikes and even boats; and I walk. Over the course of the last decade, I have pretty much always had a laptop with me (the last eight agonizing weeks, a painful exception). Travel like this will give you something of a luggage fetish, as the bags you pack are one of the make-or-break factors of travel happiness.
Near the start of my odyssey a Netscape co-worker and friend, Paul Chen, introduced to me to a messenger bag. It was a very well crafted bag made by a local (Santa Cruz) guy named Tom Bihn. On my next visit to Santa Cruz, I stopped by Tom's shop to look at his wares. Tom turned out to be an easy-going and jovial man in an Akubra hat (that he had re-shaped to fit his personality) who makes damn good bags. My mother is a seamstress, sewing teacher, and accessory designer. She raised us with these skills, and raised us to have these skills. Now that my kids are too old for hand-made Halloween costumes, the main consequence of this history is an annoying Perfect Pitch with respect to objects made by stitching things together. I can barely make myself look straight on at most clothing because it's such obvious crap. Similarly backpacks, messenger bags, etc., etc. Unlike just about every other bag I'd ever seen, Tom's stuff was better than what I could have made for myself. That day I think I bought a messenger bag, a waist pack, and a duffel bag. When I mentioned I would probably stop for food before heading back over the hill to San Jose, Tom not only directed me to his favorite breakfast spot, but called them up to make sure they'd stay open for me.
I don't remember how long ago that was (8 years maybe? More?), and a lot has changed since then. I've moved to Ann Arbor. Tom moved his business to Seattle. I've changed jobs. Tom Bihn's product line has matured and focused: that waist pack and duffel bag are no longer available; it's three generations of messenger bags later; the attachments for inner bags has evolved from snaps to clips (more about this below). The fundamentals, though, have remained the same: Tom Bihn still makes the best bags money can buy; and he and the people who work for him still treat you like a friend and neighbor.
These bags sell themselves. Just as when Paul Chen showed me that first bag, I happily relate the qualities of whichever bag I'm carrying at the moment to all who ask. As a consequence, many of my friends are now Tom Bihn devotees, and their friends, and their friends friends. I'm not evaluating these bags in a vacuum, either. I have Timbuk2s and Crumplers and Eagle Creeks and Pelicans and Axios. All fine bags. All at the high end of the quality spectrum. All sitting at home because the Tom Bihn bags are just better.
The core of Tom's product line, at least as I see it, is a collection of `outer' bags from which you select according to how you like to carry things e.g., backpack, messenger bag, briefcase; potentially paired with an `inner' bag that matches your computer. The inner bags work with anybody's outer bag (or can be carried alone), but securely clip into Tom's. Upside: you don't need a whole new collection of luggage when you change to a computer of a vastly different size, and you can carry your computer safely in whichever thing fits your schedule that day. On an overnight trip, I take the Super Ego (a big messenger bag). On a four day trip, I take the Brain Bag (a backpack). My Brain Cell (the inner bag) clips securely into either one. The specific combination I want to review is the Super Ego + Brain Cell.
The Brain Cell
The Brain Cell is the inner fortress that protects your laptop, and comprises three layers of defense. At the innermost, your laptop hangs, suspended in an 8mm-thick hammock of soft foam padding. A significant gap prevents your computer from `touching bottom'. This sling hangs from a 4mm-thick strong-as-hell corrugated plastic insert (totally hidden) that provides both structure and protection for the front, back, and bottom. The sides are then protected by a sewn in, dense, cross-linked, closed-cell, polyethylene foam. Finally, the outer layer is 500 denier Cordura. Hopefully Tom will forgive me for linking to his images. Here's his cut-away view:
The Brain Cell closes with Velcro (OK, it's actually Aplix, which is better than Velcro, but if I don't say Velcro you won't know what I mean), so no zipper or other hardware to scratch your baby. The flaps are wide, padded, and feel very secure when fastened, leaving your laptop protected on all 6 sides. The whole front is a flat but stretchy pocket big enough for your power adapter and a peripheral or two. You can carry the Brain Cell alone by its webbing loop handles, or attach a shoulder strap (sold separately) to the D-rings (six rows of stitching on the attachment points!). It comes in eight sizes, currently, to fit your laptop whether you're toting around the smallest Vaio or the largest AlienWare. The smallest size weighs in around 12 ounces; the largest, a bit over a pound. A minimalist could reasonably stop here and have the perfect laptop bag. The Brain Cell is available in five colors at the moment. Here are two of mine in Crimson, the larger for the AlienWare, the smaller for the 12 inch iBook:
If you're going to spend a significant chunk of change on a laptop, you owe it to yourself to protect your investment, and the Brain Cell is the best laptop protection you can carry around with you. If you're going to ship a computer, or if you want to tow it behind your canoe, spring for a Pelican case with custom foam. If you are going to carry your laptop around, the Brain Cell is the bag that will baby it for you. The Brain Cell costs US$50 and it will be the smartest $50 you ever spent.
The Super Ego
For those of you, like me, who have more to carry around than just a laptop---you'll want to put that Brain Cell into something. For the more corporate among you, it might be something formal like the Empire Builder. For me, though, it's the monster messenger bag: the Super Ego. Here's Tom's picture:
I'm not sure I can do this bag justice, but if I start with the features, maybe the adjectives will come of their own volition. This is a cavernous bag that can easily swallow more than you would actually want to lift. The main compartment has clips to hold a Brain Cell, of course, and is accessed through a Uretek splash-proof zipper across the top of the bag. No flaps, buckles, or straps come between you and the central storage area. Just unzip, and you're in. This is the meat and potatoes feature of a messenger bag. This main compartment has no dividers or pockets. It's all open space. Without a computer, I can fit about three days worth of clothes there (and my clothes are big). With the giant AlienWare and Brain Cell in place I can fit the better part of two days worth of clothes (translation: not including pants), and (with one of those squeeze-the-air-out plastic packing bags) my winter coat.
The flap covers a smaller, though still spacious, front pocket, whose back wall has dimensional slots for hand-held size things (2) and pens, pointers or other like sized objects (3), plus one sometimes-handy smaller flat pocket that happens to nicely fit a thumb drive or Leatherman. A pair of small D-rings attached to the back wall just under the flap, one at each end of the big pocket, provide a handy place to clip keys or other sundries on supplied webbing clip-straps. This front flap is held down by a single central buckle. The buckle and vertical strap attaching it to the flap are replaceable. You can choose strap color and fabric, traditional buckle or seat-belt style buckle, and change to fit your mood (though swapping out is a little bit of work: the strap is held to the flap with Aplix and a webbing ladder). The seat-belt buckle is a nice touch, though a little heavy. I'm currently using the standard buckle and reflective-tape strap.
Underneath the flap, on the front of the bag (i.e., outside the big front pocket), there are, symmetrically arranged, six more pockets. Working from the center towards the edges, they are: a pair of simple slanted open pockets, not unlike the front pockets on a pair of pants; behind those, somewhat more spacious pockets that close with vertical splash-proof zippers, and finally narrow stretch-mesh slots with deep slash openings, perhaps appropriate for a cell phone. Because the buckle is at the center, these pockets are all accessible just by lifting a corner of the front flap. Since these slash pockets don't zip, snap, or velcro closed, I only put my phone there when I'm on foot. On a bike or other angularly-less-predictable mode of transportation, the phone goes deeper under the flap. Each of those vertical zip pockets is large enough to hold at once: an Airport Express, the power brick for my Mac, a few international adapters, and 10 meters of Cat-6. When fully stuffed, though, don't expect to get much in the matching outside slot pocket that forms its front wall.
Other things you can reach on the outside of the bag: water-bottle pockets at each end of the bag and a large flat magazine/newspaper pocket on the back (the kind of magazines you read, not the kind you load). I've used the water bottle pockets to hold water bottles, of course, but also (one at a time) sunglasses in their case, a travel umbrella, quick access to a camera, iPod in a case, a small towel (rolled), or just as a place to put my hand.
You can carry the bag like a briefcase by the nicely padded single central handle, or you can sling it over your shoulder with the attached (though removable) nicely padded shoulder strap. There's also a supplied waist strap if you want to wear it messenger-style. The bag has structure and balance so it carries well and looks good empty or full.
I've been using the Super Ego for close to a year now. I've used it to carry a 12 inch iBook. I've used it to carry a ridiculously oversized AlienWare Area 51m. I've used it as a simple overnight bag with no laptop. I've used it as a pillow. I've used it around town. I've used it around the world. I've used it as my only bag (often) and as my carry-on when forced to take more luggage than I would otherwise have liked. The only thing I might change is maybe to add a snap to the narrow slash-cut stretch mesh pockets so I always felt it was a good place for my phone. I didn't just get this bag and write a review because it's pretty. I've lived out of this bag and I wanted to tell you how great it was even after enough time for the `bloom to be off the rose'---and though sufficient time has passed, the bloom just doesn't seem to fade.
The Super Ego is US$140, and no, that doesn't include a Brain Cell. I know that sounds like a lot compared to the bag you're using now (and it is), but this is a lot of bag compared to the bag you're using now. I have more to say about this below.
Summary
Quality: These bags are second to none. I've dragged mine all over the world and they still look, feel, and perform like brand new. They're made from the best materials, and the craftsmanship is just that: craftsmanship. In comparison, other bags are merely assembled.
Functionality: a good division of labor---the Brain Cell is designed to protect, the Super Ego to organize and transport. I have never seen any more trust-worthy soft-sided protection than the former, nor a smarter messenger bag than the latter. And the combination of the two is without equal. The Super-Ego is a great messenger bag around town, but excels at travel as well, with your laptop or without. It is airline carry-on size, even if you over stuff.
Customer Service: Everything comes with a guarantee. After seven years of dragging my Brain Bag (backpack) around, a little bit of stitching started to come out on the interfacing inside a pocket near a zipper. There are two rows of stitching there, so this wasn't a structural problem at that point. It was more complicated than I wanted to fix myself, and at seven years old, but still otherwise perfect condition, I didn't mind paying a little to have it fixed. Not only did Tom Bihn not charge me for the fix (your mileage may vary), but when the bag came back, I almost couldn't tell whether it was a new bag or not (they'd disassembled some of the stitching to put in an updated tag, then re-stitched like new). In the days when my Brain Bag was made, the Brain Cell snapped in with four snaps. Now a pair of clips and webbing loops do the job. When I ordered a new Brain Cell for my 12 inch iBook last year, they re-added the snaps for free, so it snaps into my old Brain Bag and clips into my new Super Ego. When you have questions, they have time for you on the phone. They have an online forum where Tom and Darcy actually post and actually read what you post. The only other company with customer service this good is Anthro (they make technology furniture).
Price: Yes, it's more than you thought you were going to spend before you knew you could buy bags this good. I hate to spout clichés, but sometimes they're true: you get what you pay for. At US$50 for the Brain Cell, plus US$140 for the Super Ego, plus shipping, you'll be spending almost $200. In my humble opinion, this is a bargain price for the value delivered. These bags are so good you will want to tell your friends about them. That's why I took the time to write this review. Beware, though, once you become accustomed to Tom Bihn quality, you'll never be satisfied by an ordinary bag again (or as you'll learn to think of ordinary bags: "cheap pieces of crap").
Alternatives: As I previously mentioned, if you're shipping your machine or need Joe-vs-the-Volcano floating storage: spring for the Pelican cases. If you need wheeled luggage, Tom Bihn currently isn't for you. If your style means leather and bling, ditto. The Super Ego is a big bag. Maybe bigger than you need. If you want something smaller, perhaps the ID is for you. A less expensive one-piece solution for a 12 inch computer is the Buzz sling bag. Or just carry around the Brain Cell by itself. Or use the Monolith or Miter in your existing backpack for a vertical carry.
Conclusion: I have found my perfect bag; it could be perfect for you, too.
Postscript
Over the years, I've bought for myself and my family: at least two pre-ID messenger bags, the DewDrop waist pack (sorry, no longer available, and I use mine all the time), his largest duffel bag (another thing I'm sorry to say he no longer makes), the Eclipse, a Brain Bag, a kid-sized back pack he no longer makes, the Buzz, a large Café Computer Bag, a Miter, four Brain Cells of various sizes, a bunch of accessories like the Snake Charmer, a wallet, and these cool battery pockets he used to make ... and of course the Super Ego. Tom Bihn bags last forever, so when you change computers, you can end up with left-overs. I have a Crimson Brain Cell for the 12 inch iBook, and no iBook anymore. I also have a matching Miter for the same machine. Both good as new. Both looking for a home.
