
Once I (Adrienne) journey for work, I sometimes carry a Tom Bihn bag, and the clamshell Synik 22 is my favourite. It has a lot of pockets, they usually’re all thoughtfully designed. For instance, the zippered water bottle pocket is situated in the midst of the backpack as a substitute of on the aspect, so it will not tip you off steadiness. The pen pockets are situated in flaps on the aspect reasonably than within the center prime, for handy entry. The outside is made out of Bluesign-certified 400-denier ballistic nylon with top-of-the-line YKK water-repellent zippers. Every bag has a lifetime assure.
As a result of the bag is so small, the pass-through on the again is just 7 inches extensive—too slim to slide over the deal with of a carry-on. And the dense material and plentiful {hardware}—the zippers, O-rings, and buckles—make it a bit of heavy. However within the 22-liter dimension, I did not discover the additional weight. It is the proper, organized convention companion, however it’s on the best finish of what we predict is value spending on a bag.
★ A roll-top Tom Bihn: The Tom Bihn Addax for $294 has develop into certainly one of my go-tos. Roll-top luggage are extra versatile than zippered ones. Don’t have sufficient room? Unroll it and stick your bike helmet in. An excessive amount of? Roll it right down to compress the house. And if you happen to reside in a wet space, roll-tops hold water from seeping by the highest zippers.
Like all Tom Bihn luggage, the pockets are metaphysical perfection, with an enormous laptop computer pocket with two-way entry that additionally has a pill pocket for my Kindle, and entrance pockets with O-rings to hook keys and different sundries. It has an enormous baggage pass-through and hefty padded shoulder straps. It is also hand-sewn within the US from PFC-free materials and has a lifetime guarantee that’s as bombproof because the ballistic nylon material. It’s a great factor, as a result of at this value, you solely wish to purchase it as soon as.