The Synapse backpack: Q & A

[maverick]

hi jmart,

i tried two lunch boxes - one was 7" x 5.5" x 2" and another was 6.8" x 5.1" x 2.55". both fit into the bottom pocket of the synapse. i don't think you could go much more in the vertical dimension than 5.5" with a 2" height. but this size lunchbot (the green one) will hold a pretty big sandwich and some fruit or vegetables on the side.

i still want to get you a picture... give me until this evening - thanks!

hi jmart,

please see this video demonstrating how you can pack the lunchbots lunchbox inside of the synapse bacpack.

[mrae]

hi mrae,

my synapse is indigo, and the solar dyneema looks great with it! i held up my plum side effect next to the solar dyneema, and that also is a wonderfully pleasing combination. you can do the same with your plum side effect and solar knitting sack.

I would definitely by one with the solar dyneema on the outside. It's the steel on the outside that I'm questioning.

I wonder if the dyneema is one of the temporary ones or if they might make one with a solar exterior at some point.

[timarelay]

I love Steel, it is a gorgeous color, it is a neutral but it has such personality that is not a run of the mill gray, it actually subtly change hue depending on the time of day, weather or not it is sunny or if you are indoors or out.

One of my Brain Bags is Steel, I have a Kit, many pouches in that color and most of my Swifts are Steel and something else.

It is a very conservative but not stuffy color.

I also have Black pouches and a Kit, no offense to the Tom Bihn team but it's just black, just like the seams of most bags.

Get it in Steel, you won't regret it.

Hmm, it does look a bit darker in these pictures.

I think the colors in the Side Effect product page pretty accurately reflect the recent colors. It looks as though Steel shown there is a bit lighter than the Steel on the Synapse page, but I actually think the Steel color is a bit darker in person than it appears on the Side Effect page to me. (I have a Steel Side Effect).

I also pondered the colors (and sent questions to maverick). The plum cordura color used now is slightly different from the plum in in my earlier Ristretto, which had a redder or more magenta cast. It's a bit brighter than the Plum on my original Buzz -- unless that darkened with age!

moriond

Thanks for the feedback! I ended up ordering the Steel. Can't wait!

[marbenais]

After much deliberation -- a whole five minutes after the pre-release-pre-order! -- I ordered one in Plum/Solar and one in Steel/Solar Dyneema. Why two? Poor impulse control, for starters . . . but then I rationalized it all.
I'll use the Plum as an everyday backpack, if I'm not carrying my small army of notebooks & big hardcover books, and when DC isn't requiring an extra sweatshirt in case of sudden chills.
I'm planning to flatten the Dyneema one into the Smart Alec when I travel -- although I'll probably still carry either the Imago or the Swift as my personal item on the airplane.

I can't wait for more pictures! Darcy, do you have any timeframe on when we'll see the Dyneema pictures?

[Darcy]

I can't wait for more pictures! Darcy, do you have any timeframe on when we'll see the Dyneema pictures?

Within the next two weeks or so!

[marbenais]

Within the next two weeks or so!

Yay! I'm so excited. Will that be when we get a weight for it, also?

[bluedawg]

i just noticed that kelly is no longer an option on the synapse... is that right?

[Darcy]

i just noticed that kelly is no longer an option on the synapse... is that right?

That's right. We also removed Crimson. These two pre-order colors have likely sold out, and they won't be made again in the next batch.

[backpack]

Is the next batch likely to include Plum/Steel or Indigo/Steel?

Just asking

[bluedawg]

thanks for clarifying, Darcy... i didn't realize that pre-orders could sell out. i thought it was sort of a "we'll make it if you order it" kind of thing. i are smrat.

i guess my decision just got one color easier!

[Darcy]

Is the next batch likely to include Plum/Steel or Indigo/Steel?

Just asking

I'd like to say we have that planned this far in advance - but we don't. Makes it all the more exciting, doesn't it?

[bluedawg]

i finally made up my mind, and just ordered the navy/solar. now for the waiting!

[maverick]

i finally made up my mind, and just ordered the navy/solar. now for the waiting!

that sounds like a beautiful choice, bluedawg! i'm sure you're going to love it!

[moriond]

Hi bluedawg,

thanks for clarifying, Darcy... i didn't realize that pre-orders could sell out. i thought it was sort of a "we'll make it if you order it" kind of thing. i are smrat.

i guess my decision just got one color easier!

i finally made up my mind, and just ordered the navy/solar. now for the waiting!

If you look in the thread for Aeronaut, you'll see the anxiety over color selection in the pre-order phase. Over a year and a half after the original design thread started there was finally an announcement that the bags would be in production, and we worried that some of the colors would be sold out before they were seen. See, for example, this post from someone who noticed that "Sage" was no longer available as a color, and read the follow-up posts. At the time, they were manufacturing a version of the Aeronaut with the strap placement optimized for smaller frames, and this wasn't put into production until the first batch of regular Aeronauts came out. So some people were panicked that color options might have disappeared before the smaller bags were even put into production.

As it was, I hedged my bets by also putting in an order for a regular sized Aeronaut in crimson, since I figured that they would also quickly sell out of the regular sized Aeronaut colors. (They did). Sage was a lovely grey-green that, like the Indigo of the Tri-Star, was never as impressive in photographs on web pages as it was when viewed in person. You can view this color ins some of the pictures in eristick's posts (scroll down to see more pictures), but as I said, the color balance of web pages doesn't convey how nice this color is.

I'm now automatically trained to get my orders in early! The navy/solar combination sounds like a nice one.

moriond

[kengreen]

Synapse video question

I've watched this video many times: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzl6AnMxP7U

The loving attention to detail is fantastic, and that video alone will likely help Tom Bihn sell a few bags.

My only complaint with the video is that there isn't a shot at the end of everything that was unpacked. It would have offered a nice perspective to see everything that was pulled out in a pile out of the bag. For me personally, I wanted to see the Klean Kateen bottle that was stored in the side pocket. I've watched that part of the video (2:20) again and again, and the angle is bad - it's really hard to tell what size bottle that is.

I have a 27 oz. Klean Kanteen bottle and suspect that it may be too tall for the side pocket of the Synapse - that the bottle in the video must be a smaller size. Can someone please confirm what size bottle that is? Or let me know the height of the side pockets of the Synapse? My 27 oz bottle is 9" tall without a cap, so about 11" tall with sport cap.

I'm pretty confident my bottle would fit in the center pocket of the Synapse (since it claims to swallow liter bottles), but it would be nice to have the option of carrying it in the side pocket as well.

Thanks.