Official Thread: The Hero's Journey

[katphil]

It's here, it's here! Let the nerding-out begin

[moriond]

@moriond I was getting excited until the last picture with the cache.

When not in a cache the laptop fits fine with no bulge AND can be zipped on to the main backpack?

@tebnewyork,

Yes, when my 13" Retina MacBook Pro is placed in the Top Pack with only it's hard shell, and no cache, I can put it flat into the Top Pack, including in the mode where the Top Pack is zipped to the HsJ, and it can be completely zipped up with no bulge.

In the last picture you're actually seeing the extreme case: I put it into the narrow pocket, with the rest of the Top Pack completely empty (so all parts around it could sag down), and where the unbalanced laptop in cache had the zippered edge on the floor, pressing up against the cache.

You could probably pack the laptop with cache into the large compartment where a slight angling could be tolerated without a bulge, but then this would also depend on what else you were packing there. Remember that according to the Dimensions of the Cache lined on its product page, not only does the exterior extend to 9.3" in width, it also extends to a depth of 1.3", and I've placed the laptop with cache in a compartment that is only about 1.5" depth -- not the main compartment that is 3 times deeper, where you'd have to wonder about how exactly I was inserting the laptop.

Most of the time I carry my 13" rMBP in a vertical cache in my Synapse. When I use a horizontal cache, it's usually on my 13" MacBook Air, and it's one of the older caches with denser foam and a more tightly woven fabric, that I prefer, but with no rails. (On top of that I can use the same cache on my 13" rMBP, and the older caches are a looser fit). So, for the photo sequence above, I actually dug out a current cache with rails designed for the 13" rMBP, and put it on the laptop.

They're not great pictures, because I've been pressed for time and found it hard to set up the shots with a taped in section of measuring tape, while holding the bag open, etc. before having to dash off. (Product debuts often don't match up with the schedule of other activities).
However, hopefully they'll give you enough information to make a decision -- including that last shot.

I haven't done a full pack-up of the HsJ with the laptop in the Top Pack. Remember that if you put heavy items in it (folders and papers along with the laptop) that it will be riding at the top of the bag when you carry everything attached together.

Once again, if I didn't really want to use the HsJ for trail-hiking, and were only doing business air travel, I would opt for another bag.

HTH

moriond

P.S. I note they sold the last Nordic Hero's Journey last night. Even as of yesterday afternoon, there was only 1 left in the inventory.

ETA: Pictures of the outside of the Top Pack of the HsJ with my 13" rMBP in its hard shell the (narrower) front compartment (but with no cache) Note that, as described in my earlier posts, a 13" rMBP in a clear hard shell, but with no surrounding cache, fits into the HsJ Top Pack with no bulges. I'm showing the side that normally gets zipped into the HsJ -- this is the smaller compartment into which I placed the 13" rMBP in a horizontal cache, and stood upright in my earlier picture. It's also the more constraining of the compartments.



I've had to push and tuck the bottom of the bag around the bottom of the laptop -- in order to show the front of the otherwise empty bag completely flat, I'd have to find a hard-cover A4 notebook from my office to exactly fill the rest of the compartment and lie underneath the Retina MacBook Pro. The ripples are not from stress, but from the fact that the laptop does not completely fill this compartment.



Here's the view from the top -- no bulges at all. The earlier pictures of the laptop in its clear, hard shell lying absolutely flat against both sides of both compartments are actually more revealing of the fact that you can fit it into the Top Pack without any strain on the outside fabric, but you can also use these shots to convince yourself.

[tebnewyork]

@moriond I was getting excited until the last picture with the cache.

When not in a cache the laptop fits fine with no bulge AND can be zipped on to the main backpack?

[moriond]

ETA: If you want to devote the smaller compartment entirely to your 13" rMBP, you can fit it with Horizontal Cache into that pocket. That's how close the tolerances are.

The HsJ Top Pack with a 13" rMBP inside a cache loaded into the front compartment. Bag is shown upside down so you can see how the extra height of the cache causes the Halcyon fabric to bulge. But, it is limited to that compartment. And the rest of the bag is empty in this picture. Sorry for the poor quality of the quick and dirty pictures.

moriond

BTW, It's a lot easier to illustrate these points and keep track of compartments with the Nordic HsJ than it would be with the all Black.

[moriond]

Dear TB Crew, Mods or users who own a HJ, would you be kind enough to show pictures of the carry on bag unzipped bag with a DLBP or/and DLBC .

It is quite difficult to figure out the scale.

@Badger is correct, if you had to, you could fold a DLBC or DLBP into the top pocket, which is much larger in volume than you think. These are poor pictures, but I'm really pressed for time. Main point is that, as I said earlier, you can carry a 13" MacBook Air or Retina MacBook Pro inside the Top Pack and have it lie entirely flat without a cache. If you use a cache, and angle it slightly, you can fit it into the Top Pack (on either side: both the flat compartment that crushes into the HsJ when it is zipped up onto the HsJ, or the deeper compartment that extends outwards when attached, and that can be inverted into a backpack). So, yes, if I wanted to put my 13" Retina Macbook Pro in its hard shell into the Top Pack mounted on the HsJ, that totally works. I can even do this if I am willing to angle a cache in, but then you have to be more careful of what else you are packing.


HsJ Top Pack beside DLBC. The height difference is not large, but the Top Pack of the HsJ cannot be taller than 9" if it is to both attach and meet carryon maximum dimensions. It is much deeper. The free side is about 4.75" deep, and the attached compartment is about 1.5" deep.


My 13" Retina MacBook Pro in hard shell sitting entirely flat within the smaller compartment of the Top Pack. (Obvious, because this is the Nordic side, and the compartment is 1.5" deep. The laptop takes up about 1" of the depth).


Another view of the 13" Retina MacBook Pro in hard shell sitting flat with the other side of the smaller compartment of the Top Pack.


My 13" Retina MacBook Pro in hard shell sitting flat in the larger compartment of the Top Pack -- which is still attached to the HsJ. This is a terrible picture because of trying to include a shot of a ruler and take the picture, too, in not the greatest lighting. The ruler is actually showing a bit short at about 4.5" to the bottom of the compartment. It's more like 4.75" and the 13" Retina MacBook Pro takes up 1" of that space.



Viewed from the other side (with Top Pack still attached to HsJ) there is about 3" depth from the bottom of this section to the zipper. 1" is occupied by the 13" rMBP, in its hard shell, and lying flat. The other zipped section is about 1.5"+.

Once again, as long as I place my 13" rMBP into the Top Pack with only the hard shell, I can put it in perfectly flat. And if you are willing to slightly angle your laptop in cache, you can also fit it into the Top Pack with the cache on.

HTH

moriond

ETA: If you want to devote the smaller compartment entirely to your 13" rMBP, you can fit it with Horizontal Cache into that pocket. That's how close the tolerances are.

[Badger]

I was thinking that the HJ, carry on, could be housing a windbreaker or a sweater in the back pocket of the Daylight Backpack.

I don't think that would make too much sense, unfortunately. The top pack is quite wide and deep and rivals the DLBP in terms of overall available volume. It could fit in the main compartment but it is too big for the shingled pockets. If anything I would fold the DLBP in half and put it in the front pocket of the top pack; then again, the top pack also functions as a backpack so it could be redundant to have both.

I'll try to get you a comparison photo soon; maybe one of my colleagues will beat me to it.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[brucep]

it would be awesome if you would make a better waist strap to buy for the Aeronauts

For me, one upside to the HsJ is that you get a better (but bigger) Aeronaut-on-your-back experience; however, the backpacking experience seems too compromised for that trade off.

[tebnewyork]

Those two are pretty light, I usually pack with 2 PCBP and 2 PCSB because It is easy to find stuff and I can't stand accidentally placing my clean clothes on the hotel surfaces.

If you use Aether Packing Cubes, which are very lightweight, you could place either the DLBP or DLBC in the main compartment, holding your MacBook Pro in its Cache.

Dear TB Crew, Mods or users who own a HJ, would you be kind enough to show pictures of the carry on bag unzipped bag with a DLBP or/and DLBC .

It is quite difficult to figure out the scale.


On one trip, I used a SCB as a Packing Cube because of the two bag limit, on a long trip, where I needed to take a small purse.

I was thinking that the HJ, carry on, could be housing a windbreaker or a sweater in the back pocket of the Daylight Backpack.

I love to go marsupial with my TB bags, it just mean I have TB accessories inside my smaller TB bags which I place inside bigger TB bags which one day could go in a Yeoman Duffel when I want to check in, because I am tired at the end of a trip. Or because I don't have time to do my pointillist packing technique because I need to bug out ahead of a flood or something.

Or, it is spontaneous road trip time! Yeah! On this one.

Yeah the HJ doesn't make total sense for me because I would use the top bag and zip off for the plane. If I can't fit either laptop or 12.9" iPad Pro then would be juggling my stuff.

Darcy, it would be awesome if you would make a better waist strap to buy for the Aeronauts, Please consider.

[backpack]

Came close on ordering but needed to figure out what i'd carry on a trip. My use would not be hiking. I saw a spiral notebook being a tight fit for the top pack. For me I'd need the top bag to hold a 13" MacBook Pro or I'd still need to take a DLBP or DLBC with me.

Those two are pretty light, I usually pack with 2 PCBP and 2 PCSB because It is easy to find stuff and I can't stand accidentally placing my clean clothes on the hotel surfaces.

If you use Aether Packing Cubes, which are very lightweight, you could place either the DLBP or DLBC in the main compartment, holding your MacBook Pro in its Cache.

Dear TB Crew, Mods or users who own a HJ, would you be kind enough to show pictures of the carry on bag unzipped bag with a DLBP or/and DLBC .

It is quite difficult to figure out the scale.


On one trip, I used a SCB as a Packing Cube because of the two bag limit, on a long trip, where I needed to take a small purse.

I was thinking that the HJ, carry on, could be housing a windbreaker or a sweater in the back pocket of the Daylight Backpack.

I love to go marsupial with my TB bags, it just mean I have TB accessories inside my smaller TB bags which I place inside bigger TB bags which one day could go in a Yeoman Duffel when I want to check in, because I am tired at the end of a trip. Or because I don't have time to do my pointillist packing technique because I need to bug out ahead of a flood or something.

Or, it is spontaneous road trip time! Yeah! On this one.

[Bijouxandbeads]

More hints about the City Wonderfinder, please.

@backpack, I think you just made up that name and I think it's the BEST bag name! I'd buy it sight unseen just based on the name

[skoobdo]

......I'd also like to see how this handles when you don't fill it up.

Me too. And I'm also wondering if the "flexible brace insert" is flexible enough to be removed and repositioned within the main bag in a circular shape (to reduce the height), and the top pack removed and used as a packing cube inside the main bag and the whole thing cinched down with luggage straps then maybe the whole thing could be classified as one(1) carry-on bag for some international airlines? Just thinking out loud.

[sturbridge]

It's a design in its own right, but just as cool as the Sprout.

I am very very excited about this. I've been holding out for a city-fied small backpack. DLBP being too big for me. As always, I'll volunteer to be a beta tester on such a backpack.

[slbear]

I've had convertible travel packs in the past - a large Eagle Creek bag that I got for a trip to Europe 15+ years ago comes to mind, but I don't think it would be considered a carry-on by today's standards. It was heavy because I packed heavy back then and my trip was early Spring, so I was probably packed for cold weather. I still use the day pack that would zip onto the back of the main pack. I gave up the main pack after only a couple of trips because it was too heavy and beefy.

I have had lots of day and overnight/extended trail backpacks over the years, and two convertible shoulder bag/backpacks, including the A30 I'm currently using.

The HsJ has several advantages over the old Eagle Creek bag. Maybe stating the obvious for many. The top pack zipping to the "top" should be better weight distribution for backpacking. The size will meet US carry-on requirements. The multiple ways to configure the top pack is amazing! It's a great combo travel and trail design.

I was surprised this didn't weigh more - 4 lbs is not a lightweight backpack, but it has the heavy duty zippers and durable fabrics we would expect from Tom Bihn. For those forced to check, they can probably do that with confidence, although I'm sure some will want to put it in a duffel if they are planning to check.

Price - $480 as many have said is tough - the nonstarter for me. The ultralight trail pack that I drool over these days is $325 and weighs 21 oz using Dyneema® Composite Fabric Hybrids (formerly Cuben Fiber Hybrids). There are other good choices in the $200 range that are ~2lbs using Robic. But those are not travel packs - might not be carry-on friendly, and I would not check them unless they were in a sturdy duffel. I would like to do some backpacking outside of my driving range, but don't have any plans to currently, and probably won't take the HsJ unless it landed in my hands for a lot less.

I would go for a smaller lighter version. I really like the HsJ top pack, but it could strap/click into place. I would lighten up the heavy duty zippers, and lose the sleeping bag compartment zipper. Panel loading is probably a given with Tom Bihn, and a great features in travel bags, so I can live with the extra long zipper for that. I would like mesh size pockets and ideally a mesh back pocket. These could be modular (removable) if necessary, but I would consider mine for carry-on only. Maybe the panel flap could be invertable? (is that a word?) Main body could be smaller (maybe 2200 cu in / 36 liters). Ideally these changes would reduce the cost as well.

I applaud anyone jumping in with both feet and heading off to some distant trail (or hut/hostel/hotel) with the Hero's Journey. Looking forward to many beautiful pics.

[Tizi]

Probably not going to be able to justify the HJ due the pretty high cost and the fact I already have 2 A45s and 2 A30s.

[Lani]

Wow. I'm quite impressed with this. It's pretty epic, in fact.

Since I've been working the other way and trying to go lighter/smaller, though, I think I'm going to sit out this one. But great job TB!!!!