The Western Flyer Carry-On: Q&A

[moriond]

One general comment about the pictures on the Western Flyer product page and on the OBOW review page -- neither of these pages shows the back pocket with a laptop (in a Brain Cell). As you might guess, it's easier to take a laptop mounted in a Brain Cell out of a Western Flyer to clear airport security than it is to take one out of a Brain Cell that's packed in an Aeronaut.

Still, I think that for general one-bag traveling, the Aeronaut is great, and there's also a place for a smaller version of the Aeronaut, intermediate between the current Aeronaut and the Western Flyer.

[onebagger]

I'll be posting more pictures with my review - maybe as early as this Saturday night - and some of them will show the Brain Cell. It is easy to remove a laptop: unzip the top of the WF. open the velcro-like closure of the Brain Cell, and pull it out.

[Darcy]

There are a lot of pictures of the Western Flyer in the Rainy Day Magazine First Look Review of the bag. Especially useful are the pictures of the Western Flyer, Aeronaut, Zephyr and Buzz together.

[onebagger]

Rainy Day's pictures are helpful. I have a Aeronaut as well so I'll put up some pix - this weekend I hope - of the WF and Aeronaut side by side. I'll also show it with two sizes of Brain Cell.

[Shamrock]

I'm curious if people feel the WF will be better suited to business travel? I currently use the Aeronaut and it meets my needs quite well, but I'm intrigued by the design of the WF. Will it better fit suit jackets, etc.?

well ~ I've been using the WF now for about 2 months and, in general, LOVE the bag. I can travel for a solid 4 days with it. I use one half of the front (side with zipper divider) and a packing cube for my socks, underwear and t-shirts and my toilet kit in a "KIT", put my book, bose headphones, snake charmer in the other side of the front.

I typically travel in business clothes as I head out early in the morning and have meetings the rest of the day once I get to my destination so I wear a pair of dress slacks, button down and dress shoes. I make sure my shoes coordinate with both sets of slacks ~ plus then I only have to worry about one belt.

I bundle wrap (you can find plenty of links available on line with instructions) everything else. Typically, 3 dress shirts, a polo shirt or two for after hours, another pair of slacks. For the bundle wrapping core, i use a pair of track pants and t-shirt which i use as pajamas.

Initially, i was "very" concerned about how well the wrapping method would transport the clothes, and have been very happy with the results. you do need to be careful when packing and I have found, with practice, it isn't an onerous burden to wrap everything carefully.

I love not dragging something behind me; being able to take the stairs while everyone else goes on-line to take the escalator; the softsided luggage is more user friendly for us late boarders as it can fit between other hard sided luggage already in the over head bins; i've stowed the WF beneath my seat on several occasions after storing the sling strap.

Mods to the bag, that I would make....

1) I would "upgrade" the handle on the bag's end to be just like the one on the top. The current handle is great for getting it out of the overhead, but since it is round and small diameter, it isn't a comfortable option for use over a longer time.

2) I would add a pair of fabric straps which I could use to tie down a jacket. Right now, i loop it through the carrying handle when I have the bag slung over my shoulder, and have had it fall out once or twice. I could solve that by remembering to bring a strap with me, but would prefer to roll my jacket and then secure it to the bag.

3) Personally, I'd prefer to have the standard metal zipper pull attached to the zipper carriage. I enjoy tying decorative knots (ala monkey fists, lanyards, etc) and have added self-tied embellishments to every other bag. I simply loop these through both holes of the metal pull and consequently silence the zipper. [admittedly, a VERY minor nit and one which i don't expect many to agree with]

Love the bag, only minor nits and enjoy the discipline of packing lighter than I have in the past.

[winter]

Question on Brain Cell for Western Flyer

I just bought a Western Flyer in steel, and am very excited to receive it in mid-May. My question is, would a vertical Brain Cell fit with the current configuration of clips in the Western Flyer? I plan on carrying my Flyer vertically with the sling strap most of the time, so I would like to continue using the vertical Brain Cell.....is it possible for vertical clips to be added to the Flyer?

Thanks