Are the tote and shop bag dimensions correct/did you change the way you measure?

[sturbridge]

The new small zipped shop bag is listed as 12.8 x 8.1. The Pop Tote is listed as 12.8 x 8.7. Is the new small shop bag really the size of the Pop Tote? The original small shop bag was quite a bit smaller (listed as 10.25 x 6).

In the picture posted on the blog entry, the zipped and non zipped shop bags look to be of a similar size.

fwiw, When I measure my Pop Tote, I got 13.5 or so, which is why I'm asking if you changed the way you measure.

[BWeaves]

I already put this together for myself, so I'll share:

Volume / Width x Height x Depth / Tote
25L …… 17.3” x 12.5” x 11” ……... The Truck
27L …… 15.7” x 15.0” x 10.2” ….… Large Ziptop Shopbag
16.5L … 12.8” x 11.4” x 8.1” ……... Small Ziptop Shopbag
19.5L … 12.8” x 11.8” x 8.7” ……... Pop Tote
15L …… 10.25” x 11” x 6” ………..… Original Small Shopbag
25L …… 12.6” x 13.4” x 7.3” ……... Original Large Shopbag

[twosandalz]

I read yesterday that they don't measure to the very top of the open top bags, because they assume you wouldn't pack it that high on a regular basis since things would fall out. But they did measure to the top with the zip tops because the zipper would hold everything in. If I remember where I read that I'll post a link to it.

[sturbridge]

But they did measure to the top with the zip tops

I'm talking about the width/length measurements, not the height. Above- the new shop bag is 2 inches longer and 2 inches wider. That doesn't seem right.

[Darcy]

Hmm. Part of this is due to the fact that, because the Zip-Top Shop Bags close at the top, you can stuff them even more full of stuff -- which is exactly what we did when we measured them. And because we can completely fill the Zip-Top Shop Bag, it can become semi-rigid — which means if we try to squish it, there’s not much actual squishing that happens. A filled Original Shop Bag, however, is quite squishable because it has an open top — and if you squish it too hard, the stuff that’s in it (in our case, volume measuring balls) may come flying out, but that’s a different issue.

That said, I don’t think that accounts for all of the difference between the sets of dimensions.

We’ll look into this more tomorrow. In the meantime, know that in actual use the Small Zip-Top Shop Bag doesn’t seem much bigger than the Original Small Shop Bag.

Take a look at this photo by the talented @Ilkyway -- it's in this blog post:

Left to right: Large Zip-Top Shop Bag, Large Original Shop Bag, Small Zip-Top Shop Bag, Small Original Shop Bag.

[sturbridge]

I got a personal response after emailing -- the new shop bag IS bigger than the old one. The good news is that for people who were using the shop bag as a liner for the Pop Tote, the new one will be a better fit.

[BWeaves]

I'd love to see a photo of the new shop bags next to a Pop Tote.

[Darcy]

Pop Tote, Zip-Top Small Shop Bag, Original Small Shop Bag:


And just in case anyone is thinking of ordering a ZTSSB to use inside of the Pop Tote, here's a couple of photos of how that looks:

With the zipper dome down...


With the zipper dome pushed up...


Today was a busy day for us at the factory, but we did determine that the posted dimensions for the Original Large and Small Shop Bags are off. I'll do my best to post another update about that next week.

FWIW -- and I'd like to share this just in case there's people out there waiting for this information so they can decide which, if any, of these totes is the right size for them -- the experience of carrying the Small Zip-Top Shop Bag is very similar to that of the Original Small Shop Bag. The SZTSB (say that one out loud three times fast!) seems a little taller because of the zipper dome, but not by a lot.

[Bijouxandbeads]

I already put this together for myself, so I'll share:

Volume / Width x Height x Depth / Tote
25L …… 17.3” x 12.5” x 11” ……... The Truck
25L …… 12.6” x 13.4” x 7.3” ……... Original Large Shopbag

Somebody help me...I just don’t get how these two can both be 25L, when their measurements show one being so much larger...

[G42]

The SZTSB (say that one out loud three times fast!) seems a little taller because of the zipper dome, but not by a lot.

Glad you named the SZTSB and LZTSB... now what is 'The Truck' considering we have Travel Tray as large and small and just 'travel tray'?

TTRK?

[BWeaves]

Thank for the comparison photos, Darcy.

How about just T for the Truck. Or TRUCK, since it's pretty short.

[Cristina]

Somebody help me...I just don’t get how these two can both be 25L, when their measurements show one being so much larger...

Curious about this too. Calculating using math instead of balls (i.e. using the dimensions listed as if they were perfect cuboids which I know they aren't) one should be nearly twice as capacious as the other! (39L vs 20L) Looking forward to updated measurements though I'll preorder anyway as I'm super eager for a zipper.

[Darcy]

We've corrected / updated the dimensions on the website to be the following. We're not sure what caused the inaccuracies with the previous set of dimensions -- maybe those bags were measured back when inches were longer (ha ha... meh.)

Pop Tote Dimensions: 13.4” (w) x 12.2” (h) x 10.2" (d) / 340 (w) x 310 (h) 260 (d) mm
Original Small Shop Bag Dimensions: 12.2" (w) x 10.2" (h) x 9.4" (d) / 310 (w) x 260 (h) x 240 (d) mm
Original Large Shop Bag Dimensions: 13.4" (w) x 12.2" (h) x 13" (d) / 340 (w) x 310 (h) x 330 (d) mm
Small Zip-Top Shop Bag Dimensions: 13" (w) x 10.6" (h) x 9.4" (d) / 330 (w) x 270 (h) x 240 (d) mm
Large Zip-Top Shop Bag Dimensions: 15" (w) x 13.4" (h) x 11.8" (d) / 380 (w) x 340 (h) x 300 (d) mm

We're continually working on methods to ensure our specifications are as accurate as they can be. Stay tuned!

[ThomGault]

We've corrected / updated the dimensions on the website to be the following. We're not sure what caused the inaccuracies with the previous set of dimensions -- maybe those bags were measured back when inches were longer (ha ha... meh.)

Pop Tote Dimensions: 13.4” (w) x 12.2” (h) x 10.2" (d) / 340 (w) x 310 (h) 260 (d) mm
Original Small Shop Bag Dimensions: 12.2" (w) x 10.2" (h) x 9.4" (d) / 310 (w) x 260 (h) x 240 (d) mm
Original Large Shop Bag Dimensions: 13.4" (w) x 12.2" (h) x 13" (d) / 340 (w) x 310 (h) x 330 (d) mm
Small Zip-Top Shop Bag Dimensions: 13" (w) x 10.6" (h) x 9.4" (d) / 330 (w) x 270 (h) x 240 (d) mm
Large Zip-Top Shop Bag Dimensions: 15" (w) x 13.4" (h) x 11.8" (d) / 380 (w) x 340 (h) x 300 (d) mm

We're continually working on methods to ensure our specifications are as accurate as they can be. Stay tuned!

@Darcy, how does each bag's capacity vary with the new measurements? As some of the corners aren't 90 degrees, I'm guessing a simple LxWxH computation won't provide accurate results. Are the dimensions fully settled now, so they can be directly compared to the truck? Thanks!

[Darcy]

@Darcy, how does each bag's capacity vary with the new measurements? As some of the corners aren't 90 degrees, I'm guessing a simple LxWxH computation won't provide accurate results. Are the dimensions fully settled now, so they can be directly compared to the truck? Thanks!

Good question @ThomGault

The dimensions are fully settled and they can be directly compared to The Truck.

We currently calculate volume using the ATSM standard (or a slightly modified method): we fill a bag with 20mm (~0.75”) hard polypropylene balls, then remove the balls and dump them into a graduated measuring cylinder and/or we also weigh them (weighing turns out to be a more accurate method for smaller bags/pockets/compartments). For the three dimensions (LxWxH) we use a big set of calipers. So, two different methods. Remeasuring/fixing the dimensions doesn't change the volume.

We're discussing an update to the ASTM standard that we use (the Luminary 10 and Luminary 14 are currently the only bags we've measured using our variation on the ASTM) as well as potentially even more accurate ways of measuring the dimensions of bags. We're taking our time with / investigating all the various possibilities because we don't want to add more confusion -- our current dimensions and volume measurement methods have worked for many years... except when there's typos.

We're not absolutely sure what caused the inaccuracies in the tote dimensions previously, but the most likely answer is typos when they were being entered in our master specs spreadsheet and/or on the website. We did spot checks of other dimensions and they are accurate, so we're reasonably confident that the stated dimensions for various other bags are indeed accurate. When we can fit it into our schedule, we plan to do a thorough recheck of all listed dimensions.