One bag to rule them all.

[LSJ]

We all have our favorite bags suited for different occasions and situations. BUT, if you could only choose one bag for all purposes i.e work, leisure, days out, weekends away etc, which bag would you choose?
I thought about this because i have abit of a bag fetish, when it may be possible that one bag could be used for all situations.
So if you could only have one bag, what would it be?

[ozone]

My "main bag" - the one I use everyday for work and the one I always end up turning to if I'm not sure - is my TB Brain Bag. It's in black, so it's not too out of place for business/semi-business settings, and it's good for any amount of weight for an extended distance. Travel for longer than 2 days usually means the Brain Bag plus my Aeronaut.

But if I really wanted a bag for any and every occasion, Tom Bihn doesn't quite make one yet. I can see my new ID becoming a favourite, but what would be great would be the equivalent of this:

http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=8&id=217

I have an LLBean one that is similar: vertical shoulder bag style, shoulder strap, top grab handle, hideaway backpack shoulder straps. The things I would want the TB touches are: the expandable water bottle pocket; a more robust carrying handle, "fatter" dimensions (6" to 7") for bulky items like a largish camera (forget the expandable zipper idea - just makes it look weird). In fact, compression straps to keep a larger bag tight would be a far sight more useful than an expansion zipper.

Yeah... I have a bag fetish too...

Go Tom! (I'm wishing... )

[LSJ]

Ive had my eye on the ID bag for some time as a one bag for all things.
(clutching my credit card, sweating, heart rate 130 bpm, no more bags, no more bags........)

[ozone]

I'll get a chance to use the ID more in the next couple of weeks. I'll let you know how it works out for me.

No more bags? What? Are you crazy? I drive my wife bonkers alternating between debating computers, cameras, and bags. And the crazy thing is that some bag makers make bag specifically for all three! Ha!

[aiethabell]

The Perfect Bag. You wanna know about the Perfect Bag???????

So do I.

I've been looking for one since oh, about 1967 (no, not when I was born, the year a United agent told me I couldn't possibly have packed everything for a month in my little Samsonite). It was a small hardshell Samsonite (think 24"x16"x8" - in the days of gloved stewardess service and full meals, nobody else was using that size bag unless they worked for the airlines). First bag off any plane I was on, even in Europe. It finally died. Got a flight attendant's hardshell 3-lock American Tourister. Used it for years. It might have fit in the Aeronaut. Then got an Eagle Creek Solo Journey. Loved that bag. I agreed with Doug Dyment on that part. But it was a victim of EC bloat and went away. I whined nonstop when it was no longer made. Boo. Best back support of any backpack-strap bag I ever tried, and even made a few real hikes with it. Great hip belt.

Then it was my Le Sportsac phase, my Eagle Creek Latitudes phase (and I found out I hated wheels!), and finally my duffel and who cares a *** what my bag looks like phase. LL Bean, a few unnamed ones, one from... you get the idea. Now it's an Air Boss from Red Oxx, and it's a nice bag, BUT..... I'm still searching out the perfect bag for me. I have a closet full of the rejects, maybe even a storage locker full of them, and I'm still looking and spending!

Tried the Aeronaut (actually had the gumption to haul my Air Boss and my Gator to Tom Bihn and slap things around to see if the Aeronaut/Swift was better for me. Naw. I sure had hoped it was, I miss the pack straps). Bought the Swift. Bought lots of packing cubes and pouches and other stuff, but I'm still looking for the perfect bag.

My family even has to hold me back when I go visit the sunny Southwest and I see all those estate sales and church rummage sales full of retirees' gear, many of whom cruise in their golden years. I salivate at the thought of rummaging through older/newer luggage in the fruitless search for 'the Perfect Bag.'

If you find it, please let me know. Then I can stop spending money on bags and have enough left over to hoist my overweight self onto a Virgin Galactic flight.

[BJ Nemeth]

I have two different answers, depending on how I interpret the question.

1) The most perfect bag I own is the Aeronaut. I wouldn't change a thing on it, and it is a huge improvement over all the other luggage I've ever owned. Thanks to an assist from Darcy (who put it on hold), I bought one of the last few in the perfect color (for me): Forest Green.

2) If I had to get rid of ALL my bags but one, I'd have to keep the Brain Bag. (The Aeronaut is geared towards travel, and not daily use.) It's the most versatile bag in my lineup, able to swallow a lot of things, and it can also shrink down to a thin size when it's nearly empty (thanks to the straps).

[ozone]

Yes, I'd have to second BJ's reply. The Brain Bag is overall the most useful to me of the current TB bags. Even with the ID bag, the Brain Bag can just hold stuff well, and a lot of stuff at that.

I really bought the ID bag to help me with hauling photography equipment around. Hopefully it works out!

[LSJ]

For a rucksack the Brain bag is probably up there with the c-ruck.
As a shoulder bag / ruck design, the Aeronaught looks like the winner and its waterproof, definately a bag to own and could be used for all situations, maybe on the big side for a day bag, similar to the Beanos ( a friend has a Beano and uses it for everything) and similar size to the Aeronaught but without shoulder straps, so the Aeronaught would probably be my choice, it looks like a very nice, well designed bag for all occasions.

[mrae]

I'm not sure I want to find a perfect bag and give up my bag addiction. But I haven't found one yet. For any travel, however brief, I love my Aeronaut. But the Brain Bag is much too big for me. I have yet to find a good, all purpose bag. I'm hoping the Synapse will be that bag.

[ozone]

Hmmm... interesting that you think the Brain Bag is "too big" compared to the Aeronaut. I'd think my Brain Bag is more useful for everyday use: my Aeronaut is strictly for travel.

[pretzelb]

I'll get a chance to use the ID more in the next couple of weeks. I'll let you know how it works out for me.

No more bags? What? Are you crazy? I drive my wife bonkers alternating between debating computers, cameras, and bags. And the crazy thing is that some bag makers make bag specifically for all three! Ha!

That's just scary because I do the same thing. I find my fetish for bags kicks in around the first few months of the year, then computers in around the middle, then cameras jump in again around 3/4 through the year. I throw in music or home theater in there at times too.

[pretzelb]

I see quite a few votes for the BB. I'm struggling with how my stuff fits in the Smart Alec (in a different post) and debating if the BB would be better. Seems like the BB is very popular.

[ozone]

That's just scary because I do the same thing. I find my fetish for bags kicks in around the first few months of the year, then computers in around the middle, then cameras jump in again around 3/4 through the year. I throw in music or home theater in there at times too.

That is too funny! I rotate through as well, and it often all comes to a head prior to a significant away trip. Laptop - camera - bag... what's best? And then comes the inevitable, "Well, I'm not making that mistake again - what's the smallest laptop I can bring?" But this affects the bag. And so it goes. Drives my wife nuts.

About the Brain Bag question... if the Smart Alec is too small, I'd say yes, the BB is the logical move up. Although it's not as long as some other backpacks, it holds a lot of stuff - too much sometimes as I belatedly realize picking it up. This morning, it carried a 17" PB, a 12" tablet, a 1/2" file folder, lunch (in a ceramic bowl), water bottle, small notepad. In addition, it has assorted pens, business cards, gum, in all the pockets.

[timothy]

I own "only" two Bihn bags (so far): a Brain Bag and a Super Ego (and a Brain Cell, if you'd like to count that as its own bag, so perhaps three). For me -- me! -- the Super Ego has one notch up on the Brain Bag, in that as a messenger-style bag, it's easier to get something from inside it as you're carrying it. And, what is really another aspect of the same thing, you can (if appropriate) swing the bag around to your front side without even breaking stride, as you might want to to navigate through a crowd teeming with potential pickpockets, or down an airplane's aisle, or to grab a drink or a camera. The Brain Bag can hold slightly more, which is truly a plus in many circumstances, but right up unti I lost it (now recovered!) on the last day of my trip to Portland and Seattle, I chose the Super Ego (with the Brain Bag available) as my every-day, around-town bag. YMMV, but that's mine.

timothy

[LSJ]

On closer inspection of the super ego, this might be the bag i am looking for, Looks like a good all rounder and would work well with the absolute shoulder strap.