ORDERING THE PCSB, shoulder strap confusion

[anna2222]

Hi All!

I am planning my order for the PCSB this coming Tues and was confused on the shoulder strap choices.

Here is a screen shot of the choices:




Then, looking up the 1" shoulder strap separately, I find this:



So my questions are:

1. What is the simple shoulder strap? it is $18 vs $6 or $3 for the 1", what does it look like? Is it better than the 1"? I can't find a pic of the "simple shoulder strap" anywhere on the website.

2. Why the price diff of $3 between buying the 1" shoulder strap alone vs with the PCSB? It is twice the price if you buy it with the PCSB, which makes me wonder, is it different or a better version for the $6?

Thanks for any help on this!

[1bgNWB]

Interested in this answer also. Thanks. Is it the same shoulder strap that comes w the sidekick? Just bought the sidekick but have had the original PCSB and when I’d travel I would use the absolute strap (my main bag, the tristar at the time, would stay at the hotel)

[G42]

I just shot an email off to TB so that they can clarify when they're back tomorrow...

It looks (to me) like the stand alone product page showing it as $3 is probably wrong - they're the same item photo.

FWIW, I've purchased several 1" straps off of the PCSB bag and they were all $6... the 5/8" strap (on the main shoulder strap options page) is showing as $3.

[aedifica]

Oh, how strange! @anna2222, if you search on the website for "Shoulder" the first result is "Shoulder Straps," and on that page there's a dropdown where you can select the Simple Shoulder Strap (which is an inch and a half wide, and has a plastic pad on it) or the 1" Shoulder Strap, among others. Here comes the strangest part: the 1" Shoulder Strap on that page is $6, like you saw on the PCSB page... but there's a separate page for the 1" Shoulder Strap that lists the price as $3. I would guess the second 1" Shoulder Strap listing is an error, but I don't know for certain.

Now that I've looked at the general Shoulder Straps page, I'm also puzzled why the Standard Shoulder Strap costs $3 less than the Simple Shoulder Strap, when it looks like it would require more time and effort to make the Standard strap.

Here's the photo of the Simple Shoulder Strap on the website:

[anna2222]

Here's the photo of the Simple Shoulder Strap on the website:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]22142[/ATTACH]

Oh, so the simple shoulder strap is the one that comes with the co-pilot and the 1" looks like it is the old version strap that used to come with the SK,that helps, thanks!

Anybody have opinions on which one would be better for the PCSB if used as an EDC?

[1bgNWB]

If the entire cube is still made of Halcyon inside, I would not recommend using this as an EDC. The material is not durable. Mine is developing frays and tiny holes just with using it while on vacatio. If the new ones are made with ballistic nylon, on the inside, similar to side affect, that will be much better.

[Cristina]

If the entire cube is still made of Halcyon inside, I would not recommend using this as an EDC. The material is not durable. Mine is developing frays and tiny holes just with using it while on vacatio. If the new ones are made with ballistic nylon, on the inside, similar to side affect, that will be much better.

I would definitely email pics of that to customer service ([email protected]). That has not been my experience with Halcyon, particularly fraying. I have made holes in Halcyon before but that was from a very small and pointy knitting needle.

[aedifica]

Oh, so the simple shoulder strap is the one that comes with the co-pilot and the 1" looks like it is the old version strap that used to come with the SK,that helps, thanks!

Anybody have opinions on which one would be better for the PCSB if used as an EDC?

Actually the Standard strap is the one that comes with the Co-Pilot, not the Simple strap. The Simple strap comes with the Daylight Briefcase, if you have one of those. (All these S names make it confusing!)

How much do you plan to put in the PCSB/how heavy do you think it will be? If it just has some light stuff in it, I think the 1" strap would be fine. If you're going to be loading it up heavily, then I'd suggest the Simple strap or even an OpTech Mini SOS Strap, which is like a younger/smaller sibling of the TB Absolute Strap.

[gathiel]

I’m not sure where I read it, but I believe I read something about the pcsb using a new strap. With the smooth material and maybe longer length, like the new side kick strap. (Which I really like.) Perhaps the drop down option on the pcsb page reflects this new strap while the individual product page hasn’t been added?

[Lami]

I use my halcyon PSCB often --- from vacation to around town locally -- I have not had any fraying or issues. I'm not particularly gentle with it.

[moriond]

I'm guessing that the new shoulder straps have the thicker, satiny material that is used in the handle at the top of the redesigned Luminary models, Cafe Bags, and Side Kicks. I'm not entirely certain about this, since I thought these were also being used with the Travel Cubelets (only with 5/8" width), but a recent order of a Travel Cubelet in Mars Red/Cloud Aether came with the older style webbing strap that they used when the Travel Cubelets were first released.

I got to see a prototype of the 210d Ballistic PCSB (in Island) with the offset attachment points for hooking in the strap (similar to the design of the Daylight Briefcase). My main comment was that they should add O-rings! (which they apparently decided to do). I also suggested that people would like to see pockets as in the case of the Side Effect or Side Kick, but that isn't happening. There was no strap, but I use the 1" Shoulder Strap with this accessory. (This is the Shoulder Strap that came with the original design of the Side Kick:

Not the redesigned Side Kick strap, which now looks like this, and which not longer ends in an attachment for the Snaphook end of the strap:

If you want to read more about the redesign of the Side Kick strap, check the pictures, links, and posts in the Is There an Alternative Side Kick Strap That is Longer? thread)

The offset attachment points for the strap make this more stable to carry when there are heavier contents -- it's less likely to flip upside down, for example. If you do want to hook this to the front of a Pilot, it's possible to hook keystraps to the holes in the strap attachment points around the right and left sides of the Pilot handle -- less elegant looking than the double carabiner solution hooking to the ends of the bag, but doable. BTW, I think that the price of the 1" Shoulder Strap is pretty standardly now $6.

The main advantage of the 210d Ballistic is that it is easier to carry heavy items (camera inserts, Side Kicks, Tablets, etc.) in the PCSB with that material, because it will flex less -- you don't need to add a Medium Double Organizer Pouch to the front diagonal pocket to stiffen it.

I agree with @Lani that I haven't noticed any fraying etc. issues that @1bgNWB has reported. However, I also prefer to use the 400d Halcyon versions. (See the pictures @Moosezilla posted of the versions in Original Nordic, Steel and Black Halcyon (excerpting one) -- they were also made in 400d New Nordic and New Black Halcyon):



HTH

moriond

[pammy]

How much do you plan to put in the PCSB/how heavy do you think it will be? If it just has some light stuff in it, I think the 1" strap would be fine. If you're going to be loading it up heavily, then I'd suggest the Simple strap or even an OpTech Mini SOS Strap, which is like a younger/smaller sibling of the TB Absolute Strap.

+1 on this. I used to use a PCSB as purse. Inside would be a Side Effect, phone, water bottle, and in the outside pocket would be my ipad mini to give the bag more structure. It would get sort of heavy toting stuff around so I would use my Op Tech mini SOS strap. It's excellent and it makes the load much more comfortable. I only use the 1" strap when it's a small bag such as a TC, SE, or SK and is not very heavy.

[aedifica]

If the entire cube is still made of Halcyon inside, I would not recommend using this as an EDC. The material is not durable. Mine is developing frays and tiny holes just with using it while on vacatio. If the new ones are made with ballistic nylon, on the inside, similar to side affect, that will be much better.

@1bgNWB, in context of the recent discussion of holes behind a shop bag label that are intended as a guide so the bag gets lined up right during assembly, I wonder if that's what you're seeing. Are those the kind of small holes your bag has, or does your PCSB have some other kind of small hole?

[agland]

Related: I wish they'd make a slimmer version of the 'absolute' strap for use with a briefcase or smaller bag. The absolute strap is overkill for a briefcase, but it's hard to move from the stretchy strap to a normal one!

[Shortie]

You can get a thinner version of the ABS on Amazon. I have one that I use with my SK occasionally.