Trinity

[Waterlogged]

the Trinity (a new travel bag design by Tom that’s been in the works for a while now) has been delayed further thanks to some inspiration that struck and opportunities to actually travel with the bag.

Maybe the Trinity name is really a reference to the 3+ year design cycle.

But I do appreciate the tremendous amount of thought, time, and effort that the TB crew puts into designing quality bags. This has just been helping me to build up my reserves of patience.

[WineCountry]

Excited to hear more about the Techonaut. Seems like we all travel with a certain amount of tech these days and having a safe and dedicated spot for it makes sense. I am envisioning something like the AER capsule bag so am curious to see how it turns out.

[Darcy]

Darcy Now that the cat's out of the Techonaut, I'm wondering if you could say whether the Trinity will have the same backpanel as the V2 Shadow Guide? I'm planning to buy either as my main travel bag and will be wearing it as a backpack, so the backpanel comfort is important to me. Any information would help me to decide if I should buy the Techonaut since it's probably debuting first or hold out for the Trinity.

We're working on a blog post with various updates about colors, fabrics, and designs. Here's a (very much a draft) excerpt that mentions the Trinity:

There’s a number of new designs and vintage reissues in the works that we’re excited to share with you! We’re mindful to strike a balance between keeping everyone informed and not sharing too many details too early — our lode star is not the release calendar. Rather, it’s our determination that our new design is worthy of your attention and meets our own high standards. Case in point: the Trinity (a new travel bag design by Tom that’s been in the works for a while now) has been delayed further thanks to some inspiration that struck and opportunities to actually travel with the bag. In other words, if we see an opportunity to improve a design, we’ll delay it in order to do so: read more in this blog post.

At this point in time, the Trinity does not have the Shadow Guide V2 back panel. That said, as mentioned above, Tom is continuing to refine the design, and who knows where that'll lead.

And the Techonaut will definitely be debuting first. I don't want to put an estimated pre-order date out there just yet, but the design is pretty much done.

[latchford]

Darcy Now that the cat's out of the Techonaut, I'm wondering if you could say whether the Trinity will have the same backpanel as the V2 Shadow Guide? I'm planning to buy either as my main travel bag and will be wearing it as a backpack, so the backpanel comfort is important to me. Any information would help me to decide if I should buy the Techonaut since it's probably debuting first or hold out for the Trinity.

[GrussGott]

I've read many, including myself, that had the dilemma to choose between aeronaut 45/30 (or tri-star). I ended up going with the 45. Might the largest of the 3 Trinity sizes satisfy that gap of an in-between size near 38L? I think I could go 38L but just can't see making a 30L work.

Agreed that a 38ishL would be perfect - I've never been a one-bag traveler as I like having more space and I've never had a problem finding overhead room for at least one bag A45 size even on, say, SW flights with a low boarding priority. I usually travel with about 50-55L between 2 bags, but rarely use all of it - occasionally my S25 carries only my in-flight ditty bag and it's usual other small sundries.

In any event, seeing the SN30 in the flesh, it could change things but I'd still want a 2nd bag, maybe pilot at a minimum ...

If that Trinity were 38L and had a center section large enough for a "pilotian slip", I could see that putting me firmly into one-bag travel for most business trips and many personal ones.

[thorn]

I've read many, including myself, that had the dilemma to choose between aeronaut 45/30 (or tri-star). I ended up going with the 45. Might the largest of the 3 Trinity sizes satisfy that gap of an in-between size near 38L? I think I could go 38L but just can't see making a 30L work.

[GrussGott]

Travel (business and otherwise) is hotting up

Completely agree that travel is going to come back in a huge way... I keep seeing articles about how business travel is going to stay depressed ... not from what I'm seeing and hearing!

Every corporate-type I know around the country is talking about restarting travel and many have already started planning events. We have a friend who's an event planner for a large law firm and she's booking all kinds of things for the fall and she's going to hire two assistants ... and of course the sales types are itching to get face time again less they be at a disadvantage and are planning for it right after vaccination.

On the pleasure travel side, we've been looking around for summer and fall travel and ... wow, some of the more popular locations and properties have zero availability. Beyond that, just about everyone seems to be booking flight vacations ...

Lastly, given the great large packing cube shortage, I've noticed some of the cheaper ones on amazon have been going out of stock in the last 2 weeks ...

It's all anecdata of course, and who knows, but I just bought a WF and TS ... if there was Trinity coming that would definitely get my attention!

[wormie]

Ha! Good question. The existing sample is made out of Mars Red 525d ballistic. I'll check in with Tom today to see if there's another update.

Mars red, did you say?

[jobeyonekenobi]

Ha! Good question. The existing sample is made out of Mars Red 525d ballistic. I'll check in with Tom today to see if there's another update.

Thank you so much. It's hugely appreciated.

[Darcy]

Darcy what have you guys made a sample of the Trinity with?
I've got an Empire Builder, a Western Flyer and a Tristar. Its been a little while (over a year I believe) since learning of the Trinity. Travel (business and otherwise) is hotting up and knowing something more about what's upcoming for the Trinity in terms of size and utility would be fantastic. It also helps me apportion the funds to not going after pretty pretty colour combos of existing designs on the second hand market!

Edit: I forgot about my Cadet!

Ha! Good question. The existing sample is made out of Mars Red 525d ballistic. I'll check in with Tom today to see if there's another update.

[jobeyonekenobi]

We haven't yet made a sample of the Trinity in 400d Halcyon

Darcy what have you guys made a sample of the Trinity with?
I've got an Empire Builder, a Western Flyer and a Tristar. Its been a little while (over a year I believe) since learning of the Trinity. Travel (business and otherwise) is hotting up and knowing something more about what's upcoming for the Trinity in terms of size and utility would be fantastic. It also helps me apportion the funds to not going after pretty pretty colour combos of existing designs on the second hand market!

Edit: I forgot about my Cadet!

[pcooperllan]

Darcy This is exciting news, especially with the solaris color combination! Thanks for the update, I'll keep my fingers crossed for more info (hopefully a preview) soon ;-).

[Darcy]

As it doesn't sound like this bag will be released anytime soon, my other curiosity would be whether there were any plans for a Halcyon Trinity (or even a Western Flyer) with a Solaris interior? Or did I read somewhere that Solaris was going to be discontinued?

Tom and Nik were actually revisiting the design of the Trinity just yesterday. We haven't yet made a sample of the Trinity in 400d Halcyon, but I can't imagine that won't be a future offering. Solaris lining is an option, depending on when the Trinity is offered for pre-order: we're rotating limited edition 200d Halcyon colors, so it's possible the stars will align for that combination.

Also! I'll paste below our recent Q&A with Tom about the Trinity -- this originally appeared in our email newsletter:


Tom, there’s lots of folks excited for any news of the Trinity travel bag that we can share — but there’s also folks who perhaps might not know what the Trinity is. Can you give us a recap?



The Trinity is (or, rather, it will be) a travel / work bag that converts to a backpack. Like our other travel bags, it can be carried by its padded handles, with an optional shoulder strap, or backpack style. It is different from our other travel bags in several ways, including — it has a minimal, dedicated laptop/tablet compartment, and its backpack straps will be removable for folks who’d rather that additional weight/bulk be, at least some of the time, left behind. It also features a back pocket that can double as a slot for a roll-aboard handle. That’s a lot of design and build, and things can go sideways if it’s not carefully and expertly executed — one can end up with a bag that’s heavier or bulkier than it needs to be, it can be a tough job for the people who sew it, or it’s a design that may just leave you scratching your head. The Trinity won’t be any of those things because of the time I’m putting into the design.



Sounds like a lot of design work has gone into the Trinity. Is there an aspect of its design that you’re most excited about?



There’s actually two aspects that I’m rather proud of. First, I figured out how to build an ultra-thin laptop compartment that would be in the dead center of the bag — so that the weight of the laptop doesn’t throw the bag off balance when carried by hand, and also so that the laptop is protected by clothing or whatever else is stowed in the compartments on either side of the device. Second, how to create a roll-aboard slot / pocket which occupies the same real estate that the stow-away backpack straps occupy. It was quite a puzzle, let me tell you.



What elements of the design are you continuing to refine?



The big one is refining how the edgeless backpack straps can be attached / detached by the user: we’ve got some good starts, but still need to perfect that. Also, several aspects of the design can only be scaled up or down so far before they become either useless to the user or impossible to sew. Thus, we are still in the process of figuring out exactly what size or sizes the Trinity will be offered in. Our hopes are for a maximum carry-on size (so Aeronaut 45 size) and something smaller and more briefcase sized, perhaps along the lines of the Western Flyer or Empire Builder.



You know everyone’s going to be asking this: when will the Trinity be available for pre-order?



I don't know about you, but this last year has thrown me for a loop. And we've been busy, to boot. I've dived back into the design of the Trinity, a new gym bag, and a messenger bag I was working on in early 2020. I'm sure some of you out there reading this can relate to what it's like to put down a project for some months and pick it back up: on the tough side, there's the getting reacquainted and the "So what was I thinking here?" and then there's the benefit space and time can provide. I've looked over aspects of all three designs and been pleasantly surprised, scratched my head, and I've had new inspiration on how to solve some design challenges that were previously perplexing. All that said, don't make sandwiches and wait by the phone: we'll let you know when these bags are getting close to ready. And, of course, we'l share updates along the way. — Tom

[pcooperllan]

As it doesn't sound like this bag will be released anytime soon, my other curiosity would be whether there were any plans for a Halcyon Trinity (or even a Western Flyer) with a Solaris interior? Or did I read somewhere that Solaris was going to be discontinued?

Thanks,
Paul

[G42]

TB is always tweaking designs, if you wait for them to be done, you'll be waiting forever