Travel bag between Tri-Star and Aeronaut

[Novan Leon]

I would really love to see a bag that falls between the Tri-Star and Aeronaut in size and functionality. I love the simple two-compartment design of the Western Flyer and would love to see a scaled up version.

Ideally, the bag should be 21" x 15.5" x 7.5" to meet more restrictive European carry-on requirements and have a volume of approx. 40 liters / 2400 cu in. These dimensions may need to be tweaked to make this feasible (I recommend adding depth rather than length or height to allow travelers to compress their bag to meet requirements if needed), but the goal should be to meet the tightest carry-on requirements and still hit as near the 40 liters mark as possible. If you could mold the Western Flyer design to these dimensions at 38-40 liters, this would be the perfect bag.

Tom Bihn Bags I've looked at:

• Tom Bihn Wester Flyer - 18" x 12" x 7", 26 liters, great design but too small and never intended for extended travel.
• Tom Bihn Tri-Star - 19" x 13" x 8", 33 liters, good design but a little too small for my needs.
• Tom Bihn Aeronaut - 22" x 14" x 9", 45 liters, slightly too large and I'm looking for a fold-out design similar to Western Flyer and Tri-Star.

Other bags I've looked at:

• MEI Executive Overnighter - 22" x 14" x 9", 45 liters, slightly too large but otherwise a very good bag.
• Red Oxx Sky Train - 20" x 13" x "9, 38 liters, almost ideal but dimensions could be tweaked slightly to take better advantage of carry-on requirements and backpack straps are well-known for their discomfort.
• Red Oxx Air Boss - 21" x 13" x 8", 35 liters, slightly too small and dimensions could be tweaked slightly to take better advantage of carry-on requirements. Also, no backpack option.
• Patagonia MLC - 20.5" x 13.5" x 4.5" (?), 45 liters (?), on paper almost the ideal bag but production quality has declined over the years and the dimensions / capacity listed on the website are questionable.

I listed some other bags for informational purposes but I'm primarily focused on purchasing a bag from Tom Bihn. I have no immediate travel needs so I'm not in a big hurry, but I would like to see a Tom Bihn that meets my requirements. Similar suggestions have been submitted before, by myself and by others, but I'd love to hear if any plans have been made to fill this niche in the near future.

PS. Has Tom Bihn ever considered providing some earth-tone color options such as olive or khaki? Where I travel black or grey is the only color option that Tom Bihn provides that would meet my requirements. Bright colors attract too much attention and show dirt too easily.

[Frank II]

The problem is you want a bag with "European" carry-on dimensions. That would limit the number of customers for a new bag to those outside the U.S.

21 x 14 x 8 would be good for both U.S. and international carriers as it really doesn't go over any of the limits. Anything more on either the 14 or 8 and you go over carry-on limits.

[Novan Leon]

The problem is you want a bag with "European" carry-on dimensions. That would limit the number of customers for a new bag to those outside the U.S.

21 x 14 x 8 would be good for both U.S. and international carriers as it really doesn't go over any of the limits. Anything more on either the 14 or 8 and you go over carry-on limits.

21" x 14" x 8" would be fine with me, but if additional volume is needed I just think it should be with the 8" since this could theoretically be compressed using straps or other means. You can't really alter a bags length or height without deforming the bag's structure.

[drbobguy]

21" x 14" x 8" would be fine with me, but if additional volume is needed I just think it should be with the 8" since this could theoretically be compressed using straps or other means. You can't really alter a bags length or height without deforming the bag's structure.

Just a note, those dimensions are 2352 cubic inches, or 38.54 liters. That's without adding in the volume of the bag material itself, so figure something like 37 liters.

[Fat Crip]

Once upon a time I wrote a piece on here about European bag sizes, but to cut long short, the Aeronaut fits pretty much every Airline, so long as you remember their quirks. For example RyanAir only allow bags 20cm deep as opposed to the usual 25cm that the Aeronaut is built to, but, so long as you've not packed it too tight, it fits. FlyBe, area bit shorter in the longest dimension, but it can still fit if you've remembered this. EasyJet, BA and a few others are no problem. The real problem is weight. RyanAir are pretty strict on a 10KG limit, and one or two are even less. It's all too easy to go over 10Kg with an Aeronaut and even the 15Kg that they allow for a standard checked bag isn't much... an Aeronaut is 1.35Kg before you start. Add a lap-top at 2-3Kg and an iPad at 0.7 and half your allowance is gone before you even pack some spare smalls and a tooth brush! EasyJet on the other hand have no weight restrictions, so long as you can lift it in to the overhead bins unaided.