Discussion of New Colors, New Designs

[craigmcclellan]

(enabling mode activated)
Am I correct in reading this as a both/and situation? If so, then definitely YES!

I wish I could do this. But with a Synapse 25 and Synik 30, as well as working from home now, I can barely justify another backpack as it is. If for no other reason, the space (I have to store my Tristar and Techonaut 45 as well). But I would love the variety in Paragons.

[Cristina]

I would LOVE the return of Azalea. It is such a beautiful, deep color. I have a Medium Organizer Pouch in Azalea, but gosh just imagine the Paradigm, Synik 22 or a Zip Top Shop Bag in Azalea! It would be beautiful.

Any chance of some fun pinky color making an appearance, either interior or exterior? My MCB in Azalea will have to be pried out of my cold dead hands! I'd love a pink lining!

[flushpuppy]

Any chance of some fun pinky color making an appearance, either interior or exterior? My MCB in Azalea will have to be pried out of my cold dead hands! I'd love a pink lining!

[BowTrek]

I would love to see a co-pilot in halcyon or 1050

These are around - they used to stock CP in 1050. I have a Steel one.

[luisdent]

i kust got a mb with viridian interior. omg that color is awesome... nebulous grey and viridian make a superb combination too...

[G42]

I’ve been waiting for the Paragon to be released in Nightwalk for awhile, but I just received my order from last week’s restock, which had a cubelet in Taiga. Now I’m reconsidering everything and if I want to just go ahead and get one in Taiga. That color is so nice in person, and isn’t completely captured in photos.

In addition to Cristina in Enabling Mode (EM? I may need to steal this...) I'll just throw out a reminder/clarification in case folks weren't aware, that the Paragon in Taiga is the exterior 400d with the dark ripstop grid, lined with Taiga 200d which has the light/undyed grid.
The Cubelet was released in the lighter 200d with the light grid
I like both versions of Taiga and have both that Cubelet and that Paragon (full EM)

[Cristina]

(enabling mode activated)
Am I correct in reading this as a both/and situation? If so, then definitely YES!

I’ve been waiting for the Paragon to be released in Nightwalk for awhile, but I just received my order from last week’s restock, which had a cubelet in Taiga. Now I’m reconsidering everything and if I want to just go ahead and get one in Taiga. That color is so nice in person, and isn’t completely captured in photos.

[craigmcclellan]

I’ve been waiting for the Paragon to be released in Nightwalk for awhile, but I just received my order from last week’s restock, which had a cubelet in Taiga. Now I’m reconsidering everything and if I want to just go ahead and get one in Taiga. That color is so nice in person, and isn’t completely captured in photos.

[MikeV]

We've got Caches in the works for the new Apple devices! A couple Cache sizes we make work for the new devices, so we've re-named them to reflect the new machines. And we're making a new size Cache to accommodate the new 16" MacBook Pro. We're expecting these will be restocked/released in November- here's the list:

16A Cache (2021 16" Macbook Pro)
13C Cache- (2021 14" Macbook Pro)
10A Cache- (10.5" 2021 iPad/iPad Air/Pro)
8A Cache- (all iPad Minis)

[Surrealle]

We don’t have plans to replace our standard metal pulls on other bags or zippers — since there’s folks who prefer metal pulls and folks who prefer cord pulls, our thinking is that it’s best to stick with metal pulls because one can always either add cord pulls to the metal pulls or remove the metal pulls and replace them with cord. So, metal pulls = more options for everyone.

Thanks Darcy! That's all I was worried about, that TB was heading in that direction with all the pulls. I'm glad my concern was unfounded

[Darcy]

Darcy Is TB going to be switching to cord pulls a lot?

I'm really not a fan of them, I much prefer the metal pulls because at least those can be changed to a cord pull if you want but not vice versa.

I am not a fan of the new cord pulls either. Seems like more fumbling to grab hold of. In spots where two pulls meet you really can't tell which side you have a hold on. Plus they are just hard to quickly grasp. I use that type of small cord pull on metal and plastic zipper pulls and really like them but without the tab, no.

Feedback on the pulls noted (here of course and in our project management app)

Here's the scoop on this (I remembered we had written about this elsewhere, so I searched our project and voila!)

We like to sew the flat exterior pocket zippers on the Side Effect and Side Kick reverse or upside down. When carried with that pocket against the wearer we figured it might rub against clothing, and while it’s never been an issue that we can recall, we figure that it’s better if that zipper is as smooth as possible to reduce the chance of any kind of abrasion. When we initially made the Side Effect and Side Kick, we also used a slider without a metal pull and added a cord pull for the same reason: minimizing possible wear against your clothing. Then at some point we stopped using the cord pull for we-can’t-remember-now what reason, and that pocket zipper, though still sewn in upside down, got the same slider with metal pull that everything else got.

Fast forward to 2021: the Side Kick and Side Effect are now being made with our YKK Racquet Coil zippers w/water-repellent treatment — this is something of an upgrade for both bags since they didn’t previously use a zipper that water-repellent zipper. And because we can once again use a reverse slider with cord pull, we went back to that.

For the few instances in which we use a reverse #8 RC zipper, we opted to bring in a low-profile cord pull; our thinking is that it’s also less obtrusive when worn against your body and is more in line with the whole intention here. (We don’t actually have a metal pull option for a reverse #8 RC zipper.) It’s perhaps also worth noting that our choice to use the cord pull is actually a little bit more expensive than if we just brought in the standard metal pull.

We don’t have plans to replace our standard metal pulls on other bags or zippers — since there’s folks who prefer metal pulls and folks who prefer cord pulls, our thinking is that it’s best to stick with metal pulls because one can always either add cord pulls to the metal pulls or remove the metal pulls and replace them with cord. So, metal pulls = more options for everyone.

And....

Here's an excerpt from our Zipper Updates blog post that shares the original thinking behind using the cord pull for the Syniks (and then Shadow Guides) ~
"We would also change the laptop compartment zipper of the Synik to be #8 DWR RC and likely sew it in reverse and apply a loop through new style of cord pull — this is an often-used compartment, so makes sense to switch it to RC plus the reverse will provide a softer entry for the laptop, the actual opening for the laptop will be even a little bigger, and the new pull will tone down the noise and the overall look will be more minimal."

Hope this all helps a bit to share our thinking behind these choices.

[Surrealle]

My favorite setup with the Side Effect was when they still had the black anodized zippers but attached cord pulls directly to the zippers. This was just before they introduced the gun metal grey zippers in February 2014, and was first shown in @taminca’s Something's Different on the Side Effect thread. My solar 200d Halcyon Side Effect from late 2013 has this type of pull

moriond

I thought about suggesting that (attaching the cord pulls to the zipper) so that people can remove the metal tab and still use the cord if they want. But without knowing the reason for the zipper tab change in the first place I wasn't sure if that would solve the problem.

[moriond]

Yeah, and to be honest they kinda cheapen the look and feel of the bag. I don't mind cord pulls in general but I could buy this particular style (or something VERY similar at least) in a pack of 20 for $5 on Amazon. It's just not what I'd expect from TB, it feels like a step down in quality compared to a nice solid metal tab.

My favorite setup with the Side Effect was when they still had the black anodized zippers but attached cord pulls directly to the zippers. This was just before they introduced the gun metal grey zippers in February 2014, and was first shown in @taminca’s Something's Different on the Side Effect thread. My solar 200d Halcyon Side Effect from late 2013 has this type of pull

moriond

[Surrealle]

I am not a fan of the new cord pulls either. Seems like more fumbling to grab hold of. In spots where two pulls meet you really can't tell which side you have a hold on. Plus they are just hard to quickly grasp.

Yeah, and to be honest they kinda cheapen the look and feel of the bag. I don't mind cord pulls in general but I could buy this particular style (or something VERY similar at least) in a pack of 20 for $5 on Amazon. It's just not what I'd expect from TB, it feels like a step down in quality compared to a nice solid metal tab.

[etain]

I am not a fan of the new cord pulls either. Seems like more fumbling to grab hold of. In spots where two pulls meet you really can't tell which side you have a hold on. Plus they are just hard to quickly grasp. I use that type of small cord pull on metal and plastic zipper pulls and really like them but without the tab, no.