Configurable Bags

[Twitchy]

I was wondering if there have ever been plans to make an empty bag platform that you can then add or remove pouches/compartments at leisure?

I've noticed that a lot of TB owners have more than one bag and each bag is used for specific roles. A 15" lap top in one bag, your shopping in another and maybe something small and light for when you're just popping out to your local caffeine distributor.

But what happens if you want to increase/decrease your load capacity? Lets say you have a Super Ego and a co-pilot. Both are great bags. You've packed the co pilot with all your essentials but think one last Snake Charmer is needed, or maybe a packing Cube. But it would be too much hassle to transfer to the Super Ego or that the SE is just too darn big (no such thing) Bit of a dilemma. But if you had a way of attaching the packing cube to the Co-pilot then all would be sorted.

I know that someone has already raised the suggestion of pouches for the shoulder straps. BUt I was thinking in more general terms ... saaaay ... what about the whole bag?

Still confused? Have a look at Maxpedition Manta Versipack. Its a bare essentials shoulder bag where the user decides what pouches and compartments to use. Could it be possible to do the same but with a touch of TB? the versipacks are nice but darn uncomfortable for long journeys. And nowhere as well designed as TB.

Anyhoo, back to the TB website .... I might not be buying anything today but I just can't stop looking at al them wonderful bags!

Twitchy

[maverick]

this is an interesting idea, but it seems a whole another paradigm of bag design. i'm no expert, but i question the level of utility that would result from an approach that tries to be so flexible. i would think that an approach that tries to do one thing really well will do that thing better than an approach that tries to build on a flexible platform to arrive at the same solution.

[Twitchy]

Unfortunately you might be right :-(

But utility-wise I know I would find it fairly useful. I change the contents of my bags depending on the weather and season I am in and where I am going. Say for a normal day to work I would need my laptop with me, stationary, phone, camera, mp3 player, torch, batteries, cables, lunch, water bottle, lighter, kleenex, papers and a few other smaller items. Now most of that will fit in a Super Ego (the 17inch laptop and brain cell unfortunately takes up a lot of space). Now thats ok for a car journey, but if I am taking the bus I might want to add a book ... I don't have the space. If its a hot day then I will also want to carry deodarant .. again no space. If its a group journey then I will also want a first aid kit. Again no space. And as recently proved in the UK, if it snows then i want to be able to carry gloves, scarf and woolie cap. I've also needed space for spare ext. drives and even a change of t-shirts. Now, as big as the SE is, I always found myself wishing I could just add the extra pouch or two to the SE, but not as a permanent feature.

But like you say, if the bag tries to do everything then it might end up doing nothing well ... which is def not the TB way.

[maverick]

one approach to adding expansion when needed might be to leverage webbing loops and gatekeeper clips.

this wouldn't work on all bags, but it could work on many. take for example the synapse backpack. imagine 4 webbing loops on the back, where the dri-lex aero-spacer mesh fabric meets the 1000d cordura.

now imagine a "daghter-pack" that would sit over the synapse and attach via 4 webbing straps and gatekeeper clips to the 4 webbing loops on the back of the synapse.

you could have slides on the webbing straps that allow you to tighten and loosen the daughter-pack.

tom, darcy, what do you think?

thanks!

[blackfungi]

in terms of expansion, i would love to see this feature in the cafe bags : i used to have this messenger bag bought from mountain equipment co op back in the day, this bag was from a company called SUNSET CAMPING CO., along the bottom of the bag there is a zipper that goes along the length of the bag which when unzipped made your bag bigger and when zipped up made your bag smaller in volume. i think that this feature has been mentioned before somewhere in the forum. this conversion feature i would love to see in some new tom binh bags.

[Twitchy]

OOh I hadn't thought of that! A simplistic idea ... I like it!
Maverick, I love the idea of a daughter-pack.

[maverick]

so, to allow quicker access to the bag underneath (in this case, the synapse), perhaps we could have gatekeeper clips on one side and buckles on the other - the sort that you find on the compression straps of the brain bag? i still like the idea of the webbing for the back part of the buckle attaching to the synapse via a gatekeeper clip so that you end up with just the webbing loops on the synapse should you choose to not attach the daughter pack.

[backpack]

I love the idea too, Maverick.

The best bag to a mother-daughter bag with is the Brain Bag.

The compression straps are great to add lightweight bags like the 3D Organizer Cube, the Side Effect and all 3 sizes of the Yarn Stuff Sack.

It can be handy for somebody who works in the field.

Or could be a great bag for dog necessities on travel, in obedience classes or agility competitions.


In summer, I use a water bottle holder held by a C clip affixed to one of the O ring of my Cafe Bag.
I change Cafe Bag to match my outfit and the water bottle holder follows.

I also have a C clip which holds Mini Organizer Pouches in various colors to hold change, the C clip is held by the top handle while the Organizer Pouches rest in the back pocket of the Cafe Bag.

[RonaldP]

Well, I did use my Brain Bag/Brain Cell combo that way while flying. Brain cell out of bag, tighten compression straps, and it's legal in the overhead, and I use the pocket on the brain cell to have the stuff I wanted with me in my seat, I usually kept it upright between my feet (size 1 vertical, so it almost reaches my knees).