The New Pilot Available for Pre-order in January 2014!

[Badger]

I really do the lightweight nature of the Dyneema. It also seems more "stuff able" than the ballistic bags.


I think I would prefer the lighter Dyneema TriStar myself, but I'm not a fan of the colors available. I dunno-- do you all think the TriStar needs the structure that ballistic would give it? I am agonizing over here.

This doesn't fit your situation exactly, but I have a Dyneema TS and a ballistic Aeronaut and Western Flyer. Yes, the Dyneema seems to allow more stuffing; the issue I sometimes run into is that unless I am packing mostly flat things, the TS can get very wide and sort of lumpy. By "wide" I mean it can actually appear larger than the Aeronaut. I find that if I'm carrying irregularly shaped items, the ballistic nylon compresses them a bit more firmly. Having a streamlined look is important to me, especially because I'm short and a big bag can look humongous on me. It all comes down to personal preference and the kind of travel you do.

If you really like Aubergine, there can't be any harm in ordering your TS in that color to see if it meets your needs. Unless you're flying abroad and have to meet really strict weight requirements, the few ounces you save with Dyneema probably isn't worth it if you don't really like the color. The backpack straps on the TS do a great job of helping you carry the weight of your bag and stuff, so I doubt you'd be too bothered unless you're packing really dense things.

HTH!



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[kkintea]

I really do the lightweight nature of the Dyneema. It also seems more "stuff able" than the ballistic bags.

I do love my Cardinal Swift. I wish Tom Bihn has more bright colors available, like I would totally buy an Ultraviolet bag for example.

I am seriously also considering pulling the trigger on the Tri-Star by the end of the week. I have several 3-4 day trips coming up, and I do a lot of those for work, so it might be time to make the investment. I wish it was available in Nordic because I just don't like the other colors (other then Aubergrine-- but I am also really worried about the weight.) I think I would prefer the lighter Dyneema TriStar myself, but I'm not a fan of the colors available. I dunno-- do you all think the TriStar needs the structure that ballistic would give it? I am agonizing over here.

I don't have the Tristar, but I love Dyneema in the Aeronaut. I'm really glad I went for it because it has a lot of give and it's so lightweight. It really works for my style of packing (i.e., not in packing cubes). The only bag I have that I prefer the ballistic is the Swift. I use the Swift for work and the Dyneema sides tend to fall over. It's harder to get items organized properly when there are things of different shapes inside (e.g., 13" cache, 3D cube, various pouches, side effect, file folders). I went for Dyneema in the Pilot because it has the different compartments and I'm liable to "stuff it" and wanted the extra flexibility. I feel like with the Tristar, you'd have a similar scenario since it's so compartmentalized.

Good luck in deciding!

[BarryLee]

Great news I just noticed all the Pilot colors are available, so I guess that means all the pre-orders will be shipped in the next few days.

[atarango1]

I really do the lightweight nature of the Dyneema. It also seems more "stuff able" than the ballistic bags.

I do love my Cardinal Swift. I wish Tom Bihn has more bright colors available, like I would totally buy an Ultraviolet bag for example.

I am seriously also considering pulling the trigger on the Tri-Star by the end of the week. I have several 3-4 day trips coming up, and I do a lot of those for work, so it might be time to make the investment. I wish it was available in Nordic because I just don't like the other colors (other then Aubergrine-- but I am also really worried about the weight.) I think I would prefer the lighter Dyneema TriStar myself, but I'm not a fan of the colors available. I dunno-- do you all think the TriStar needs the structure that ballistic would give it? I am agonizing over here.

[Sacharissa]

Just got the notice last night...My Black Pilot with Iberian interior (to match my Aeronaut) has shipped. It is currently in Redmond, WA, where -- according to UPS -- it will apparently sit until Thursday! The exact quote is:

Next Scheduled Event: Thursday, 02/06/2014 by 11:39pm

At that point, it will make its way overnight to Minneapolis, where it will be delivered "by end of day." Couldn't we just skip the four day "aging process" in Redmond so I could experience all that Bihn Goodness "by end of day" Wednesday instead???

* Sigh *

[MelissaL]

It's definitely wider than the middle compartment, but there's enough give in the Tri-star that it's still workable.

I bet if you were traveling with both bags, putting the an empty, flat Pilot inside the center compartment of the Tri-Star would be doable for being on the road. I'm sure the black/iberian looks great.

[kkintea]

Love the Swift x Pilot photo. Thanks for posting comparison pics. Super thrilled for Friday's Pilot arrival!


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[tunesmith]

I got my Black/Iberian Pilot today.

I filled it with:

Big packing cube: Jeans, two t-shirts, one long sleeve shirt
Cache: 13" Macbook pro Retina
Center pocket (in place of water bottle): Retina power cord (full length), wool socks
Small packing cube #1: Two pair Golden Toe socks, two pair boxer briefs
Small packing cube #2: Toiletry bag, Electronics bag (headphones, 4x1 usb power adapter, two usb cords)

That was enough to fill the Pilot up pretty good. Not a lot of width room left over. There's room at the top of the big pocket for things like cliff bars or candy bars. I would also recommend making sure the rails clips are lying on top, because otherwise they stress the fabric.

I do wish there was a *top* zipper for the open-top luggage sleeve. I like storing my boarding passes back there and am paranoid they'll fall. I also wish there was at least one front zipper for a flat pocket, in front of the small packing cube compartment(s).

But this doesn't stop here. I then put the stuffed Pilot in my Tri-Star.

It's definitely wider than the middle compartment, but there's enough give in the Tri-star that it's still workable. There's enough room on the side of the center compartment to store something like a side effect. I used the space to stuff a pair of boxer briefs and a long-sleeve shirt. Then there's enough space on the top of that center compartment for something like a rain shell.

In the Tri-star back compartment, I put a normal amount of clothes (6-7 shirts, mostly long-sleeve) in the backpack packing cube. It was a struggle to zip shut the back compartment but it worked.

In the Tri-star front compartment, I used my small and medium packing cubes. In the medium I put 4 boxer-briefs and two t-shirts. In the small I put a fairly stuffed larger toiletry bag (at this point I was just looking for random things to stuff in the bag). This compartment was difficult to zip shut.

In the outer pockets I put a trade paperback (high pocket), a dvd in plastic case (medium pocket), a cliff bar (low pocket), and a rolled up t-shirt (curvy pocket).

Everything zipped shut. The bag was very wide and my finger hurt from the zipping, but it all fit. I was able to pull the Pilot out of the center compartment, making the Tri-star look more normal (non-empty but not stuffed), but I'm not sure I would have been able to put the Pilot back in it again. On the other hand, I don't think I'll ever be traveling with as much stuff as I put in both bags.

[moriond]

One more photo.

As you can see, my ballistic side effect (fully packed with wallet, epi-pen lipstick, hand sanitizer and lotion, etc.) fits great in one of the side pockets with room to spare and my 19 ounce zojirushi thermos fits great in the water bottle pocket (best thermos ever. It keeps my tea hot for 12 hours. Not warm, hot.)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5483[/ATTACH]

I will post more photos once I really pack it. (Love)

Thanks for posting pictures! My order shipped last Friday, but it's still en route, so it's really great to see photos of these bags. And I see you have a Swift in the now discontinued Cardinal Ballistic Nylon. So, do you think there might be more 400d Dyneema bags in your future? Do you like the texture? Enjoy your bags!

moriond

[Yoda Sloth]

Yoda Sloth,

The Dyneema Pilot weighs 1 lbs 1 oz / 475 grams, I went ahead and posted that information to the webpage as well. Thank you!

Thanks Scott! (no wonder if feels so light....)

[atarango1]

One more photo.

As you can see, my ballistic side effect (fully packed with wallet, epi-pen lipstick, hand sanitizer and lotion, etc.) fits great in one of the side pockets with room to spare and my 19 ounce zojirushi thermos fits great in the water bottle pocket (best thermos ever. It keeps my tea hot for 12 hours. Not warm, hot.)



I will post more photos once I really pack it. (Love)

[atarango1]

My pilot came!

The Ups man came and I snatched the box from his hands

I love the size. It is perfect. Big enough but not too big.

And I really love the Dyneema fabric. I thought I would share a few photos for size comparison. Both bags are full of stuff while the pilot is empty

Here is a picture of my pilot next to my Swift



And here is a picture of it next to synapse 25



I plan to use mine a lot as a day bag when I need my iPad, and conference papers, etc. it's a good size for a carryon if you are going minimal (I would never one bag it with a bag this small, but to me it works as a small suitcase.)

And it matches my synapse 25 so well. I am going to play with it for a few days then I will post a review, but it is exactly what I wanted in terms of size and layout. Yay pilot!

[Mausermama]

My Nordic Pilot arrived today! I hope to take some photos of it tomorrow as it will be baptized very soon by a flight from the balmy 80's to the negative temperatures and snow of Kansas. I will be packing it up tomorrow and heading out Wednesday morning.

[Toblerhaus]

Anticipating delivery of my Pilot tomorrow. I can hardly stand the wait!

I impulse pre-ordered a Nordic/Solar Pilot as soon as they were available. Expected mid-February. Well, we were in Hawaii from Jan. 16-27. The weekend before we were to come home ( :^( ) I got an email notice that my Pilot was ready for pickup. Yay! Too late for our Hawaii trip, but Yay anyway! Due to bad weather back east the plane coming in to KOA was late, so our KOA>SFO flight was delayed and we missed our SFO>SEA connection the night of the 27th.

I was on the Big Island from 1/22-31. We might have crossed paths and not even known it. :-)

[Anniegill]

I was only shipped the black, with blue and white of Nordic, red cords would bring out the patriotic Annie!

Thankx Miss Darcy, you are appreciated!