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

[kkintea]

Handsome pictures! I love the detailing of the Dyneema and the way that the side view shows the pattern angled at the top, and also at a bias in the bottom front. Love the red pupils on your bag, and the ultraviolet and Nordic against the interior.

I totally need a bright colored SE now! I have lots of other TB stuff that will really 'pop' in the pilot -- various pouches in wasabi and iberian... more UV. I also have the solar keystrap on my work keys (not pictured). This is why I really like the steel... you can see everything inside really easily.

I am tempted to get the Nordic SE after I opened the box and saw the two colors side by side. Anyone with multiple side effects: is the Nordic or Black 400d 'stiffer' than the 200d (as with the shop bags)? Just wondering what this would be like in a smaller bag.

Of course Nordic pouches would make me very happy.

[jmoz]

I love my new (Navy/Solar) Pilot! It's perfect for every day carry for my 11" MBA plus some misc. stuff. It also works decently well (though not as well as a Packing Cube Messenger Bag (PCMB) would!) in the center of a Tri-Star. Alternatively, I can fit my (Lumix GH1) micro 4/3 camera in a small Crumpler Haven AND MBA in there without it looking too funny. Finally, I did a test pack, and for a casual 1-2 night trip (without the camera, but with the laptop), I can get everything I need. It's like 4 bags in one!

My only criticism, and it's pretty minor, is that the #2 stuff sack in the water bottle pocket isn't quite as good a fit as I expected based on the TB recommendation. It still works, but one really has to shove it in there.

[plume]

I'm near Boston as well, and my Pilot and other wonderful goodies arrived at my office today after the weather delay last week. I couldn't wait to open the boxand the minute I came home transferred my computer (in its cache) and papers, etc. into this beautiful black Dyneema bag. I picked black because, well, I wasn't sure how bright the Nordic would be. I also ordered a Nordic Side Effect, and now think a Nordic Pilot would be great in most work settings. It's a lovely navy-ish blue. For the Co-Pilot v. Pilot crowd: I use my ballistic Co-Pilot as a camera bag for my micro 4/3 set-up (the alternative with slightly less gear is my packing cube shoulder bag--both with padded inserts) and as a traveling companion for my Western Flyer. For those trips requiring that I take either my personal Mac Air or the Dell ultralight from work, I hadn't found any bag that worked well for both the computer and the "on the plane" essentials. Now I have it: the Pilot debuts tomorrow as my daily and travel briefcase. Thank you Tom Bihn crew.

[MelissaL]

Not loving my zipper pulls at all. They are very short and look horrible. I went to Amazon and purchased some decent zipper pulls. I notice the lengths vary. Mine were all different lengths.

I carried my Pilot home on my commute today and it was so foreign. Lol. I have been carrying the co-pilot for 3 years and larger bag takes some getting used to. I love the pilot. Great investment, hence the upgrade in zipper pulls.

[Darcy]

Not loving my zipper pulls at all. They are very short and look horrible. I went to Amazon and purchased some decent zipper pulls. I notice the lengths vary. Mine were all different lengths.

Yikes, that doesn't sound right at all. I'll send you an email and we'll get you some replacements. Glad, in the meantime, you found some other pulls that work for you.

[moriond]

I totally need a bright colored SE now! I have lots of other TB stuff that will really 'pop' in the pilot -- various pouches in wasabi and iberian... more UV. I also have the solar keystrap on my work keys (not pictured). This is why I really like the steel... you can see everything inside really easily.

I am tempted to get the Nordic SE after I opened the box and saw the two colors side by side. Anyone with multiple side effects: is the Nordic or Black 400d 'stiffer' than the 200d (as with the shop bags)? Just wondering what this would be like in a smaller bag.

Of course Nordic pouches would make me very happy.

Yes, I have the Side Effect in both the 400d Dyneema (you already knew that from the OMG The Side Effect Available in Nordic/Solar thread. The Nordic and Black 400d Dyneema is not so much "stiffer" as that they feel more like a fabric than the 200d weight Dyneema does -- pliable and less crinkly than the 200d weight. (Not trying to "dis" the 200d Dyneema, it's jsut that tactilely the 400d weight feels better to my hand.) The Nordic and Steel 400d both have this iridescent sheen. I realized that one of the reasons I like the 400d Black so much more than I expected, is that I really like a lot of the bright, saturated colors and they look really beautiful against the Black. In the shape of the Pilot, the design of the Black 400d Dyneema grid feels as though someone specifically custom ordered this fabric and pattern for the bag. (I don't get the same sensation with the Nordic and Steel, however much I like them -- I think it is because of the way the contrasting grid appears). These Dyneema combinations appeal for very different reasons.

I would really like to see more of the 200d Dyneema Side Effect combinations now that we have the Pilot. I actually came to the conclusion that a lot of people would like to order these color combinations once I received the Nordic SE and also when I started looking at my Co-Pilot and extrapolating the way people would be using the SE in the Pilot.

The thing is, as Trailhiker and others have pointed out, the Dyneema fabric cubes slide really easily into the interior pockets of the Pilot and Co-Pilot. And there is less visible colored interior in the Pilot than the Co-Pilot (partly because the pockets in the back compartment are against the center of the of bag, so the back holds the cache with rails that can slide out, but also because there is less lining fabric used over the whole bag area). Especially since so many of the first run of bags shipped in Black Ballistic Nylon, there are going to be a lot of people who will want the contrasting colors and use the larger capactiities of the Side Effect. At present there is Solar 200d, but a return of Wasabi 200d and the addition of colors like Ultraviolet and Iberian in the Side Effect would really see some demand IMHO.

[moriond]

New Dyneema Wallet Combinations Seen against Black 400d Dyneema Pilot

I totally need a bright colored SE now!

@kkintea This isn't exactly what you asked about, but I ordered some of the new Dyneema Clear Organizer Wallets (including the ones in 400d Black and Nordic Dyneema) with my Pilot. Here's a picture of some of these wallet colors seen against the Pilot. I've included a few old colors (Wasabi and Red Ballistic), and in place of my Kiwi wallet I've shown my Kiwi/Nordic pocket pouch (so you can see the midnight shades of the Nordic against the Kiwi).

The Wallet colors are (left to right: Wasabi, Nordic, Ultraviolet, Black, and Solar in Dyneema; and Cardinal in Ballistic Nylon). Nordic, Ultraviolet, Black, and Solar are new Ballistic Nylon colors. Cardinal and Kiwi Ballistic Nylon aren't available any more for the wallets, but I included this because my Cardinal Breve also looks really good with the Black 400d Dyneema Pilot (and also works quite well as an iPad bag within the main compartment). I find the 200d Dyneema a bit light weight for a few of the functions I use for my wallets (e.g., when I'm using the Ultrasuede dividers to hold small electronic components), but the UV is so pretty here. And Kiwi Ballistic Nylon looks fantastic against both Black and Nordic 400d Dyneema.

Not really related to the Pilot, except that the new colors complement the Pilot colors so well, and because I hope they'll make some more 200d Dyneema Side Effects in other colors (like UV, Wasabi, and Iberian) for use inside the new Pilots.

moriond

P.S. In case you want to see what some of these colors look like against the 400d Nordic Dyneema Pilot, take a look at Proctor's fantastic picture in Nordic Pilot, Wasabi Side Effect & Ultraviolet Knitting Pouch…why not?

[moriond]

I love my new (Navy/Solar) Pilot! It's perfect for every day carry for my 11" MBA plus some misc. stuff. It also works decently well (though not as well as a Packing Cube Messenger Bag (PCMB) would!) in the center of a Tri-Star. Alternatively, I can fit my (Lumix GH1) micro 4/3 camera in a small Crumpler Haven AND MBA in there without it looking too funny. Finally, I did a test pack, and for a casual 1-2 night trip (without the camera, but with the laptop), I can get everything I need. It's like 4 bags in one!

My only criticism, and it's pretty minor, is that the #2 stuff sack in the water bottle pocket isn't quite as good a fit as I expected based on the TB recommendation. It still works, but one really has to shove it in there.

I think that the 400d Dyneema version of the Pilot works a little better for packing in the center of a Tri-Star (Picture of the 400d Nordic Pilot holding a 13" MacBook Air in my Indigo Tri-Star attached below). As far as being a professional looking briefcase-style bag for the center of the Tri-Star (e.g., the Pilot or Cadet? thread or in UK-limey's comments in the Cadet inside a Tri-Star thread) I think the Cadet (in the same color and material in Ballistic Nylon) does look more professional because of its taller and narrower (more conventionally briefcase-like) shape. The Pilot has more flexibility in what you can carry, but I think it works really well for the MacBook Air class of laptops.


I don't discount chaplain's comments about the durability of Ballistic Nylon for the Pilot used for laptops, but I never used my (Ballistic Nylon) Co-Pilot as much as some people did, partly because of the feeling that a slightly re-designed Pilot would make this bag much more versatile (another reason, apart from the price, for not investing in another Co-Pilot -- even one in Nordic Dyneema, although I was also tempted by the Black 400d Dyneema versions). So I really want to try the light weight travel options for the Pilot (which has been designed for use with a Cache, unlike the Co-Pilot). Besides, all those travel pictures by @Seikoguy made me decide that if I do get a Pilot in Ballistic Nylon, it will be in Aubergine!

[taminca]

Aubergine Pilot? I am so onboard with that!!!

[MelissaL]

Yikes, that doesn't sound right at all. I'll send you an email and we'll get you some replacements. Glad, in the meantime, you found some other pulls that work for you.

Sorry Darcy. I didn't mean to sound ungrateful. I was just looking for perfection right off the bat. I noticed in the knot tying video that Tom did that the zipper pulls were long and easy to tie. The ones I got were about half the length of his. Those pilot zippers are humongous too.

By the way, thank you for your email and for reaching out to me. Just to be clear, my issue with the cords is more of a preference thing and not that there is anything physically wrong with them.

[Walker]

I agree with @moriond's suggestion to make the Side Effect in more dyneema colors. I had 1 SE in wasabi. It replaced my Iberian Clear Quarter Packing Cube as my travel kit. I like it that long items, like my toothbrush in a case, lie flat at the bottom of the SE instead of diagonally like they used to in the QCPC. I found the pockets great for corralling small bits and bobs.

I gave it away to someone dear, thinking I will buy myself another when I return to the US. My heart sank when I went to the TB site to place an order and the SE was no longer available in Wasabi.

[Drbob]

Anyone notice the Co-Pilot now has the reversed zippers?

[ykang2375]

Anyone notice the Co-Pilot now has the reversed zippers?

I have to give spamjam credit for this one, please see below regarding the zipper.


Originally Posted by Darcy
It's here: the Pilot
One of the first things you might notice is the change in the look of the Pilot's YKK Aquaguard splash-proof zippers. Here's the scoop:

For over ten years, we've made extensive use of YKK's Aquaguard splash-proof zippers. These zippers have added a degree of water repellency to the closures on our bags that before we could only dream of.

As you've probably come to expect, we aren't inclined to leave well enough alone, and we've been experimenting with different ways in which to sew Aquaguard zippers into our bags. The industry standard has been to sew splash-proof zippers effectively "upside-down", so that the teeth of the zipper end up inside the bag, and the urethane coating is on the outside. This creates the look that people have come to associate with so called "waterproof" zippers (you'll find many bags these days have zippers sewn "upside-down" so that they look as if they're splash-proof zippers when in fact they're just regular zippers sewn that way.)

And also as you've probably come to expect, just because everyone else does it a certain way, doesn't mean we will. First motivated by our desire to reduce the weight of our bags when and where possible, we realized that, if we sew the zippers right side up, we are able to save a bit of weight because we can utilize the woven edge of the zipper tape to finish the zipper seam, rather than adding binding tape as we did before. And when we made samples of the Aeronaut, Pilot, and other bags with the YKK Aquaguard splash-proof zippers sewn right-side up, we took note of how how much we liked the looks of them.

Sewing the Aquaguard zipper in right-side-up (or "teeth-side-out") also overcomes a minor disadvantages to sewing it in upside-down: mainly, the urethane coating on the zipper is no longer exposed to the elements and abrasion. We've found that when we sew the Aquaguard zipper up-side-down (coating exposed), there was occasional, minor shredding of the urethane itself, resulting in a minor change to the aesthetic though not impacting the splash-proofness of the zipper. Sewing the Aquaguard zippers in the same way as we would sew in regular zippers, right side up, puts the urethane coating inside the bag where it's protected, and also allows the teeth to expand, rather than compress, as the zipper rounds corners. Does it affect the water repellency? Nope.

[kkintea]

I can attest to the benefit of this change. I used to have the old zipper style co-pilot (I sold it after the following incident). It was stuffed pretty full on a trip and a smaller cloth snack bag got sucked into its clutches. I had to cut the little bag out, but the co-pilot came out it like nothing happened. It was a great bag, but I just couldn't forgive it. Having the new zipper pilot, this seems nearly impossible to repeat. Fingers crossed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Drbob]

I think the reversed zippers will be great in bags like the WF because it will save interior space (eliminates the binding tape and additional material) but more importantly the bag will have a better shape on the edges and corners of the bag (particularly with bags made with ballistic nylon). Sorry, I am probably not explaining it well, you may have to have a WF (or TS?) in front of you to visualize it, but I think it will make a big functional difference at least for those two bags. I am curious to see how the reversed zippers will look, I kind of like the look of how the zippers are now at least for some bags. I have a Pilot on the way, so I'll be able to compare it soon to the Co-Pilot I already have.