Share Your Bag Hacks/Creative Uses

[teresapoet]

If a cubelet or other tiny bag on a long strap is too heavy for prolonged shoulder carry, my daughter came up with a way to turn it into a backpack!




When she was littler, she’d put her 3DOC “purse” of crayons and markers with a 16” key strap over her head and wear it kind of like a necklace.

[melminimalist]

UMP for a Smart Alec
I have a black halcyon Smart Alec and wanted a UMP for it. I tried a side effect and found it to be too short, so I figured I would wait for the side kick in black halcyon to come out. After 9 or so months I got impatient and started devising possibilities. After debating on the PCSB as a possibility (way too big) I stumbled across the fact that the hero’s journey has black halcyon side pockets still for order on the website. Not only are they the color and material I am looking for, they also have the same attachment points as the UMP. I decided to order it and try it out. Worked like a charm. I’ve posted pics below and a video on the reviews video section of the forum. Feel free to ask me any questions if you’d like any clarity.




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[moriond]

@melminimalist,

I'll have to go back and check my experiments. When I shot pictures of my Black Halcyon Smart Alec with it's Upper Modular Pocket, and also with the Side Effect and Side Kick doubling as UMPs, I ordered an extra Black Halcyon side pocket from the Hero's Journey to experiment with. I found that the two attachment clips on the bottom of the Side Pockets (the side away from the zipper opening), actually best match the spacing of the webbing loops at the top of the Smart Alec, while the clips at the top of the Side Pocket, along the zipper side, are really too far apart for a perfect match, and cause the top of the side pocket to warp and bunch together if you force them into the webbing loops. (You can see that in your second picture that clips are forcing the pocket to bulge away from the surface). So, while I was hoping to be able to present an alternative for the Smart Alec UMP using other components from the Hero's Journey, I wasn't convinced that this would work well in the long run.

(I had better luck hooking that pocket in as a lower modular pocket -- there was less warping when I attached it to the webbing loops below).

I have to say that it looks very good because of the fabric match. Let us know how this works out long term.

moriond

[NYCWriter]

Just discovered that neatly folded down, the Travel Cubelet is the perfect carry case for my new Small Zip-Top Shop Bag:

[x3n0n]

So, my daughter had a favorite pencil case with a sturdy wrist handle, but some of its inaccessible seams were pulling out, so we got her a Side Effect to replace it. However, she was concerned that a Wrist Loop attached to a single O-ring would be too "swingy" with only one attachment point.

After the SE arrived and she decided that it was worth keeping, the next step was to make a wrist strap that would satisfy her, and the Side Effect (and Side Kick) are uniquely well-suited because of their bidirectional waist belt attachment points. We ordered a pair of Double Gatekeeper clips and picked up a roll of 1" webbing, and now she has a wrist-loop handle tuned to her exact use case. Basically, she measured her wrist and then cut an appropriate amount of webbing (maybe 8 inches?) and sewed it to the gatekeeper clips, kind of like a miniature non-adjustable waist belt.

When we ordered the clips, I described what she intended to do, and Mike (TB Crew) asked to see photos; done!

See https://photos.app.goo.gl/h6NR3PjQkKX1kQaV8 for full resolution.

[G42]

(Individual uploads of size 1MB and 1.9MB aren't working for me, so I will just leave the link to the album; pardon the mess in the background!)

Basically, she measured her wrist and then cut an appropriate amount of webbing (maybe 8 inches?) and sewed it to the gatekeeper clips, kind of like a miniature non-adjustable waist belt.

When we ordered the clips, I described what she intended to do, and Mike (TB Crew) asked to see photos; done!

What a great hack, thanks for posting that!

And yes, you need to keep your photo sizes under 1MB or so (I'm sorry, I don't remember the exact size) in order for them to post....

[Rei]

here my solution for Skookum Dog 3D Mesh Cube on the padded (S25) hip belt
- one single gatekeeper (1") at the o-ring side
- one single gatekeeper (1") + split-ring at the snaphook side



Note: it works with Side effect (see here) and 3D organizer

[fredlet]

We ordered a pair of Double Gatekeeper clips and picked up a roll of 1" webbing, and now she has a wrist-loop handle tuned to her exact use case.

I was trying to come up with something that was low profile and not too difficult to do to add a trolly strap to my NFTD and I think basic webbing like this would be perfect! Thanks for the nudge in the right direction!
I wish I could just use gate clips too but no option for that on the bag. I’ll probably just do tidy ends then stitch into the seam areas.
Cross your fingers!


fredletsTravels

http://www.fredletsTravels.com

#TeamUltraviolet

[moriond]

Adding a Connector point to the Icon Strap

Hi All,

With the December 2019 product debut, it seems that a lot of the questions that I've been answering on the forums involve product hacks, so I thought I should start recording some of these in this thread.

in the Love the Icon, but it needs ... thread @SparklingBlue posted:

I got mine today and I came here to say I’m really missing a couple of D rings on the outside. I would use a carabiner (the keychain kind, not the climbing kind) to hang my reusable shopping bag off it. I wonder if this is a mod I could do myself. Hmmm.

…and received this suggestion from @bchaplin:

@SparklingBlue, you could take an S-biner from NiteIze and attach it to one of the zipper pulls, to hang something like a reusable shopping bag. Though for me, having something bouncing around like that would be annoying. My solution has been to fold a slim nylon bag into one of my Mini Ghost Whale pouches, and I keep it inside the Icon's main compartment. (I usually prefer the Tom Bihn Shop Bags, but I'm not willing to give up that much real estate in the Icon.)

To which she responded:

That’s a good idea, thanks! I’m quite used to the bouncing around as I’ve long had a reusable bag attached to the outside of my daily bag - I use a ChicoBag Vita. It’s very soft so it doesn’t bounce distractingly like something heavy like keys would.

Here's an easy way to hack the Icon Strap to add a connection point for hanging the ChicoBag Vita:


You'll need a1-1/2" Triangle Metal Hook and one from the set of the new Strap Keepers. You do not have to remove the strap from the Icon to add the Triangle Hook as an attachment point.

Decide where you want to attach the triangle hook, pinch a section of the webbing from the strap together, and pass it through the slot at the bottom of the triangle hook:


Pass one of the Strap Connectors through the webbing section:


Secure the Strap Connector ends at the other side:


The top photo shows a ChicoBag Vita suspended by its cord to the triangle hook that I attached to the Icon strap. By the way, if I really want to carry a Large Shop bag around, I've been able to fold it into the pocket of my rain jacket. Just after the Zip-Top Shop Bags debuted, I had to travel for a couple of weeks in Asia and Europe for combined personal travel and work. For the European section, I typically had to shop for groceries (usually at the end of the day), while also working in trips to museums and places that restricted bags. You can see the packup into a pocket in this post (#7 in the Zip top shop bag question thread).

Credits: The original idea of using the Triangle Hooks to suspend items from the strap of a Cafe Bag was outlined, with pictures, in a brilliant first post
by @HonestMarshwiggle (#53 in this thread). Unfortunately, the Photobucket picture links in that post no longer work, so I'm simply giving a verbal description here.

HTH

moriond

[terayon]

The Handy Little Thing (size 2 in my case) makes a really great addition to the main pocket of my Synapse 25; I like it as an organizer within the bag but also as a grab-and-go bag with my essentials for when I don’t need the entire backpack or for switching between main bags. I tried the double carabiners that it came with attached to the Cache loops in the main pocket for, but the HLT2 hung lower in the main compartment than I wanted. I also tried single gatekeepers, but I found them to be a bit too fiddly to attach and remove the HLT2 on a regular basis.

My solution was paracord. I made two 6-inch loops of paracord with a big bulky diamond stopper knot (using these instructions):



Then I fed these loops through the Cache loops, with the big bulky knot towards the outside of the bag:



I made small overhand knots near the ends of the loops AFTER they were in the Cache loops (they are too bulky to feed through the loops) to give myself something to grab when I want to remove the HLT2.



Then I feed the loop-end (not the big bulky knot) through the top loop on the back of the HLT2, and pull it over the big bulky knot:



Continued in next post due to photo upload limits...

[terayon]

And the HLT 2 hangs nicely at the top of the S25:



The bulk of diamond stopper knot seems to be plenty to keep it from slipping out - I’ve been using this for a week and it’s been very secure. When I want to remove the HLT2, I grab the little tab made by the overhand knot and slip it over the bulky knot, and the paracord ties stay behind (and don’t get lost because they’re secured in the Cache loops by the two knots). I leave a waist strap attached to the back of the HLT2, so it doesn’t get lost either. Works great for me.

[G42]

I’ve been using this for a week and it’s been very secure. When I want to remove the HLT2, I grab the little tab made by the overhand knot and slip it over the bulky knot, and the paracord ties stay behind (and don’t get lost because they’re secured in the Cache loops by the two knots). I leave a waist strap attached to the back of the HLT2, so it doesn’t get lost either. Works great for me.

Very cool! Thanks for posting that!

[kamidake]

Hope this is okay to ask here. Thanks in advance. I recently received a S19 backpack and took it on a plane with me, and I found that I really miss having those outside side pockets some backpacks have for bottled water. Has anybody found a hack to create something similar? I know the center pocket was meant for a bottle, but because I was traveling, my bag was stuffed. And I had to buy water after going through TSA, so the bottled water will not fit without being really squished. Having one of those outside pockets really helps in this situation. I actually don't think this is a feature in any of TB's bags, is this correct?

[Lia]

I've had luck not changing the bag, but changing how I pack it. If you need a pocket to have room for a thing, pack that thing first then pack around it.

So put in a temporary placeholder bottle before you pack the synapse, then take it out after everything else is in. When you get through security, boom, slide a bottle in. Better yet, pack your empty reusable bottle, and fill it after security.

If it just won't fit, maybe you can leave something else off your packing list. Or maybe it's just not the right bag for that use. Maybe a bigger bag would work, or you can carry a second small bag.

[emoji851]

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[x3n0n]

First pass at a PCSB "FS"

I posted in the wish list that I thought I wanted a Packing Cube Shoulder Bag with some internal organization, and then I posted that I probably just wanted a PCSB "Freudian Slip". After thinking for a while and talking with my wife and my (other) daughter, we found some scrap fabric and hacked one together over a couple of evenings. (The structure is corrugated cardboard, the stitching is not the best, and the fabric is just cotton, but it holds what I was hoping. )

On the front, it has 2 pen slots, a pocket for a Hobonichi Weeks, and one for an iPad-mini-sized tablet (Samsung Galaxy Tab S2) or Kindle Oasis in a slim case.


On the back, just one big open-top pocket; I would probably choose to use something stretchy if I were to do it again.


It fits quite nicely in my Daylight Briefcase, and should fit pretty snugly in the main compartment of a PCSB, serving both as a stiffener and organization.