Western Flyer

[Sco1t]

This is what is currently in my Western Flyer:

In my Western Flyer I have:

2 shirts
1 tie
1 t-shirt
1 pair of shorts
1 Convertible Packing Cube/Shoulder Bag
1 small toiletries bag (contains: ear plugs, door lock, Leatherman micro, a micro Maglite, 12 headache tablets, 1 Victorinox SwissCard, 1 travel razor, 1 travel toothbrush, toiletries (all the following are in travel size containers: 1 shower gel, 1 shaving foam, 1 toothpaste, 1 after shave moisturizer, 1 after shave, 1 deodorant))
1 scarf
1 pair of gloves
1 hat
1 pair of lightweight training shoes
2 pairs of underpants
2 pairs of socks
1 Dell D620 laptop
1 Dell power cable
1 small umbrella
1 Horizontal Freudian Slip (contains: 1 A4 sized hardback notebook, work notes (often 0.5” thick), 1 Economist magazine, 5 A4 size envelopes, 20 sheets plain A4 paper, 3 pens, 2 flip chart markers, 1 pack of mints, tissues, 1 15cm ruler, Post-it notes, 1 pencil sharpener, 1 roll of sellotape, 30 business cards, 1 mini clear organizer pouch (contains 1 blob of blue tack, 10 paperclips, 5 elastic bands, 5 wire ties, 1 Post-it page tabs).
1 iPhone cradle and cable
1 5 metre long LAN cable
1 320Gb External Hard Drive
1 pack of tissues
1 spare mobile phone
1 staff ID pass
1 1 litre Platypus water pouch
1 lightweight rain jacket
1 Absolute Shoulder Strap
1 kitchen sink


Regards,
Scott

[Darcy]

Western Flyer

In this thread, post a list or pictures of What You Carry in your Western Flyer. We will add your packing list to the Western Flyer page to help give other people a better idea of what the bag can hold.

[Shiva]

Packing the WF

This is what I could carry:

1. 3 pairs of dress pants
2. 4 long sleeved dress shirts
3. 1 linen jacket
4. lt wt nylon workout pants, top, sports bra
5. night clothes
5. small point and shoot camera
6. overcoat (fairly bulky)
7. 6 sets of underwear including socks
8. basic toiletry kit
9. small medicine kit
10. a file of papers

and all this fit in without an issue, and I could carry it really easy. And I am a relatively small made person.

[helder_jb]

I just came back from Campos do Jordao, a city in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Temperatures ranged from 9-17 celsius (48-62F). It was a 5-day trip, here is my packing list:

Worn
1 pr jeans
underwear
1 pr shoes
1 pr merino wool socks
jacket (containing my canon sx110 camera, headphones, flashlight)
undershirt
polo shirt
1 pr lightweight merino wool underpants

On bag
1 pr pants
1 pr merino wool socks
1 pr flip-flops
1 t-shirt
2 shirts
1 midweight merino wool long-sleeve shirt
2 pr underwear
zip lock with equipments (cell phone charger, extra battery, nimh charger, sd card reader)
gorillapod
small zip lock bag with basic medicine (tylenol, etc)
tom bihn 3d cube with toiletries
clothesline
sink stopper
a few cereal bars

Total weight of bag: 4.5kg (9.9lbs).

[red]

Who needs more than 1600 cubic inches?

Just for fun, I packed my Western Flyer all wrong. 16 shirts, 3 pairs of heavy pants, 8 pairs of socks and underwear. It all fit and still weighed 17.6 pounds, bag and strap included. Who says you need to do laundry every day or two?

I could get rid of a few shirts and trade the jeans and heavy canvas pants for lighter weight travel pants and easily have room for a sweater, fleece, and a pair of shoes, but I only bring extra shoes when I'm on a marathon trip and I can wear the sweater and a jacket on the plane.

Photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/4789207...7623386225067/

--Red

PS--no, I don't really need 16 shirts, this was just a proof of concept project for me

[ex machina]

That is a pretty impressive proof of concept. I had discounted the Western Flyer as too small for my needs but I may have to reevaluate that after viewing your photos.

[red]

That is a pretty impressive proof of concept. I had discounted the Western Flyer as too small for my needs but I may have to reevaluate that after viewing your photos.

I'm still planning on getting an Aeronaut for those times when I need to bring the laptop (17" MacBook Pro) and its heavy charger or need to pack stuff for our children (8 and 10 years old) as I can get all of my and their stuff in one larger bag and still be at about 20 lbs total weight (or a bit more with the laptop). My wife refuses to give up her roller bag no matter how many times they make her gate check the stupid thing.

--Red

[addiopolis]

Great Pictures. Nice proof of concept

Just for fun, I packed my Western Flyer all wrong. 16 shirts, 3 pairs of heavy pants, 8 pairs of socks and underwear. It all fit and still weighed 17.6 pounds, bag and strap included. Who says you need to do laundry every day or two?

Awesome! Yes, it's obviously excessive and overloaded. But, it's possible. I'd been debating for awhile about choosing one bag for carry-on only travel. I don't have any luggage right now, but I also don't have a lot of money. So choosing a tiny bag seems dangerous, yet I also thought it would help me learn to pack light. It looks as though I wouldn't have too if I didn't feel like it. It looks like the packing cubes really make it a lot easier to get everything in, and probably out. Thanks for the great series of pictures. I'm definitely leaning towards a Western Flyer.

[foozler]

Thanks Red

As a happy Aeronaut owner I've long thought about downsizing when possible. Your packing list and pictures clearly show the WF opportunities. Now if Tom would only bring out those two new contenders Darcy keeps mentioning, I could decide which would best fit my needs. Thanks again for your help.

[helder_jb]

18 days with my Western Flyer (Europe trip)

Last Sunday I came back from Europe, it was my first trip there and my Western Flyer was my sole luggage for the 18 days.

Here goes my packing list:

Jacket
2 pants (1 poly/cotton jeans and 1 tencel)
3 pairs of ExOfficio boxers
2 pr shoes (1 lightweight)
2 pr Tilley walking socks
1 pr Flip Flops
2 polo shirts
1 long-sleeve shirt
1 short-sleeve shirt
1 sweater
2 white undershirts
1 icebreaker midweight merino wool top (long sleeve)
1 smartwool legging
money belt
phone & charger
in-ear earphones (which can also mute sounds when I want to sleep)
4 nimh batteries & charger
camera (canon sx110)
gorillapod
flashlight (never go w/o one!)
spork
universal power plug (uk, europe, us)
nokia foldable keyboard (for smartphone)
sd reader
3-1-1 bag (this includes soap for washing clothes)
medicines
lightweight rain coat
sink stopper
inflatable hanger
clothesline

This is my whole packing list, including what I was wearing in the plane. I wore the heaviest clothes.

Total weight of the bag: 5.9kg (almost 13lb).

Most of the washing during the trip was made in sinks, but on day 10 we went to a launderette.

Here is a picture of the WF ready to leave the hostel:

[Ms. Ferret]

Week-long trip to the east coast

Here's what I stuffed into my WF - 2 long-sleeved merino blouses
- 2 short-sleeved merino blouses
- 3 merino tank tops
- 1 cotton tank
- 1 pair bike shorts
- 1 skirt
- 1 pair pajama pants
- 7 pairs Ex Officio underwear
- 1 extra bra
- 1 pair sandals
- 2 pairs wool socks
- 1 pair tabi socks
- 1 3-1-1 toiletries cube:
- half scrubby Salux towel
- 1 Skinvac washcloth
- 2 1 oz. squeeze bottles shampoo/conditioner
- Venus razor
- small dropper bottle SPF 50
- Irving Rice folding mirror
- tweezers
- eyelash curler (Japonesque folding)
- lipstick
- 1 oz pitotube mosquito repellent (CB Outside)
- pot of unpetroleum
- acetate comb
- roller bottle perfume
- 1 sheepskin "Elmer Fudd" hat
- 1 set silk long underwear (long-sleeved top and longjohns)
- Gifts:
- 6 pounds macadamia nuts
- 2 insulated shopping bags
- 4 calendars

Observations:
Ex Officio underwear is awesome.
Ibex and Icebreaker merino gear is also awesome.
Skinvac towels -- don't pack face wash or moisturizer -- this will take the grime off your face without the need to moisturize later.
Travel trick: to get extra-clean, cut a Salux washcloth in half lengthwise. It's like a loofah, only far better and easier to pack up. Dries instantly if you do the roll-in-towel-and-stomp method.

In retrospect I packed far too much for an 8-day trip, but the Western Flyer handled everything in style. I smugly (and without excessive bumping) passed all of the people trying to shove their rolling steamer trunks into the overhead compartments of the plane and effortlessly shoved the WF under my seat. Good times...

[OnMyWay]

Packing list for my new WF on my recent trip to India. The WF wasn't my main bag, it was my briefcase/computer bag plus held clothes in case my checked bag was lost.

Here is the full list of what I packed when I left. The contents changed slightly at each stop of my trip as I moved the dirty clothes to the checked bag and moved the clothes I needed for the next stop into the WF. Weight was about 12 pounds. I did also carry on a small purse that didn’t really fit into the WF although I could have forced it in an emergency.

Front main compartment with divider unzipped (packed in a bundle):
2 pairs dress pants
1 lightweight cotton cardigan (this and the sweater was in the center of my bundle)
1 lightweight cotton sweater
1 blouse
2 short sleeve t-shirts
1 tank top
2 pairs underwear
Spare bra

Back main compartment (I was pleasantly surprised to see the two big pockets in this compartment, I don’t remember them being described on the web site):
Netbook computer fit perfectly in one pocket (I didn’t need a case since there was plenty of protection from the padded backing of the WF and the packing cube shoulder bag I stored next to the netbook)
Packing cube should bag containing non-liquid toiletries and personal items
Second pocket contained some work stuff, pens, notepad, etc. I used the key strap to attach my keys to hang into this pocket also.
Rectangular case with computer cables (similar to snake charmer but smaller I think), this fit perfectly at one end of the compartment
1 pair dress shoes fit between the PCSB and the computer cable case

Back pocket (I have the model without backpack straps):
Clear plastic folder (containing itinerary, boarding passes, etc.)
Newspaper

Front pockets:
Lower pocket – cell phone
Upper pocket – passport, clear organizer wallet
Water bottle pocket – 3-1-1 liquids bag

As I mentioned, I did also carry a small purse and my checked bag (21”) held the rest of my clothes and some additional work papers.

When going to meetings, the WF was emptied of clothes and just contained my netbook, work papers, etc. Not full, the WF looked great as a briefcase and conveniently held a water bottle in the front zipped pocket.

[dorayme]

@ OnMyWay Can you photograph the pockets in the rear compartment. I'm pretty sure mine doesn't have these. Is yours the backpack or rollerblade style?

[OnMyWay]

Here you go Dorayme--I have the rolling luggage pocket version of the WF.

This is the bag standing upright, the pockets are easy to reach into from the top:




Here is the bag fully unzipped. You can see my key strap hanging from an o-ring in one of the pockets. The pockets hold a lot but are flat if you don't want to put anything in them.

[blackfungi]

either the newer wester flyer have those inner pockets or the pockets only come with the rolling luggage version. i know for sure that my western flyer back pack version does not have those two pockets. what about you guys? i bought mine in 2010.