if you check in a bag, don't wait until 3 hours before you're leaving to wash it

[maverick]

note to self: if you decide to check in your bag and it comes out on the baggage carousel looking dirty, don't wait until 3 hours before you're leaving for your next trip to wash it!

if you wait until 3 hours before you're leaving for your next trip to wash it, hope for a warm and sunny day and find a place to let it drip outside dry before you pack it!

fortunately, it only took about 3 minutes to wash the aeronaut. hoping it won't take more than an hour to dry my aeronaut. it's nice and warm and sunny out there.

the aeronaut is hanging from the handle of my wife's sienna!

i think i better go check and see if the front is dry and flip it if it is...

[dorayme]

Good luck with that. My synapse took a little over half a day, but it was in my tub on a drying rack, not outside. Yet another marketable feature of the minimalistic Aeronaut!

[backpack]

I found that the only draw back to a full wash is that the bag is not available to play with while being washed then air dried.

As a result, I have been spotcleaning but some of my bags have been protesting:"It's not Louis the Fourteenth court here, we need a full bath!"*

* bags backtalk not intended to be a factual statement.

[moriond]

Maverick,

You should have asked Zephyrnoid how long it took his Aeronaut to dry out when he did his famous shower test three and a half years ago. For the newcomers, there was an old discussion thread, Serious Rain Protection for Brain Bag, in which GaryS commented on the limits of YKK zippers holding up to extreme downpours, and challenged the comment from the earlier review of the Aeronaut that

To test the protected zippers, we subjected Aeronaut to a 10 minute shower- Not a drop of water was discovered inside.

with the remark

There is no way the Aeronaut would survive such a "test".

and

Zephernoid- Yes I would like to see you put your Aeronaut in the shower for ten minutes.

Zephyrnoid responded to the challenge:

That's it! I'm shooting a video of me in the (near) buff showering with the Aeronaut- should be a hit on YouTube.Tom. There had better be a raise in this for me!

I have to report that sadly, the original YouTube video of this test, where Zephyrnoid took his Aeronaut into the shower and also specifically hosed the zippers, is no longer up (some things man was just not meant to know). However, forum readers from that time can attest to the convincing nature of the shower test -- especially when Zephyrnoid unzipped the Aeronaut afterwards and pulled out a dry paper towel that he had placed under the zippered region.

Here are some of the posted reactions:

You have persuaded me! Should keep the rain out of anything short of a typhoon. Thanks for the video.

and from GaryS:

Hoo-hah! I laughed so hard I blew Diet Coke out of my nose! (What a mess.)

You win.

Enjoy.

moriond

[Lani]

note to self: if you decide to check in your bag...

Well there's your problem right there!!

[maverick]

Well there's your problem right there!!

hi lani,

i've checked my crimson aeronaut a couple of times. when i was returning from india in february, it was under some unfortunate circumstances, and i was mentally drained and decided to minimize what i was taking on the plane with me. and having checked it before, i knew how the bag might come out looking. indeed, the airline's baggage handling system did not fail to meet my expectations.

i was forced to check my aeronaut by doha security once before - not because i was carrying anything unsafe, but because the security officer did not like me.

and i had checked it by choice once before that when i had done some shopping on a trip and had a box to check in anyway. so i decided to also check in the aeronaut. i think that was when my aeronaut first got dirty.

but otherwise, i always carry on.

by the way, i'm glad to report that my aeronaut dried in time and i was able to take it with me on my trip to the uk!

[Fat Crip]

i was able to take it with me on my trip to the uk!

Where were you in the UK? I know Pillar only lives about 50 miles from me, but I've never actually seen a Tom Bihn bag in the UK in the flesh!

[maverick]

Where were you in the UK? I know Pillar only lives about 50 miles from me, but I've never actually seen a Tom Bihn bag in the UK in the flesh!

hi eric,

i flew into heathrow and rented a car - a vauxhall insignia wagon. we stayed in milton keynes and spent a lot of time in bedford. i love the english countryside and the quiet neighborhoods.

i was carrying my indigo synapse backpack while i was there, and in addition to that, i travelled with a crimson aeronaut and a steel aeronaut.

[Fat Crip]

MK - weird film set world. Glass malls and offices a weird red glow in the dark pyramid and no people out in the open.

I've never been to Bedford, but my school housemaster (yes I was at an English boarding school) and friend of over 30 years came from there. If he's representative then they must be great folks.

I love English country pubs, its just a shame that they are closing al the time.

I'm sorry to have inflicted Heathrow on you. It is a national shame. Definitely not a place to check your bag if you harbouring hope of ever seeing it again!

Eric