This year’s December debut was an extremely rich one. So many different things to explore! Before ordering opens tomorrow, I add some more photos of the Icon and the HLTs here and hope they’re helpful.
The Icon
There has already been a lot of debate about the design and whether the curved and colored zippers are too fancy. That of course is a matter of taste but I think that especially the Black/Island (shown here) and the Nebulous/Red combo are gorgeous!!! But it not only looks sharp, it also works great!
Here is my packing list (from the top left): keys, wallet, agenda, bars, pen, light sweater, earphones, tissues, mobile phone, sunglasses, camera.
Agenda and bars go into the back pocket. The main compartment swallows the sweater and my camera, pen goes into one of the designated slots, earphones are packed into a Super Mini Ghost Whale clipped to one of the O-Rings, mobile phone and wallet go into the two top open pockets on the inside of the front panel. Finally, keys, tissues and sunglasses are placed in the front pocket. Ready to go (by the way I am 6’).
One of the innovative features of the Icon is the “rabbit whole” that swallows the excess strap when you shorten it. In conjunction with the new quick adjusting buckle it is very easy to adjust the strap length. I made two little videos showing how that works:
The strap itself is quite long but you can shorten it down to very short to use it as a handle ;-)
For those of you who need more organization the good news is that the Small Cafe Bag Freudian Slips just fits into the Icon. Ok, it is perhaps not optimal because you have to fumble a bit to use the backpockets of the Freudian Slip but otherwise it works fine. As you can see, the Freudian Slip is just as a high as the Icon. It even reaches into the “attic” of the bag (the excess space above the zipper). But you can close the zipper anyway.
Handy little Thing 1 and 2:
The name says it all: These two little cuties are extremely handy! As I learned from the TB description, they were designed alongside the Syniks to fit in their lower outside pocket. Thus, the smaller one (HLT 1) is assigned to the Synik 22 and the larger one to the Synik 30 (HLT 2). However, they work just as well in other bags or on their own as they have a couple of very clever features.
Here you see a HLT 1 on the left in the brand new Logic Blue 630 d Nylon and an HLT 2 on the right in good old Island Halcyon (one of my favorite fabrics, by the way!).
The backside already reveals that they are meant to be fixed somewhere, e.g. inside of a backpack such as the Synik or at the pocket of an airline seat (pics on product page) or the outside of a backpack such as the Smart Alec. A pair of double-carabiners (for the first batch actually two pairs in different sizes) is included to help you doing that. As you can see, there are a couple of loops on the back that you can also use for a belt. I used a leather belt which is 3,9 cm (about 1,5 inch) wide and about 3 mm (0,12 inch) thick. That is about the maximum that fits through these loops. The HLT 1 has just two loops on each side while the HLT 2 has one additional smaller loop as well as an additional webbing strap in the middle (example use shown here). The large loops have the same size on both HLTs.
By the way: If you use the HLTs in this manner be careful that you do not open the top zipper more than halfwise to make sure nothing falls out! (No, the zipper doesn’t open by itself when you open it carefully).
The HLTs also have a handle on the bottom which is meant to be used when you hold them like a book (pics on the product page). I don’t use it that way but I think this handle is equally useful to pull the HLT out of a densely packed bag.
To give you a better understanding of the size of the HLT 2: It has virtually the same width and height (9,1’’ x 5,3’’) as the side effect (8,7’’ x 5,1’’) – shown here in 1050 d black Ballistic – but it has a bit more depth (2,6’’ vs. 2’’).
Now, the biggest asset of the HLTs are their inner organization. They open like a book and reveal their clever inner life:
First the HLT 1. I use it to organize the bits and pieces I need because my new MacBook is equipped with USB-C outlets only (looks smart but is soooo annoying). In the mesh pocket on the right I have three adapters. My presenter and a thick pen are stowed in the elastic webbing loops in the middle. My USB flash drives are stored in a Super Mini Ghost Whale and clipped to one of the O-rings (which for my taste should rather be placed on the outer not the inner side of the side panel, which would make the handling easier when you operate the HLT upright from the top. Same holds true for the zipper: I would prefer the zipper opening from the out- to the inside). Other very small adapters are stored in the two small little zipper pockets on the left. One row of the webbing loops is elastic, the other not which is great for fixing things that have clips (e.g. a multitool). There is an additional open pocket under the mesh pocket where you can store a small notebook or something similar.
My mobile phone (iPhone 7) fits in the outside pocket:
Alternatively, I put a Mini Ghost Whale in the mesh pocket and my phone in the pocket underneath:
The HLT 2 has the same organizational features as the HLT 1 but everything is a bit bigger. My packing list (clockwise from the left): wallet, keys in Island Super Mini Ghost Whale, earphones in Mars Red Super Mini Ghost Whale, pocket knife (European style with a corkscrew…), bars, tissues, sunglasses and mobile phone in the outside pocket, pen in the middle, notebook (A6) with an additional pen under the mesh pocket).
Alternatively, I used a small Ghost Whale in the mesh pocket and two Super Mini Ghost Whales in the small zippered pockets.
Personally, I like the size of the HLT 1 better than that of the HLT 2, especially when I wear it on a belt. But that – of course – depends on what you need it for and how tall you are. Both are very handy indeed!
The Icon
There has already been a lot of debate about the design and whether the curved and colored zippers are too fancy. That of course is a matter of taste but I think that especially the Black/Island (shown here) and the Nebulous/Red combo are gorgeous!!! But it not only looks sharp, it also works great!
Here is my packing list (from the top left): keys, wallet, agenda, bars, pen, light sweater, earphones, tissues, mobile phone, sunglasses, camera.
Agenda and bars go into the back pocket. The main compartment swallows the sweater and my camera, pen goes into one of the designated slots, earphones are packed into a Super Mini Ghost Whale clipped to one of the O-Rings, mobile phone and wallet go into the two top open pockets on the inside of the front panel. Finally, keys, tissues and sunglasses are placed in the front pocket. Ready to go (by the way I am 6’).
One of the innovative features of the Icon is the “rabbit whole” that swallows the excess strap when you shorten it. In conjunction with the new quick adjusting buckle it is very easy to adjust the strap length. I made two little videos showing how that works:
The strap itself is quite long but you can shorten it down to very short to use it as a handle ;-)
For those of you who need more organization the good news is that the Small Cafe Bag Freudian Slips just fits into the Icon. Ok, it is perhaps not optimal because you have to fumble a bit to use the backpockets of the Freudian Slip but otherwise it works fine. As you can see, the Freudian Slip is just as a high as the Icon. It even reaches into the “attic” of the bag (the excess space above the zipper). But you can close the zipper anyway.
Handy little Thing 1 and 2:
The name says it all: These two little cuties are extremely handy! As I learned from the TB description, they were designed alongside the Syniks to fit in their lower outside pocket. Thus, the smaller one (HLT 1) is assigned to the Synik 22 and the larger one to the Synik 30 (HLT 2). However, they work just as well in other bags or on their own as they have a couple of very clever features.
Here you see a HLT 1 on the left in the brand new Logic Blue 630 d Nylon and an HLT 2 on the right in good old Island Halcyon (one of my favorite fabrics, by the way!).
The backside already reveals that they are meant to be fixed somewhere, e.g. inside of a backpack such as the Synik or at the pocket of an airline seat (pics on product page) or the outside of a backpack such as the Smart Alec. A pair of double-carabiners (for the first batch actually two pairs in different sizes) is included to help you doing that. As you can see, there are a couple of loops on the back that you can also use for a belt. I used a leather belt which is 3,9 cm (about 1,5 inch) wide and about 3 mm (0,12 inch) thick. That is about the maximum that fits through these loops. The HLT 1 has just two loops on each side while the HLT 2 has one additional smaller loop as well as an additional webbing strap in the middle (example use shown here). The large loops have the same size on both HLTs.
By the way: If you use the HLTs in this manner be careful that you do not open the top zipper more than halfwise to make sure nothing falls out! (No, the zipper doesn’t open by itself when you open it carefully).
The HLTs also have a handle on the bottom which is meant to be used when you hold them like a book (pics on the product page). I don’t use it that way but I think this handle is equally useful to pull the HLT out of a densely packed bag.
To give you a better understanding of the size of the HLT 2: It has virtually the same width and height (9,1’’ x 5,3’’) as the side effect (8,7’’ x 5,1’’) – shown here in 1050 d black Ballistic – but it has a bit more depth (2,6’’ vs. 2’’).
Now, the biggest asset of the HLTs are their inner organization. They open like a book and reveal their clever inner life:
First the HLT 1. I use it to organize the bits and pieces I need because my new MacBook is equipped with USB-C outlets only (looks smart but is soooo annoying). In the mesh pocket on the right I have three adapters. My presenter and a thick pen are stowed in the elastic webbing loops in the middle. My USB flash drives are stored in a Super Mini Ghost Whale and clipped to one of the O-rings (which for my taste should rather be placed on the outer not the inner side of the side panel, which would make the handling easier when you operate the HLT upright from the top. Same holds true for the zipper: I would prefer the zipper opening from the out- to the inside). Other very small adapters are stored in the two small little zipper pockets on the left. One row of the webbing loops is elastic, the other not which is great for fixing things that have clips (e.g. a multitool). There is an additional open pocket under the mesh pocket where you can store a small notebook or something similar.
My mobile phone (iPhone 7) fits in the outside pocket:
Alternatively, I put a Mini Ghost Whale in the mesh pocket and my phone in the pocket underneath:
The HLT 2 has the same organizational features as the HLT 1 but everything is a bit bigger. My packing list (clockwise from the left): wallet, keys in Island Super Mini Ghost Whale, earphones in Mars Red Super Mini Ghost Whale, pocket knife (European style with a corkscrew…), bars, tissues, sunglasses and mobile phone in the outside pocket, pen in the middle, notebook (A6) with an additional pen under the mesh pocket).
Alternatively, I used a small Ghost Whale in the mesh pocket and two Super Mini Ghost Whales in the small zippered pockets.
Personally, I like the size of the HLT 1 better than that of the HLT 2, especially when I wear it on a belt. But that – of course – depends on what you need it for and how tall you are. Both are very handy indeed!
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