Techonaut for EDC?

[Cristina]

Alternate title: Techonaut goes to the pool.

I know some people will be wondering: can I use the Techonaut for one-bag travel AND as an EDC (everyday carry) bag?

Of course this makes sense given that many people are still traveling less often right now, and want to get the most for their money.

Some bags are perhaps more natural choices for diverse uses: the Synapses, Syniks, and Shadow Guides come to mind. The Techonaut, however, is a descendant of the Aeronaut, a pretty hardcore travel bag. Can I use this bag around town and keep my stuff organized without looking like I am carrying luggage?

My real-world test scenario will be using my Techonaut 45 to carry my kids swimming gear to their daily lessons for the next week. Last week I accomplished this with a Synapse 25 and a Monster Truck but good grief, wet swimming clothes and towels are heavy and I’d like to shift it all on to my back yet keep it easy to access in the gym.

This week I will use an Icon for EDC and fit it into the T45 with the swimming gear.

The challenges:
-keep swimming gear and EDC organized and accessible
-be comfortable to carry for the 1.5 mile uphill walk home
-not cause anyone to ask if I am moving into the swimming gym

Here is a pic of the Techonaut 30 and the Techonaut 45 (provided free by Tom Bihn to review).

The T45 main compartment contains an orange dry bag with swimwear and towels, a red dry bag with pool shoes, and a UV PCSB with goggles and shower stuff.




The T45 bottom compartment fits my very full Icon. The Icon does not fit in the T30 bottom pocket, in case you were wondering.

Ok, I can’t get my cursor to go past this next pic so I’ll end it here. I’ll add in my thoughts as I take this bag back and forth every day. I may try something similar with the T30 the week after next, when we don’t have swimming. I’ll report back soon!

[BigBadD]

Clearly Techonaut 45 can work for many purposes. But my instant reaction was that there are more affordable options than $370 for a swim kit bag… Of course if you have and justify the bag for other needs, then great idea to apply it for other usage, and yes why not for comfortably carrying family swim kit.

[Cristina]

Yes exactly, thanks that is just what I mean. The primary purpose here isn’t the swim bag, but it is to explore how else one may use the bag apart from travel. I would not take the Aeronaut around the neighborhood with me, as much as I do love it, but the Techonaut is more of a backpack and I think it could also be used in multiple ways to get a bit more for your money. It’s also a fun way for me to review a bag when I don’t have travel plans.

Clearly Techonaut 45 can work for many purposes. But my instant reaction was that there are more affordable options than $370 for a swim kit bag… Of course if you have and justify the bag for other needs, then great idea to apply it for other usage, and yes why not for comfortably carrying family swim kit.

[BigBadD]

Yes exactly, thanks that is just what I mean. The primary purpose here isn’t the swim bag, but it is to explore how else one may use the bag apart from travel. I would not take the Aeronaut around the neighborhood with me, as much as I do love it, but the Techonaut is more of a backpack and I think it could also be used in multiple ways to get a bit more for your money. It’s also a fun way for me to review a bag when I don’t have travel plans.

I’m curious, Cristina, to understand what makes you feel that the Techonaut is more of a useable backpack than an Aeronaut, particular for the larger 45? I realise the Techonaut has redesigned shoulder straps, but overall bag size and form are almost identical; and although I will reasonably carry an Aeronaut 45 as a backpack when travelling, I find its size not so practical or friendly in busy places due to its size. What do you see as differences for Techonaut? Perhaps my choice of more rigid Ballistic 1050 material adds to my perception?

[Cristina]

Yes I think you’re right BigBadD, that the material is making a difference here. l think an underfilled Halcyon bag often seems smaller than it is whereas Ballistic retains its shape a bit more and will always look the size it is when underfilled.

One little difference between the Aeronaut and the Techonaut makes the difference for me between “luggage” and “backpack” is the rounded top of the Techonaut. Ok, from the side the top looks bigger than the bottom, but looking at it straight-on, the rounded top says backpack to me. I’m curious to see if anyone comments on my bag this week suggesting it looks out of place (people here are not shy about this!)

I’m curious, Cristina, to understand what makes you feel that the Techonaut is more of a useable backpack than an Aeronaut, particular for the larger 45? I realise the Techonaut has redesigned shoulder straps, but overall bag size and form are almost identical; and although I will reasonably carry an Aeronaut 45 as a backpack when travelling, I find its size not so practical or friendly in busy places due to its size. What do you see as differences for Techonaut? Perhaps my choice of more rigid Ballistic 1050 material adds to my perception?

[bartleby]

Hi Cristina, awesome idea and pics! I know that folks have been asking whether the Aeronaut would also make for an EDC bag (here for instance) and I always thought: there are better options out there. But with the Techonauts it's different for a number of reasons: As you already mentioned it looks much more like a backpack, especially the back with the Mesh, the Skeleton padding and the straps that are much more visible compared to the Aeronaut. To me the Techonaut 30 in particular is a hot candidate for EDC depending on what you want to carry. Looking forward to your experiences....

[Cristina]

Hi Cristina, awesome idea and pics! I know that folks have been asking whether the Aeronaut would also make for an EDC bag (here for instance) and I always thought: there are better options out there. But with the Techonauts it's different for a number of reasons: As you already mentioned it looks much more like a backpack, especially the back with the Mesh, the Skeleton padding and the straps that are much more visible compared to the Aeronaut. To me the Techonaut 30 in particular is a hot candidate for EDC depending on what you want to carry. Looking forward to your experiences....

Thanks bartleby. I may decide it is not suitable for everyday use after all but it will be fun trying!

[Traveltech]

Cristina thanks for this post! I’m one of those wondering about versatility of the T30. I excited about the travel option, but would need to justify the price by being able to use it on the trip for EDC. I’m envisioning using it on a day hike, or a cruise excursion. How do you think it’d feel on your back for a 3-4 miles (easy) hike?

[Cristina]

Well, this was a short-lived experiment!

I have not traveled in so long now, I completely forgot how heavy 45 liters would get. So, the T45 did carry my EDC, the swim stuff, and lunch for three, but… I was not really into carrying all that weight for a few miles and a lot of standing around.

What I learned about the bag:
-The zippers are really easy to use
-The orientation of the outside pockets makes it awkward to lay down. Do I want the bag to lay on everything in the bottom pocket (my EDC), my Contigo mug containing 16oz of tea, or the side that touches my back all day? 🤔
-I do like the outside pockets. I put a Contigo thermal mug in the left (long) pocket and a slim can of seltzer in the top pocket, so they can genuinely fit 3D items.
-Looks-wise, I never felt out of place, it blended in like a large backpack
-The opening for the main pocket provides as much access as a clamshell backpack would, without the annoyance that can come along with that (for me that is taking up twice as much space when open).
-When full I NEED the padded hip belt. The one includes doesn’t do it for me.
-Can’t comment yet on the frame issue since I didn’t have my padded hip belt with me, and so it wasn’t sitting right anyway.
-45L is heavy and I am not built like an ox. I’m built like a T-Rex: strong legs but puny arms and shoulders

Tomorrow I am switching to my T30 (with a padded hip belt) and making the kids carry their own swimwear, towels, and pool shoes. The weight of trying to fit it all in my T45 has made me question why I am trying to carry everything myself. Stay tuned, @traveltech!

[Cristina]

Good news, Traveltech, I would say that the T30 is comfortable enough for a 3-4 mile hike with the caveat that you use whatever configuration of hip belt that you normally find comfortable and pay attention to the weight distribution. I had my heavier items in the bottom pocket and almost no weight in the top half, and it was fine but I might have been slightly better off if the weight was a little higher and closer to my back. Maybe there is a clever use of the tie-down straps here? I’ll experiment tomorrow.

Making the kids carry their own gear worked well, except that one of them lost their rain jacket at some point along the way (slipped out of the mesh bungees on their little backpacks) and no one noticed. Luckily it was placed somewhere visible for us to spot and retrieve it on our way home. I guess I’ll be clipping the jackets on tomorrow!

Getting to know the pockets and shall report back on that.

[Cristina]

So, I used the T30 again today with the Padded Hip Belt, and it was a big improvement. I know not everyone relies on the hip belt but I really do, even for loads that aren’t really that heavy.

I would say that the T30 is absolutely fine for everyday use at your destination, but I would think carefully before getting it for home everyday use (by which I mean a permanent dual use for travel and EDC).

You need to know yourself and what you need to carry in it. The main compartment is big and the contents will settle both away from your body into the depth of the bag, and downwards. I tried using the straps but it just didn’t work with what I was packing. If you need to carry larger items and a laptop regularly, it could be a great choice, particularly if your everyday use includes bulky gym or sports items. If you have a lot of small items, a Synik 30 would give you the same capacity but more compartments to separate your items.

For the rest of the week my EDC will be my Synapse 25 as I love separating my items and mapping them to their own pockets. Also. it is the most comfortable bag in this size range for me.

I would love to come up with another experiment for the Techonaut as they are gorgeous bags and the padded handles are downright luxurious to hold. When you take the bag off your left shoulder and swing it down your right arm, the padded handle is in just the right place to grab and stabilise the bag (to retrieve something from it, for example).

[mindbender]

If you have a lot of small items, a Synik 30 would give you the same capacity but more compartments to separate your items.

Hi Cristina - have to ask a question - Do you feel that the T30 has the same main compartment dimensions as the Synik 30? I have been very disappointed with the Synik 30's carrying capacity and it seems it's nowhere close to 30L since some of the advertised volume seems to be shared among the external pockets. The T30's main compartment looks much larger than the shallow main compartment of the Synik 30.

With the Synik 30, I can't pack for a 3-day weekend because the bag can't hold two medium packing cubes. I'm debating whether to pursue the Techonaut 30 or an Able Carry Max 30.

Thanks for your help with this.

[G42]

Welcome to the Forums mindbender !

[ayazgood]

Hi Cristina - have to ask a question - Do you feel that the T30 has the same main compartment dimensions as the Synik 30? I have been very disappointed with the Synik 30's carrying capacity and it seems it's nowhere close to 30L since some of the advertised volume seems to be shared among the external pockets. The T30's main compartment looks much larger than the shallow main compartment of the Synik 30.

With the Synik 30, I can't pack for a 3-day weekend because the bag can't hold two medium packing cubes. I'm debating whether to pursue the Techonaut 30 or an Able Carry Max 30.

Thanks for your help with this.

T-30 volume is underrated. It can hold the medium and small Peak Design packing cubes in the main compartment, though I chose to put the small cube in the bottom compartment when I did a test pack. FYI, the PD cubes should really be labelled large and medium. Discussion and pics at this post: https://forums.tombihn.com/forum/tom...562#post338562

[Cristina]

mindbender great question! This is the most important difference between the Synik/Synapse bags and most other bags, so it can’t be stressed enough, in my opinion. The Synik/Synapse bags give over an enormous amount of their stated carrying capacity to the smaller front pockets. Plus, the top of the bag is tapered both width-wise and depth-wise, so the main compartment is far from cavernous. If you want to compartmentalise smaller items and keep them all quick-access, then these bags are unsurpassed. If you would like a bag with a bigger and more rectangular main compartment, however, the Techonaut (or Aeronaut might make more sense. The main compartment of the Techonaut is deeper than that of the Synik, and it doesn’t really taper, though it is slightly rounded. The Aeronauts have just as boxy a main compartment but give over space to the other end pocket, whereas the Techonaut has one large end pocket and then the other external pockets are quite small and don’t really take away from the main compartment.

I hope this helps!

Hi Cristina - have to ask a question - Do you feel that the T30 has the same main compartment dimensions as the Synik 30? I have been very disappointed with the Synik 30's carrying capacity and it seems it's nowhere close to 30L since some of the advertised volume seems to be shared among the external pockets. The T30's main compartment looks much larger than the shallow main compartment of the Synik 30.

With the Synik 30, I can't pack for a 3-day weekend because the bag can't hold two medium packing cubes. I'm debating whether to pursue the Techonaut 30 or an Able Carry Max 30.

Thanks for your help with this.