OSCA - Old School Carry All - First Look

[Cooner]

I'm not sure how I've either never seen this while browsing the TB website and forum, or else consistently overlooked it.

Right now I'm using one of those cheap black rectangular nylon type gym bags, and aside from its very minimal organization, one thing I hate about it is its utter shapelessness. It dissolves into an unmanageable puddle when mostly empty, and takes on all kinds of weird shapes depending on what and how much is packed inside. I'm guessing that this bag, especially in a 1050 ballistic, would be much more structured and hold its shape? (Yet still be malleable enough to stuff into a locker at the gym?)

I'm curious how y'all think my stuff would fit into its TomBihn TARDIS space and organization pockets? Typically I carry:

- 1 pair size 11 running shoes (pretty stiff, not very compressible)
- 1 moderately fluffy bath towel
- 1 matching hand towel
- up to 3 2XLT cotton gym shirts (tho I should probably switch these to a thinner athletic material 🤔)
- 1 pair knee-length gym shorts
- Fresh shirt, overshirt, socks and underwear (to dress up after showering off)
- Mesh shower tote bag with small shampoo, body wash, and scrubby puff
- Assortment of deodorant stick, comb, hair gel, etc.

I also keep a combination padlock looped to the outside of the bag to secure my locker while at the gym … which it sounds like one of those external lash tabs might be perfect for.

Any thoughts from folks who've used one of these bags before? Thanks! :)

[G42]

I know this comes up in basically every discussion of Taiga, but incredible how much the color can change based on context (much lighter, pastel-y green than I expected)!

I don't think either version of Taiga get enough love, they're both really nice and totally change depending on the lighting as you note.

[bleepbloop]

Appreciate you taking the time you took to take them and post!

I know this comes up in basically every discussion of Taiga, but incredible how much the color can change based on context (much lighter, pastel-y green than I expected)!

[ayazgood]

Do you have any photos of the color way? I'm on the fence!

Pics attached, by popular demand! FYI, I never found a personal use for it, so may just sell it.

[bleepbloop]

I'm going to retract my eyeroll at the Navy/Taiga combo. Somewhat surprisingly (to me), I rather like the white grid Taiga 200 in person.

Do you have any photos of the color way? I'm on the fence!

[ayazgood]

Ordered Navy/Taiga OSCA this morning after watching the night walk and navy/dawn low stocks disappear as soon as they appeared. Am I the only one that finds Navy/Taiga to be an odd combination? TB never ceases to amaze with their utter disregard for the color wheel!:D:cool::rolleyes:

I'm going to retract my eyeroll at the Navy/Taiga combo. Somewhat surprisingly (to me), I rather like the white grid Taiga 200 in person.

[ayazgood]

Ordered Navy/Taiga OSCA this morning after watching the night walk and navy/dawn low stocks disappear as soon as they appeared. Am I the only one that finds Navy/Taiga to be an odd combination? TB never ceases to amaze with their utter disregard for the color wheel!:D:cool::rolleyes:

[kjquilts]

I do not need the Old School Carry All, there's no use for it in my life, but I want to say that Navy 1050 ballistic/Dawn 210 ballistic is my dream combination and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get an Aeronaut 30 in it at some point. (I don't think the layout of the Techonaut would work as well for me - the three compartments of the Aeronaut 45 are excellent and I need those two flat not-lockable end exterior pockets for how I pack.) It does look like a great size for a personal item on trips, able to be sturdy even when not fully packed.
(I am waiting for the Side Kick in Nightwalk/Tidal to come back so I can get one, I missed out the first time!)

marbenais Side Kick in Nightwalk/Tidal is in stock not sure if you already have one

We ordered two OSCA's today ..... black ballistic / moab for Larry and halcyon tiaga combo for me. I really wanted one in black halcyon to match many of my other TB items but do have Side Kick in 400 Tiaga halcyon so I'm sure it willl be fine. We need to start going to the exercise room / pool in our development and these will make great gym bags. Love the entire set up of this bag :)

[marbenais]

I do not need the Old School Carry All, there's no use for it in my life, but I want to say that Navy 1050 ballistic/Dawn 210 ballistic is my dream combination and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to get an Aeronaut 30 in it at some point. (I don't think the layout of the Techonaut would work as well for me - the three compartments of the Aeronaut 45 are excellent and I need those two flat not-lockable end exterior pockets for how I pack.) It does look like a great size for a personal item on trips, able to be sturdy even when not fully packed.
(I am waiting for the Side Kick in Nightwalk/Tidal to come back so I can get one, I missed out the first time!)

[G42]

Had a quick trip by car for an overnight... packed the OSCA for real




Side pocket:
A30 NWSky Small Laundry Cube with change of clothes
folded pair of jeans
sleep pants & shirt rolled, on top

Other side pocket:
Zojirushi bottle
Island ballistic E/TC used as mobile office
Kindle Paperwhite in green zip case
2x Kind bars

Main compartment:
Dawn SSC used for toiletries
Solaris SSC used for chargers, etc.
...both SSCs fit end to end along the base of the main compartment
On top, Dawn clear 3DOC for 'wet' toiletries
medium NWSky YSS with my practice knitting




Used my Op Tech strap (like a mini Absolute strap) and slung it cross body to my back to carry
Very neat and useful bag

[bartleby]

Great reviews and pics G42, bchaplin, moriond! As I just returned from a short trip to the US and the new items arrived too late to try them our right away, I just add first impressions pics just for the color comparison. I add more thoughts later :)

This bag was provided to me by Tom Bihn free of charge. When I saw the first pictures of the Old School Carry All I thought this has to be in Burnt Orange! I do love this color on other bags but because of the retro feel it looks especially nice on this bag (I added the Absolute Shoulder Strap from my collection as this is a shoulder bag although the carry handles are really comfortable too):





My first impression is that the main compartment is smaller and that the side compartments are much deeper than they appear at first glance. What I also like is that the bottom of the bag is or at least feels reinforced which I think is great (especially in comparison with the Yeoman Duffles which feel much less structured).



Just for size comparison I add a pair of sneakers here (US size 11):



For the details I'll be back soon :)

[G42]

Great photos G42 ~ someone today was asking to see it side-by-side with the Yeoman, so I shared this with them!

The Yeoman pics were moriond 's ?

[Darcy]

Great photos G42 and moriond ~ someone today was asking to see it side-by-side with the Yeoman, so I shared this with them. We somehow never take many of the bags-side-by-side-with-other bags photos so these are very helpful!

[moriond]

That's a nice review bchaplin - I really like your chart!
(and the Small Yeoman was $100 last time it was available)

moriond - to clarify on my pic/pack out, my 13" Macbook Air was on it's long edge/horizontally in the main compartment (if I read your comment right)

Yes, what I meant was that for the Mini and Small Yeoman Duffel laptop packups, the laptops were all laid flat, parallel to the bottoms of the bags, and not “on edge”. What was not obvious (without seeing it demoed in the picture) was that the entire laptop would fit through the “U-shaped” opening of the Mini Yeoman Duffel, given that the zippered opening didn’t go all the way to the ends of the bag, and that if I flipped over the flattened Mini YD and laid the 13” laptop in a 6Z cache on top of it, it looked like this:

In fact, I could also stuff that Solar Side Effect upright beside the inserted 13” laptop in cache, and also fit in a 14” laptop there (or drop in a Daylight Briefcase holding just a laptop into that Mini YD. Because of the curved shape of the OSCA and its zipper in the vertical direction, there is not as much leeway in carrying a larger laptop in the bag as in the Mini Yeoman Duffel.

ETA: Maybe I should point out that an 11” iPad Pro can easily be carried where you have your laptop in the OSCA, if that isn’t obvious?

moriond

[G42]

That's a nice review bchaplin - I really like your chart!
(and the Small Yeoman was $100 last time it was available)

moriond - to clarify on my pic/pack out, my 13" Macbook Air was on it's long edge/horizontally in the main compartment (if I read your comment right)