Let me first give you a small bit of background about myself before I shift focus to the bag I'm reviewing:
I commute by car to a seated office job on weekdays, I come home to a suburban apartment where I park my car in a lot (and need to access my keys three times before I’m back inside my unit), and most my travel consists of weekend overnight trips reached by car where I stay at places without elevators and televisions (so I hand carry all my luggage and often pack my own snacks and entertainment).
My packing style traveling by plane or car is the exact same as when I go backpack hiking: small items I need to access quickly and often are kept in a smaller bag on my front side, and larger items I don't need until I reach my destination are kept in a larger bag I carry on my back.
Before discovering Tom Bihn, I didn't carry much on me: keys in my front pocket, a wallet in one back pocket, and my phone in the other pocket. I became interested in photography, and wanted a bag I could carry both a camera and all the aforementioned items, so in 2017, after a LOT of internet research, I settled on buying and using a Side Kick, tested it on a family summer vacation to Disney World, and became sold on not only the product, but the brand. I carried a Side Kick as my EDC (every day carry) for five years and until 2022, when I switched full-time to carrying a Co-Pilot.
So how did another bag unseat one I had been using for half a decade?
Let's get right into it.
This is a review of my favorite bag and the one I use most often: the Co-Pilot.
This one is Ursa 525 Ballistic/Dawn 210 Ballistic and was purchased in January of this year (2022).
I've used it every day since, and not only at work and home, but out to the store, along to the campground, and even wading through waist-deep creeks while out hiking. When I say "it comes with me everywhere," that's not one bit an overstatement.
The ballistic fabric is both sturdy and supple - it helps keep the bag standing without support, but also breaks in like a baseball glove and will conform to your hip instead of resting flat atop it. It also sheds pet hair like Teflon! We've not one, but three cats at home, and pet hair brushes right off without the need for a lint roller.
The brown color is a favorite. I generally don't buy black or gray bags and prefer the darker neutral colors like Ursa, Coyote, or Deep Blue. They transition seamlessly from professional to casual settings and the darker colors don't show wear or dirt as much as the lighter fabrics.
Here's what I carry on a daily basis:
Front Center Pocket: bottled water.
Front Right Pocket: organizer pouch (contains primary car key fob, ID, cash, cards, door key, finger bandages, lens wipes, spare pair of contact lenses), key strap, swiss army knife, sunglasses.
Front Left Pocket: 4 multicolor ballpoint pens, key strap with house and work keys, secondary car key fob.
Main Compartment: small, medium, and large power banks.
Back Left Inside Pocket: vaccination card, digital camera inside soft-sided case (also contains spare memory card and spare camera battery).
Back Right Inside Pocket: lip balm, rewetting drops for contact lenses, sodium bicarbonate tablets ("Tums"), short lightning-to-USB cord, medium micro USB-to-USB cord, long lightning-to-USB cord, wall plug charger, pocket comb.
Even with all that stuff inside, there's still plenty of room left over!
When I travel by plane, I'll use the extra room inside the main compartment for a tablet, charger, pill box, and my quart-sized liquid toiletry bag.
I only own hand-carry luggage, so I always keep the bottom of the back outside pocket zipped, and most often, it's where I'll tuck my smartphone on my way into or out of a building (leaving home, work, etc.) where I can quickly grab it once I get back in the car or house.
The shoulder strap is NOT the stock "Standard Strap." When I order a new Co-Pilot (yes, I have more than one!) I always include a note in my order to substitute the Simple Strap. Why? I like the grips on the bottom side of the shoulder pad, because I wear winter coats with a slippery nylon outer shell and it helps keep the shoulder strap from slipping off. It's also a lot more packable and when I set it down on a desk, I'll loosely fold the shoulder strap and tuck it into the back outside pocket to keep it from dangling.
Why do I like this bag so much?
It carries crossbody - everything is always in front of me where it's easy to see and grab.
All compartments open from the top, which keeps items from falling out, so I can carry the bag around unzipped. The top side access (combined with the crossbody carry style) also helps make things easy to find and access, and allows you to organize the contents in a way that you don't have to move or remove one item to access another, and can keep the contents inside the bag so you don't risk forgetting something you removed and leaving it behind.
Closes with zippers, and offers more weather protection than zipperless bags that close with a top flap (like the Cafe and Maker's Bags), but offers easier access than bags with a built in flap over the zipper (like the Paragon, or the Le Petit and Grand Derriere bags). The newer RC (racquet coil) zippers are an improvement upon the old Aquaguard zippers, and are better able to navigate the right angle closure of the front left and right compartments. They're easier and quicker to open, which is helpful for weatherproofing against rain or snow, as well as securing the contents prior to stashing the bag under a plane seat before a flight.
O-rings inside both the left and right front pockets allow me to clip my keys and wallet someplace I can reach them without removing the bag. I wouldn’t carry a bag every day if I had to first take it off to get either my keys or wallet, so it's super important to my EDC requirements to have easy access to both.
The bag is self-supporting and can stand up on its own, so not only does it keep my belongings visible and accessible while I'm wearing it, but I can set it down atop my desk at work and have easy access to the contents while I'm seated. I appreciate this most when using the bag as a personal item on flights, because I can remain buckled in my seat but still able to get anything I need from my bag without rummaging through it blindly or having to dump out the contents.
Unlike the Pilot, the main compartment's pockets are sewn onto the back - not the front - side of the main compartment, which keeps the bag resting against the wearer's body, instead of tipping it forward and away from them. I still don't understand why Tom Bihn doesn't mirror this layout on the full-size Pilot, because even filling these pockets, I still have plenty of room to fit not only a small tablet computer, but even my quart-size ziploc bag of toiletries.
The main compartments are generously gusseted, so when you need more organization, you can utilize the two large pockets inside the main compartment, but when you need more volume, they easily compress flat against the back of the compartment and allow you to utilize the larger volume.
It's sturdy, too. I don't try to abuse my bags, but I also don't baby them, and even after 9 straight months of daily use, the only visible wear is some light fraying along the urethane-coated backing on the Aquaguard zipper tracks (which TB has confirmed is just part of the bag's "breaking in" process and won't obstruct the path of the zippers).
I really don't have any recommendations when it comes to places the bag could be improved, other than making more colors than they do presently (like Coyote!). I think it might revitalize interest in older "classic" designs if they were to be made in colors and combinations they had not been prior.
I'm sure there's something I might have left out but ask me any questions you might have, and I can comment on this post with answers to build upon the review!
I commute by car to a seated office job on weekdays, I come home to a suburban apartment where I park my car in a lot (and need to access my keys three times before I’m back inside my unit), and most my travel consists of weekend overnight trips reached by car where I stay at places without elevators and televisions (so I hand carry all my luggage and often pack my own snacks and entertainment).
My packing style traveling by plane or car is the exact same as when I go backpack hiking: small items I need to access quickly and often are kept in a smaller bag on my front side, and larger items I don't need until I reach my destination are kept in a larger bag I carry on my back.
Before discovering Tom Bihn, I didn't carry much on me: keys in my front pocket, a wallet in one back pocket, and my phone in the other pocket. I became interested in photography, and wanted a bag I could carry both a camera and all the aforementioned items, so in 2017, after a LOT of internet research, I settled on buying and using a Side Kick, tested it on a family summer vacation to Disney World, and became sold on not only the product, but the brand. I carried a Side Kick as my EDC (every day carry) for five years and until 2022, when I switched full-time to carrying a Co-Pilot.
So how did another bag unseat one I had been using for half a decade?
Let's get right into it.
This is a review of my favorite bag and the one I use most often: the Co-Pilot.
This one is Ursa 525 Ballistic/Dawn 210 Ballistic and was purchased in January of this year (2022).
I've used it every day since, and not only at work and home, but out to the store, along to the campground, and even wading through waist-deep creeks while out hiking. When I say "it comes with me everywhere," that's not one bit an overstatement.
The ballistic fabric is both sturdy and supple - it helps keep the bag standing without support, but also breaks in like a baseball glove and will conform to your hip instead of resting flat atop it. It also sheds pet hair like Teflon! We've not one, but three cats at home, and pet hair brushes right off without the need for a lint roller.
The brown color is a favorite. I generally don't buy black or gray bags and prefer the darker neutral colors like Ursa, Coyote, or Deep Blue. They transition seamlessly from professional to casual settings and the darker colors don't show wear or dirt as much as the lighter fabrics.
Here's what I carry on a daily basis:
Front Center Pocket: bottled water.
Front Right Pocket: organizer pouch (contains primary car key fob, ID, cash, cards, door key, finger bandages, lens wipes, spare pair of contact lenses), key strap, swiss army knife, sunglasses.
Front Left Pocket: 4 multicolor ballpoint pens, key strap with house and work keys, secondary car key fob.
Main Compartment: small, medium, and large power banks.
Back Left Inside Pocket: vaccination card, digital camera inside soft-sided case (also contains spare memory card and spare camera battery).
Back Right Inside Pocket: lip balm, rewetting drops for contact lenses, sodium bicarbonate tablets ("Tums"), short lightning-to-USB cord, medium micro USB-to-USB cord, long lightning-to-USB cord, wall plug charger, pocket comb.
Even with all that stuff inside, there's still plenty of room left over!
When I travel by plane, I'll use the extra room inside the main compartment for a tablet, charger, pill box, and my quart-sized liquid toiletry bag.
I only own hand-carry luggage, so I always keep the bottom of the back outside pocket zipped, and most often, it's where I'll tuck my smartphone on my way into or out of a building (leaving home, work, etc.) where I can quickly grab it once I get back in the car or house.
The shoulder strap is NOT the stock "Standard Strap." When I order a new Co-Pilot (yes, I have more than one!) I always include a note in my order to substitute the Simple Strap. Why? I like the grips on the bottom side of the shoulder pad, because I wear winter coats with a slippery nylon outer shell and it helps keep the shoulder strap from slipping off. It's also a lot more packable and when I set it down on a desk, I'll loosely fold the shoulder strap and tuck it into the back outside pocket to keep it from dangling.
Why do I like this bag so much?
It carries crossbody - everything is always in front of me where it's easy to see and grab.
All compartments open from the top, which keeps items from falling out, so I can carry the bag around unzipped. The top side access (combined with the crossbody carry style) also helps make things easy to find and access, and allows you to organize the contents in a way that you don't have to move or remove one item to access another, and can keep the contents inside the bag so you don't risk forgetting something you removed and leaving it behind.
Closes with zippers, and offers more weather protection than zipperless bags that close with a top flap (like the Cafe and Maker's Bags), but offers easier access than bags with a built in flap over the zipper (like the Paragon, or the Le Petit and Grand Derriere bags). The newer RC (racquet coil) zippers are an improvement upon the old Aquaguard zippers, and are better able to navigate the right angle closure of the front left and right compartments. They're easier and quicker to open, which is helpful for weatherproofing against rain or snow, as well as securing the contents prior to stashing the bag under a plane seat before a flight.
O-rings inside both the left and right front pockets allow me to clip my keys and wallet someplace I can reach them without removing the bag. I wouldn’t carry a bag every day if I had to first take it off to get either my keys or wallet, so it's super important to my EDC requirements to have easy access to both.
The bag is self-supporting and can stand up on its own, so not only does it keep my belongings visible and accessible while I'm wearing it, but I can set it down atop my desk at work and have easy access to the contents while I'm seated. I appreciate this most when using the bag as a personal item on flights, because I can remain buckled in my seat but still able to get anything I need from my bag without rummaging through it blindly or having to dump out the contents.
Unlike the Pilot, the main compartment's pockets are sewn onto the back - not the front - side of the main compartment, which keeps the bag resting against the wearer's body, instead of tipping it forward and away from them. I still don't understand why Tom Bihn doesn't mirror this layout on the full-size Pilot, because even filling these pockets, I still have plenty of room to fit not only a small tablet computer, but even my quart-size ziploc bag of toiletries.
The main compartments are generously gusseted, so when you need more organization, you can utilize the two large pockets inside the main compartment, but when you need more volume, they easily compress flat against the back of the compartment and allow you to utilize the larger volume.
It's sturdy, too. I don't try to abuse my bags, but I also don't baby them, and even after 9 straight months of daily use, the only visible wear is some light fraying along the urethane-coated backing on the Aquaguard zipper tracks (which TB has confirmed is just part of the bag's "breaking in" process and won't obstruct the path of the zippers).
I really don't have any recommendations when it comes to places the bag could be improved, other than making more colors than they do presently (like Coyote!). I think it might revitalize interest in older "classic" designs if they were to be made in colors and combinations they had not been prior.
I'm sure there's something I might have left out but ask me any questions you might have, and I can comment on this post with answers to build upon the review!
Comment