Super Ego Review

[misterN]

Well... My Super Ego came from UPS today and I've managed to load it up and take some pictures.




My Super Ego and various pouches unboxed.



Medium Solar Dyneema: AV Cords, Bluetooth Mouse, iPad Charger Brick, AV out for my Macbook.
Padded Kindle Sleeve: My Kindle!
Small Clear/Red Pouch: iPod Cable, Mini/Micro USB Cables, 2 Prong Macbook Power Brick Adaptor, Phone/Kindle USB charger
Small Padded Pouch: 8 GB iPod Touch, Multi-Flash Drive Reader
Micro Padded Pouch: Earbuds
Micro Clear/Black Pouch: Lens Cloth, Mini LED Light
Small Solar Dyneema: SD Card Holder, iPad SD/USB Connection Kit, Cannon D3100 Battery Charger
Other Things: Various Sized Moleskins, 32 GB iPad, 13" Macbook, Macbook Power Brick, Caselogic USB Drive Case, 16 Inch Wasabi Key Holder, 8 Inch Key Holder, Pens+Pencils, Camera Case (Need to find something different to keep my camera with my bag, it adds too much bulk.)
Not Pictured (Forgot to take out of bag): Nikkor 55-200mm Lens, HTC EVO 4G.



Side shot of my bag with its pouches exposed.



Other Side of my bag.



Inside of the front pocket.



Main pocket opened up.



Obviously I haven't had much time to see it works for me. I'll provide an update with my opinion of the first few days. The only thing that might take some adjustment for me is the fact that with the Q-AM strap, I need sling it over the opposite shoulder I'm used to, and have the bag on the right side. But overall I'm in awe of the quality of the bag, and very very happy with my purchase thus far.

I'm eventually going to get a Brain Cell for my laptop. I'm not planning on keeping my macbook for much longer, provided I can afford to either buy a maxed out 11.6 Macbook Air or an April 2010 15" Macbook Pro (used).

[Katy]

Don't fret! You can slide off the Female attachment piece off the strap, rotate it along with the strap and it will make the bag hang to your left :). It might take some trial and error but it will work! If you remove the strap from the bag. Lay it face up with the adjustment pieces toward you and the plain webbing side away from you. You'll notice, currently the female buckle on the strap is facing to your right. Slide the buckle attachment off the shoulder strap and rotate it so it faces left. Replace the shoulder strap with the adjustment portion of the strap on the left of the bag and the plain webbing side on the right. Flip your bag face down and switch the male side of your waist strap to the opposite side and Tada! I'll try this out tomorrow to ensure I'm correct. I'll even make a guide (similar to the one I made for the Replacement of the Absolute Strap hardware!). If you put into the comments field during checkout, that you prefer to carry your bag so it hangs to the left, we will make sure to rotate it for you before we send your bag out :).


UGH! I feel like this is wrong. I'll definitely confirm in the morning when I can get my hands on the strap!

[DQBunny]

Look at all those pouches! Great photos. :)

[misterN]

Don't fret! You can slide off the Female attachment piece off the strap, rotate it along with the strap and it will make the bag hang to your left :). It might take some trial and error but it will work! If you remove the strap from the bag. Lay it face up with the adjustment pieces toward you and the plain webbing side away from you. You'll notice, currently the female buckle on the strap is facing to your right. Slide the buckle attachment off the shoulder strap and rotate it so it faces left. Replace the shoulder strap with the adjustment portion of the strap on the left of the bag and the plain webbing side on the right. Flip your bag face down and switch the male side of your waist strap to the opposite side and Tada! I'll try this out tomorrow to ensure I'm correct. I'll even make a guide (similar to the one I made for the Replacement of the Absolute Strap hardware!). If you put into the comments field during checkout, that you prefer to carry your bag so it hangs to the left, we will make sure to rotate it for you before we send your bag out :).


UGH! I feel like this is wrong. I'll definitely confirm in the morning when I can get my hands on the strap!

I managed to get it swapped around. It took awhile, as there is not much give removing the straps through the buckles. It feels at home now when I put the bag on :)

[misterN]

Just thought I'd post up a picture from work. HTC Evo camera isn't so great, but here it is!

[misterN]

A small write up...

Some thoughts about my Super Ego...


I've had the bag for six days now, and every day I am more and more happy with the bag. It is just so superbly built. It is my first Tom Bihn bag, but I did my research, lurked the TB forums for about a month before I pulled the trigger on buying the bag. I knew it would be a well built bag--but I wasn't ready for exactly how well built it would be.

I haven't had much experience with bags, baggage, and what not. I have quite a few canvas bags (I'm a bit of a bag fanatic,) and some other bags, but if anyone were to ask me what "denier" was, I wouldn't have had a clue. I've only held one other "high quality" bag in my hands ever, and that was an Air Boss by Red Oxx (returned due to their shipping not being able to get the product to me in time for a trip.) When I feel the outside of the bag, with the 1050 ballistic nylon, it feels tough without having that bulky industrial nylon feel.

I'm not sure if I like the interior because of the way it feels, the way it looks, or a combination of the both. Perhaps it is the color. I have a Black/Steel/Wasabi color set. Maybe it is a combination of the color, feel, and sheen of the Cordura. Whatever it is, I really like it.

Obviously, Tom thinks through every single design feature. I love having all of the O-Rings in the bag. I have a ton of pouches hooked up, and I'm planning on adding more.

Speaking of the pouches--I'm torn between which one I like the most. I don't have a full Cordura pouch yet. I really like my Solar Dyneema pouches that I purchased. The feel they have is excellent--I don't worry about something pressing through the bags at all. I have several padded and clear pouches in addition to the Dyneema ones--I like them all. I picked up two mini-sized pouches--that may have been a mistake. They might be just a little small for what I need.

The front of the bag, under the flap is wonderful. That main compartment is large enough for me to hold everything I need at a quick grab. The two front pockets can hold pencils and small cases (in my case, a caselogic USB drive holder.) The side zippered pockets that go behind those front pockets are spacious, and obviously the Wasabi Cordura looks beautiful as usual. One of the pockets holds a Mini + Small padded organizer pouches, and the other holds a clear small plus my Macbook charger. The only thing I'm having troubles with is trying to figure out a way that I can utilize the "neopreneie" small pockets that go between the front zipper and the bottle holders on the side

My biggest issue I'm having with the bag right now the main compartment. In there I've been carrying my iPad, Macbook, Kindle (in a TB padded sleeve,) and a Medium Dyneema bag with a bunch of miscellaneous cords and my bluetooth mouse. My problem is that my macbook is flopping around in that compartment because I didn't purchase a brain cell. I'm not planning on keeping this macbook much longer if I can manage it--so I wanted to hold off on buying a brain cell until I decided if I were to go with an Macbook Air or a Macbook Pro. I'm also thinking about picking up a Freudian Slip--just for some additional organization in the main compartment. Between a Brain Cell and a Freudian Slip--I'd gain a lot of structure to the bag from the Brain Cell, plus the Slip's organization

The only real negative I can come up with right now, is the Q-AM strap. I know I'm carrying around a lot of stuff, but I feel like the padded section of the strap mostly goes across my chest, and the back part of my shoulder gets the end of the padded section and the strap. I was walking my friends dog, with a fairly loaded bag (only missing my large dSLR,) after about a mile and a half, I started to really feel the weight of the bag. The bag is very secure with the strap, but I just feel like too much of the padded section was too far forward.
Edit: I came up with the idea that adjusting the back of the strap would pull the padded section further back, thus eliminating my entire paragraph previous. Just ignore the small words and laugh at my stupidity!


All that being said, I still love this bag and I feel like it one of the best purchases I have made in quite some time. Feel free to post any questions or comments you guys have.

[Darcy]

Great photos and review, MisterN. Thank you!

[misterN]

Great photos and review, MisterN. Thank you!

No problem!

[Rebez]

Thank you for your review. I am currently thinking of purchasing the Super Ego. I was thinking of the Ego but I have so many tech toys that I lug to work. I just can't bare to leave them at home. Kindle, ipod, camera, 15" MBP (I will soon be purchasing 13" MBAir). I carry 2-1TB 2.5 external hard drives, blue tooth mouse, notebooks, etc.

I'm still torn between these two bags but after purchasing the LCB I think I will be happy either way. I just think that if I get the Super Ego, will I be able to fit Micro Center in there? hehe

[AVService]

Thank you for your review. I am currently thinking of purchasing the Super Ego. I was thinking of the Ego but I have so many tech toys that I lug to work. I just can't bare to leave them at home. Kindle, ipod, camera, 15" MBP (I will soon be purchasing 13" MBAir). I carry 2-1TB 2.5 external hard drives, blue tooth mouse, notebooks, etc.

I'm still torn between these two bags but after purchasing the LCB I think I will be happy either way. I just think that if I get the Super Ego, will I be able to fit Micro Center in there? hehe

Sorry but I have tried to fit Micro Center in mine and I can only get the Apple section in it!
But I do keep trying.

Ed

[misterN]

Thank you for your review. I am currently thinking of purchasing the Super Ego. I was thinking of the Ego but I have so many tech toys that I lug to work. I just can't bare to leave them at home. Kindle, ipod, camera, 15" MBP (I will soon be purchasing 13" MBAir). I carry 2-1TB 2.5 external hard drives, blue tooth mouse, notebooks, etc.

I'm still torn between these two bags but after purchasing the LCB I think I will be happy either way. I just think that if I get the Super Ego, will I be able to fit Micro Center in there? hehe

No problem at all! You should be able to fit everything without much of a problem. Below is a packing list where I've got quite a bit of stuff in my Super Ego, but I definitely still have more room left.

How Heavy is your Bag?