Cross-country road trip bags

[tCook]

Last year, I spent 45 days driving a 9,300 mile loop around the country. My Tom Bihn bags were a great help and most of them were in and out of the car with me every night (I had a couple of longer stops, but mostly kept moving each night). Halfway through, I picked up my BFF in Delaware and we had a TB bag-fest going on in the back of the car. This picture, in Virginia Beach, shows 1) my Honda Element, the best road trip car *ever*, 2) my Synapse, Aeronaut, and Co-Pilot, 3) the BFF's Side Effect and Aeronaut, and 4) a bunch of other gear (the trip included some camping so we were pretty loaded down!).

There were some packing cubes (Aeronaut, 3D, clear quarter) inside, but I wanted to share this picture of our all-around-the-U.S. bags!

[Maria]

What fun! Those bags look like they can take a great deal and still look organized! Well done.

[dorayme]

that sounds like the most awesome trip ever! Love the photo too!

[OnMyWay]

Looks great! Like some sort of puzzle or Tom Bihn tetris...

[pretzelb]

When I bought my Subaru Forester the other car I was looking at was the Honda Element. I still look at them whenever I see them. They do seem like fun cars.

[malamalama]

That is a great picture. One question: is that a navy Aeronaut or a different shade of blue? Tried searching, but couldn't find if the aeronaut was made in other colors previously. If that is a navy, then it's interesting how light it looks in the photo compared to my cordura navy. Also, if you tell me it's because of how the ballistic nylon 'shimmers' in the sunlight, I'd be even more excited.

[gmanedit]

malamalama: "is that a navy Aeronaut or a different shade of blue?"

Appears to be Indigo, Navy's predecessor.

[tCook]

Yes, I think gmanedit is right ... that's the BFF's bag. It's definitely not navy, and indigo sounds right ... she bought it last year.

[tCook]

Looks great! Like some sort of puzzle or Tom Bihn tetris...

Haha, totally ... the car got emptied and re-packed a couple of times, and I was able to keep decent sight lines the whole time! Definitely tetris-like.

[tCook]

Also, thanks to Darcy for adding this post to the blog! I had a serious moment of letting my TB fan girl freak flag fly.

[Lime]

Wow, that really does look like a Tom Bihn fest. They fit in the Element as well as a Tom Bihn packing cube.

[malamalama]

Appears to be Indigo, Navy's predecessor.

Thanks gmanedit. I don't remember the Aeronaut coming out in that color, but it looks great.

[gmanedit]

malamalama: "I don't remember the Aeronaut coming out in that color, but it looks great." Indeed, it was great, and the red even more so, but in small doses; to my taste, they were too loud for a large bag. I have the Indigo Kit, and I got tired of looking at it (it reposes at the bottom of my Synapse). I think the new colors are better for the long haul.

[Just]

I disagree: I have the Aeronaut in Crimson and the Tri-Star in Indigo. Granted, they are more appropriate colors when one is not parading them about in town (they do attract eyes), but in your room at the end of the day, the colors are almost like a playful puppy enticing you to smile.

[moriond]

I totally agree with Just here: I, too, have the Aeronaut in crimson and the Tri-star in indigo, and both are great colors. I'm also really glad I ordered the Swift in Indigo/Black ballistic nylon before this disappeared, although I have other Swift/Lux bags. And I use a Kiwi Kit in my indigo Synapse instead of my Indigo Kit, to improve visibility of items in that bag.

moriond