Well here I am in the 2nd Hotel Room in as many days trying to stay cool while admiring the new Synapse sitting nearby.
I thought I would jot down a few observations after cramming it full of stuff and being on the road with it as my "Toy Bag".
At first I thought I would try to travel with it as my only bag but it quickly became clear this was not to be. Aside from it being insanely heavy and overloaded I found it hard to remove any single item without emptying its pocket in the process.
So I ended up with the Synapse and my Trusty Briggs&Riley small duffel which resembles in no small way the Aeronaut.
I will leave out of this review the quality of the materials and thoughtful,skilled construction which I think we all have learned here to expect.
Suffice it to say the bag in very well done in every way and the Navy Cordura is beautiful and understated too.
I was initially sort of amazed by the huge capacity I perceived on first look out of the box but after packing and playing with it for a while I would revise my wonder to being impressed by the design.
On their own each pocket of this bag is very large and by themselves can hold objects much larger than you would expect.
The bag also seems to retain its slim profile despite attempts to over stuff it and I am now convinced this is all due to design.
The pockets each expand to the inside of the bag. This allows any pocket to carry a huge load but also takes away from the total capacity of the bag which is shared between the pockets. Putting a huge thing in the side pocket takes space from the bottle pocket for instance. The bottle pocket takes space from the main compartment,etc. and so it goes.
I think it is brilliant as I can divide the space as I need to and the bag never seems contorted or the clean lines upset.
It has taken me a few days spending much more time than practical (aside from the 1200 mile drive with nothing but time to ponder all this?) to understand this but now that I do it helps imagine how I could use the bag for different purposes.
On this trip I have used it as follows.
Main Compartment:
Ipad in over sized OtterBox Case
11" Macbook Air in InCase Shell inside a Waterfield Sleeve inside the pocket
5 or 6 Magazines(paper)
Food in Ziplock Quart Bags( Nuts,Banana Chips,etc.) and 6 Cliff and 4 Lara Bars.
2-700ml Water bottles
MiFi in Clear Wallet
Small Cambridge Notebook
Spare Levenger Pocket Briefcase cards
Tiny Pocket:
Gum
Chapstick
Visine
Mints
Rolaids
Bluetooth earset
Keys
Side Pocket 1:
Camera in Sleeve Case( Lumix ZS3)
Ipod Cable
Small dual USB Lighter Adapter
Strange little Multi-Tool that I hope I can fly with
Side Pocket 2:
Beano
Immodium( Notice the Anti-Gas theme?)
StreamLight Penlight
Head Lamp
Rotring "Lucky" Pen
Bottom Pocket:This pocket is not even 1/2 stuffed
Camera Charger
Ipad Charger
Macbook Charger
Fenix Bright as Sun Light
Bottle Pocket:
700ml bottle or anything else this pocket is simply huge.
Non of the pockets except the Tiny Pocket are really stuffed at all.
I could easily get much more in each one and I will be trying to find a small Tripod to fit in the Bottle Pocket as this would be a dream come true.
Overall the bag has but 1 flaw for my purposes......it is a BackPack. I certainly can't hold that against it as it is a BACKPACK but I just can not seem to adapt to wear one as such!
If it had 2 rings to attach a Shoulder Strap it would be perfect to me.
Just a thought. I feel the same way about every backpack I have ever seen that did not have them.
I guess you can tell I love the bag,now if I can accept owning just 1? Not too likely.
I have 3 Brain Bags,it is a Sickness I have embraced.
Try one or more,I think you will like it.
Ed
I thought I would jot down a few observations after cramming it full of stuff and being on the road with it as my "Toy Bag".
At first I thought I would try to travel with it as my only bag but it quickly became clear this was not to be. Aside from it being insanely heavy and overloaded I found it hard to remove any single item without emptying its pocket in the process.
So I ended up with the Synapse and my Trusty Briggs&Riley small duffel which resembles in no small way the Aeronaut.
I will leave out of this review the quality of the materials and thoughtful,skilled construction which I think we all have learned here to expect.
Suffice it to say the bag in very well done in every way and the Navy Cordura is beautiful and understated too.
I was initially sort of amazed by the huge capacity I perceived on first look out of the box but after packing and playing with it for a while I would revise my wonder to being impressed by the design.
On their own each pocket of this bag is very large and by themselves can hold objects much larger than you would expect.
The bag also seems to retain its slim profile despite attempts to over stuff it and I am now convinced this is all due to design.
The pockets each expand to the inside of the bag. This allows any pocket to carry a huge load but also takes away from the total capacity of the bag which is shared between the pockets. Putting a huge thing in the side pocket takes space from the bottle pocket for instance. The bottle pocket takes space from the main compartment,etc. and so it goes.
I think it is brilliant as I can divide the space as I need to and the bag never seems contorted or the clean lines upset.
It has taken me a few days spending much more time than practical (aside from the 1200 mile drive with nothing but time to ponder all this?) to understand this but now that I do it helps imagine how I could use the bag for different purposes.
On this trip I have used it as follows.
Main Compartment:
Ipad in over sized OtterBox Case
11" Macbook Air in InCase Shell inside a Waterfield Sleeve inside the pocket
5 or 6 Magazines(paper)
Food in Ziplock Quart Bags( Nuts,Banana Chips,etc.) and 6 Cliff and 4 Lara Bars.
2-700ml Water bottles
MiFi in Clear Wallet
Small Cambridge Notebook
Spare Levenger Pocket Briefcase cards
Tiny Pocket:
Gum
Chapstick
Visine
Mints
Rolaids
Bluetooth earset
Keys
Side Pocket 1:
Camera in Sleeve Case( Lumix ZS3)
Ipod Cable
Small dual USB Lighter Adapter
Strange little Multi-Tool that I hope I can fly with
Side Pocket 2:
Beano
Immodium( Notice the Anti-Gas theme?)
StreamLight Penlight
Head Lamp
Rotring "Lucky" Pen
Bottom Pocket:This pocket is not even 1/2 stuffed
Camera Charger
Ipad Charger
Macbook Charger
Fenix Bright as Sun Light
Bottle Pocket:
700ml bottle or anything else this pocket is simply huge.
Non of the pockets except the Tiny Pocket are really stuffed at all.
I could easily get much more in each one and I will be trying to find a small Tripod to fit in the Bottle Pocket as this would be a dream come true.
Overall the bag has but 1 flaw for my purposes......it is a BackPack. I certainly can't hold that against it as it is a BACKPACK but I just can not seem to adapt to wear one as such!
If it had 2 rings to attach a Shoulder Strap it would be perfect to me.
Just a thought. I feel the same way about every backpack I have ever seen that did not have them.
I guess you can tell I love the bag,now if I can accept owning just 1? Not too likely.
I have 3 Brain Bags,it is a Sickness I have embraced.
Try one or more,I think you will like it.
Ed
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