New Cardinal/Steel Cadet and Aeronaut

[misterN]

Below you will find two pictures I took of my new bags. I'm still up in the air about the color however. Below that, is a link for a very bad video I put of me unpacking my Aeronaut.



The Cadet all by itself.



The Cadet and Aeronaut

IMPORTANT: BEFORE YOU CLICK THE VIDEO LINK, TURN DOWN YOUR COMPUTERS VOLUME

misterN's very bad unedited video


...and here's a duck, duck, goose.


Initial Impressions on the Cadet

It is indeed QUITE a bit smaller than my Super Ego--so that little fear I had is gone. I really like the pocket sewn into the main compartment for papers/magazines/my iPad. Another feature of the Cadet that I find myself liking just off the rip is the Ultra-suede compartment in the front of it. It fits my HTC Evo quite nicely. With my Macbook Air in it's regular Cache--I feel like it is aptly sized. While I thought I would prefer the smaller size Cadet if I could have fit my 13" Air into it--I think this will be quite nice. Now if I could just be 100% with the color--the tags would be coming off the bag this instant!

[maverick]

i love the pictures, and the color! can't wait to see the video!!

[misterN]

Thanks Mav. The video is up. I gotta figure out iMovie a bit more--I just feel like it shouldn't 4x the size of the file I started working with in the first place!

To the TB Staff: All the clothes that went into the Aeronaut were clean! I'm still up in the air about the color.


Also, my light was/is very bad in my downstairs room. The pictures were taken on a tripod with a 10 second exposure. I played around a bit with the RAW file to get the colors to appear on my screen the way my eyes see it which appeared on my other monitor on my windows computer and this monitor on my Macbook Air as different so... Yea. Go technology!

[dorayme]

Great looking set, sorry the color is iffy for you. It definitely isn't "boring", though I don't think any of the TB bags are boring, even in basic black and steel grey.

[Tlacltme]

Hurray! Nice job on the photos and the video. I can't get over all of the jeans you packed in the Aeronaut! Wow. It looks so much smaller than it packs. I'm with maverick on the color, I REALLY like it. But you're right that, at least in your pics, it looks a little more cherry red than the website pics. And obviously, if you're not wild about the color you should go with a color you like better. Could you post some interior pics of the Cadet or maybe do a quick video of it? Good work on the turnaround, misterN!

[misterN]

Great looking set, sorry the color is iffy for you. It definitely isn't "boring", though I don't think any of the TB bags are boring, even in basic black and steel grey.

I think part of the problem I am having is the fact that as a whole--I would say that 85% of the computer briefcases I've ever seen have been either Black, Grey, Blue, or Leather in color/construction.

[maverick]

this is an awesome video, misterN!!

when you edit in imovie, i believe you're working with uncompressed video, so it's larger than what a nikon might capture. i don't know if the current version of imovie stores the stream in dv format, but i know those files can get really big really fast.

when you export the project, the resulting file size will depend on the dimensions you select. you specified 720p, and that's a good thing, and hence the large file size.

as you create more videos, you may want to store your imovie events and projects on an external disk. if you create folders on the external disk called "iMovie Events" and "iMovie Projects," imovie will find them and load them when it starts up.

[maverick]

I think part of the problem I am having is the fact that as a whole--I would say that 85% of the computer briefcases I've ever seen have been either Black, Grey, Blue, or Leather in color/construction.

there is black/iberian, steel/solar, and navy/solar if you want to give those a go. i think they all look just gorgeous!! see if you want to stay with a color that is in your comfort zone or if you want to stay with cardinal/steel.

i was a long time fan of crimson. my first tom bihn bag was a crimson/steel smartalec backpack (the interior was made out of 500d cordura rather than ripstop dyneema back then), and i didn't want 1050d ballistic nylon color. i came to tom bihn after having used many computer bags, all of which were black. everyone used ballistic nylon of one sort or another, and offered it in black. so when i found the crimson, i was in love!

i broke from my comfort zone, and have enjoyed several tom bihn fabric colors over the years - they are all beautiful!

[misterN]

REQUESTS: If you have any specific questions about certain features about the Cadet, please post them and I'll add them into the pictures I'm attempting to take.

[dorayme]

I think part of the problem I am having is the fact that as a whole--I would say that 85% of the computer briefcases I've ever seen have been either Black, Grey, Blue, or Leather in color/construction.

yes, most computer bags are lacking in personality. Your Cardinal combo has plenty of personality!

You should love your bags though, color and all. They should make you swoon.

[Tlacltme]

Well shucks, if you're calling for requests... :) How much extra room is there in the front compartment? Could you fit several pouches? Could you fit an apple or a bottle of water (the regular plastic bottle 20 oz size)? What about the main compartment? Is it bare except for the Cadet Cache "tracks"? How much room is leftover if you have your Cache in there? Could you fit a water bottle? Umbrella? Stuff in a thin raincoat/coat? A lunch? A second laptop (in its own Cache, of course)? Just curious because TB products seem to be able to magically swallow stuff! Thanks for all of your help!

[misterN]

Cadet Pictures Incoming

First: Those straps that threw me for such a loop in trying to figure out how exactly the Cadet Cache worked. Pretty simple really--which shouldn't be surprising considering the fact that Tom designs bags that are simple, yet feature rich.


Secondly: A picture of the built in section for papers/magazines and two O-Rings in the main compartment of the Cadet.


Thirdlyish: Front compartment, empty. The brown part on the front flap is the Ultra-suede.


Fourth: The iPhone/Phone/Personal Electronic Device Ultra-Suede Compartment


Last (for now!) The back exterior pocket with rolling luggage pass through zipper

[Maria]

Great shots! I especially like the duck, duck, and goose!

The video made me truly appreciate the volume the Aeronaut can hold, to see all those jeans in there really helped. The red interior shows up well, and it should help with finding anything in the bag against that colour. I really like Forest - a neutral, yet different. (Just in case you are still on the red fence.)

Cheers!

[Maria]

REQUESTS: If you have any specific questions about certain features about the Cadet, please post them and I'll add them into the pictures I'm attempting to take.

Oh I too wouldn't mind seeing all you can fit in the front pocket segment. ;)

[Walker]

REQUESTS: If you have any specific questions about certain features about the Cadet, please post them and I'll add them into the pictures I'm attempting to take.

Does your dslr fit inside the cadet? With a lens mounted? The specs indicate 4.5" thickness of the bag front to back, so I am wondering. If yes, is the foam padding sufficient for the camera?

In general, I regretted keeping items ordered online that did not grab me right away on unboxing, hoping they would grow on me. Thanks for the video!