Ego as a travel bag.

[daisy]

My Tom Bihn Ego bag is normally used for my weekend tech load.

But this week I used it for a two night trip to our national capital, along with my MCB. We travelled by train 4.5 hrs each way. We stayed in a nice hotel so I took only the minimum in toiletries, which saved a little weight.

The ego weighed about 5.8 kg, the cafe bag hardly anything :-). My stuff fitted in comfortably and there were even a couple things I didn't use (ie could have reasonably left behind)





(click through to flickr for labels on pictures)

[JLE]

Funny, last night I was just looking to see if the Ego or Super Ego would work as a travel bag. I decided the WF was still the one for me, but your post has given me food for thought.

[daisy]

It worked really well. The weather was a bit colder than I expected so I ended up not changing into the dress for the second evening (it's one of those meant-to-be-crumpled dresses, so no problems with wrinkles.)

I washed a pair of socks because I thought I'd not brought enough.... Turned out I'd been far too clever and stuck one pair into the toe of the ballet flats, and promptly forgotten.

The large packing cube is a little long for the Ego, so I just folded the contents a little short and tucked the end around.

I just realized that I didn't include two things in the pictures - a small pouch of iPad charging stuff and a small pouch of camera charging stuff in the zipped pockets on the front .. this bag just swallows stuff. Oh, and a magazine and a newspaper in the back pocket.

[JLE]

"this bag just swallows stuff" - the refrain of every TB owner!

[KmK]

Awesome...you've just helped me decide. Am going to Indonesia this summer for a month and need a carry-on that will hold a substantial amount of stuff on the outside chance my luggage and I do not meet up for a while. Small suitcase to check with month supply of necessary toiletries, etc. and rest of clothing... and SE with what I need for a week or so. Most other trips I take are for a week or less so this will be a perfect addition.

Thanks!

[JLE]

Daisy, I meant to ask earlier - which packing cube is the large one?

[daisy]

Daisy, I meant to ask earlier - which packing cube is the large one?

It's a Western Flyer large.

[JLE]

It's a Western Flyer large.

Thanks! Very useful to get a sense of scale.

[daisy]

I'm listening to the 5by5 podcast which discusses the new ristretto design, which mentions the "problem" of the original design not having a zipped compartment where you can just throw stuff loose and not have it fall out.

The Ego has a semi open compartment on the front. To avoid anything slipping out while the bag is in a luggage rack etc, I use pouches and keystraps - the Ego is well supplied with o-rings. I don't carry anything 'loose'.