Aeronaut Breve

[eristick]

I vacation-tested the Aeronaut and Imago along with the custom packing cubes on my recent trip to Montreal. (Photo attached, had a great time, thanks.) Thanks to the evil JFK airport, I spent a lot more time with this bag on my back than I intended to, and can report that it's remarkably comfortable even when one is dog-tired and at the end of their rope. (Other photo is of me in the comparatively lovely Philly airport.) Also, those handle-thingys on the sides are really, really brilliant when dragging the bag in and out of planes, trains, and automobiles. I was amused to catch my cabbie checking out my bag admiringly.

We flew on tiny airplanes, so tiny that even the Aeronaut doesn't fit in the overhead. The flight crew made most people relinquish bags to the cargo hold, but let me carry my Aeronaut on to the plane every time. In comparison, my boyfriend's flight case is an older one that is not all bloated with expandable compartments, and is therefore about the same size as the Aeronaut. I blame this discrepancy on the Aeronaut being a backpack, the lack of wheels, and the sleek design.

[eristick]

For those interested in a real-world example of ditching your checked luggage for a carry-on, it may be of interest that for a ten-day trip, I packed the following things in the Aeronaut: three pairs of lightweight pants, three skirts, eight sleeveless shirts/tank tops, three short-sleeved shirts, one lightweight long-sleeved shirt, appropriate underthings, toiletries. In one end compartment I put a pair of shoes, extra film, chargers. I wore another skirt, tank top, bulkier pair of shoes. So, a fair amount of clothes, the bag wasn't stuffed to bursting, and yes, I had an empty end compartment, which held souvenirs for the folks back home.

In my Imago, I had a lightweight zip-up thing with sleeves (mostly for the plane), cell phone, wallet, camera, notebook, iPod, hankerchief, allergy meds, passport. I could have fit a couple of books in there, too.

Pictures include:

The large main compartment packing cube -- pants rolled up on one side, skirts rolled together on the other.
The small main compartment packing cube, which I used for all shirts.
Bag packed with cubes. I put my dopp kit in that blank spot you see there.
Imago and Aeronaut together.

[Joy]

We flew on tiny airplanes, so tiny that even the Aeronaut doesn't fit in the overhead. The flight crew made most people relinquish bags to the cargo hold, but let me carry my Aeronaut on to the plane every time. In comparison, my boyfriend's flight case is an older one that is not all bloated with expandable compartments, and is therefore about the same size as the Aeronaut. I blame this discrepancy on the Aeronaut being a backpack, the lack of wheels, and the sleek design.

You have been far luckier than me. I've flown with the Aeronaut once, and in both directions I was told that I could not carry it on. In addition, the shuttle bus to the airport wouldn't let me carry it on either, which was really surprising! I've never had a problem carrying on my Brain Bag in any context, and the Aeronaut is really not substantially bigger, so the whole thing has been rather strange.

[eristick]

You have been far luckier than me. I've flown with the Aeronaut once, and in both directions I was told that I could not carry it on. In addition, the shuttle bus to the airport wouldn't let me carry it on either, which was really surprising! I've never had a problem carrying on my Brain Bag in any context, and the Aeronaut is really not substantially bigger, so the whole thing has been rather strange.

Were you wearing it on your back or carrying it as a duffel? I saw folks with duffel bags of about the same size as the Aeronaut (though much uglier) asked to relinquish their bags to the cargo hold.

[Joy]

Were you wearing it on your back or carrying it as a duffel? I saw folks with duffel bags of about the same size as the Aeronaut (though much uglier) asked to relinquish their bags to the cargo hold.

Wearing it on my back ... I guess I'm just unlucky.

[Tom Bihn]

I travel with the Aeronaut all the time and have never been asked to check it (I carry the Aeronaut regular, not the breve, but they are the same size except for the fit of the harness). Planes, buses, trains, so I don't know what's up with that.
Were you carrying more than one other "personal item"?

I choose to check the Aeronaut on my way to Montreal because I had too many bags to carry them all on. (I did carry on both my Imago with my laptop in it AND my Acadian Accordion http://www.savoymusiccenter.com/ in a custom-made case.)
It was reassuring that the Aeronaut was almost completely void of extraneous straps etc. - so checking it worried me only a little.

[Joy]

Were you carrying more than one other "personal item"?

Nope. I guess I've just been unlucky so far!

[Tom Bihn]

Well I hope your luck improves!
Great pictures from everyone, BTW - thanks!

[amer]

Any further real world experiences from Aeronaut owners?
Reason I ask is b/c i am taking a 11 day trip to Turkey in May. I would like to purchase the best carry-on available for International travel.

Bye the way, i just received my first Tom Bihn bag, the Buzz.. Love it! Thanks for making a super nice shoulder bag.

Amer

[moriond]

I've never been asked to check the Aeronaut (or Aeronaut breve) on either international or domestic travel. I've checked it on occasion (just after the August 2006 Heathrow incident, to speed up boarding; on really small planes with no storage), but I've never been asked to stow it on shuttle buses to the airport. Also, even on smaller planes with relatively small overhead bins I can stow this sideways so that it can be pulled out by the handles and occupies a really small space. This is also handy because I stick extra books into the side compartments and this makes it easy to get them out mid-flight.

The slender dimensions of the Aeronaut make it easy to carry it down even narrow aisles.

I strongly recommend getting the packing cubes eristick uses -- at least the two that she shows. They're even more handy than you might think from the description and they're exactly sized to the Aeronaut. The other thing that I personally take along with me is the Lux tote as described in this post from early impressions of the Aeronaut. In addition to providing an extra bag at the destination, it flat-packs down to keep any items from pressing against the main opening, much in the same way as Zephyrnoid describes using a folding sheet under item #2 of his post.

Enjoy your Buzz, Amer. It's a great bag. I'll probably be getting a second one when the new larger Buzz comes out.

[amer]

moriond, thanks for the update. I will be connecting on a flight in Europe and flying on Lufthansa to Istanbul, and when i called them to check their carry on policy they stated:

"Each piece of hand baggage may not be larger than 55 x 40 x 20 cm and may not weigh more than 8 kg." Yeah, 8kg..crazy!

--
Can you tell me when you pack things in the Aeronaut (1/2 capacity) what is the approximate weight? Reason i ask is b/c Lufthansa is notorious for checking weight on carry ons, and I am afraid i will be forced to check in my bag for the connection flight. I have no issues w/ checking but from what i have read, bags arrive in istanbul damaged, items stolen, and terribly handled.

Thanks
Amer

[apyang]

For those interested in a real-world example of ditching your checked luggage for a carry-on, it may be of interest that for a ten-day trip, I packed the following things in the Aeronaut: three pairs of lightweight pants, three skirts, eight sleeveless shirts/tank tops, three short-sleeved shirts, one lightweight long-sleeved shirt, appropriate underthings, toiletries. In one end compartment I put a pair of shoes, extra film, chargers. I wore another skirt, tank top, bulkier pair of shoes. So, a fair amount of clothes, the bag wasn't stuffed to bursting, and yes, I had an empty end compartment, which held souvenirs for the folks back home.

In my Imago, I had a lightweight zip-up thing with sleeves (mostly for the plane), cell phone, wallet, camera, notebook, iPod, hankerchief, allergy meds, passport. I could have fit a couple of books in there, too.

Pictures include:

The large main compartment packing cube -- pants rolled up on one side, skirts rolled together on the other.
The small main compartment packing cube, which I used for all shirts.
Bag packed with cubes. I put my dopp kit in that blank spot you see there.
Imago and Aeronaut together.

I just got an Aeronaut and some cubes, and I was just wondering how you were able to fit so many things in the cubes.

[eristick]

I just got an Aeronaut and some cubes, and I was just wondering how you were able to fit so many things in the cubes.

Skirts and pants roll tightly. T-shirts and tank tops I can usually just fold. As you can see in the photos, you can stack your clothes higher than the cube -- it'll compress your clothes to some extent.

[mrae]

I've been thinking of getting the breve. Did they let you you carry on both the breve and the imago? I usually use my brain bag and imago for short trips. It would be nice to have something that would work for longer ones.

[eristick]

Oh yes, you can carry on the Aeronaut Breve and the Imago without anyone batting an eyelash. Especially considering how much smaller the Imago is than a lot of "handbags."