Anyone downsized from Tri star to Western Flyer?

[Jaffa]

I've finally decided my TS is too large for me....So I'm hoping Monday may bring the WF in new colour and/or dyneema options..
Has anybody else had the predicament.?.. I'm would like a grey/steel or UV version..
Or is there any other bags options I should be looking at as well?

Thanks
Jaffa

[tebnewyork]

I debated on buying the Tri-Star vs. WF. I went with the Tri-star and figured that the dimensions weren't far apart. In addition this is is an easy bag to not pack full and I could leave a bunch of empty space in the middle compartmet. My bag is Dyneema so that might help in making it feel smaller when not full.

That leaves my smaller bag as a Smart Alec. With these two bags I felt like I had two different ways of packing for different types of trips.

[maverick]

I find both the Western Flyer and the Tri-Star are useful, depending on what I am taking with me.

If I am traveling without my laptop, regardless of the length of travel, I could do this with the Western Flyer.

If I am traveling overnight with my laptop, I could do this with the Western Flyer. But I prefer the Tri-Star because I like the laptop and iPad in the middle compartment of the Tri-Star.

If I am traveling for 2+ nights with my laptop, I prefer the Tri-Star.

They are both great bags, incredibly well made and a joy to carry (I carry them with the backpack straps).

If I had to choose one, I would go with the Tri-Star -- so that you have extra space rather than not enough space.

[moriond]

Some other factors that may drive these decisions: (1) If you have large feet and regularly require carrying along dress shoes or boots, and are not using an Aeronaut (for the large end pockets that can accommodate large shoes -- especially the Aeronaut 45 size), but are just at the limit of fitting these into either Western Flyer or Tri-Star, then you may prefer the Western Flyer. The reason is that the two-compartment design of the Western Flyer leaves you with a little extra depth for packing in bulky shoes. This doesn't apply if you have small feet. (My shoe size is US Women's 5.5 or 6, so the shoes are 9" long or smaller, and this simply isn't an issue for me), (2) If you are short (5' or under), and/or you have a small frame, or have shoulder/back problems, you'll find the Western Flyer more comfortable than the Tri-Star. I often travel with the Tri-Star (and I'm just under 5'4" tall), but the extra compartment adds some additional weight relative to the contents that the bag can hold. If you're aiming to not carry more than 15% of your weight, or need to drop this maximum load figure for any reason, you may prefer a Western Flyer. Finally, (3) you may prefer to use a Tri-Star just for the convenience of accessing the center compartment contents, whether or not you are carrying along a laptop. I like to drop a Little Swift into that compartment.

Just saying that there can be different factors behind this decision. Also, there are other posters, such as @milpool, who found it possible to cut down from a Tri-Star to a Western Flyer. You can read his thread.

HTH

moriond

[Perseffect]

In the end I sold my Tristar and moved to either my WF or Aeronaut depending on the length of trip. I just found the the Tristar packed 'fat' too easily and that made it chunkier to carry on the shoulder strap.

I really like the simplicity of the WF and find its thicker 3 compartments are more useable overall.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jaffa]

I'm f5'4, but think I have a short body as the TS just seems too big long on me..plus I seem to have streamlined my packaging due to compression sacs which aren't very uniformed in size, but it certainly means I seem to have more space in my bag.
Jaffa

[moriond]

I'm f5'4, but think I have a short body as the TS just seems too big long on me..plus I seem to have streamlined my packaging due to compression sacs which aren't very uniformed in size, but it certainly means I seem to have more space in my bag.
Jaffa

The two most comfortable travel bags to carry in backpack mode for your height will be the Western Flyer and the Aeronaut 30. @Pokilani (who is 5'1" tall) has some very good comparison posts with packing lists and photos, as, for example, in her posts in the Aeronaut 30 or Western Flyer? thread started by @FrozenJ.

The organization style of the Western Flyer and Tri-Star is different from that of the Aeronaut. If you can manage to fit items into the Western Flyer, you will probably find that just a bit more comfortable on your back, and the handle is padded Poron, as is the case for the Tri-Star, so it is a bit more comfortable to carry in your hand.

If you are really only packing clothes or toiletry items, then the Western Flyer will probably be fine for you. One of the main reasons for me to use the Tri-Star is that if I'm handed something to carry back for work while I'm traveling (i.e., these are not flat-pack, clothing items), I can always fit this in -- as well as travel for 12 days out of this bag. This happens often enough that the convenience of just being able to easily fit such items into the Tri-Star, often by just accessing the center compartment on the fly when this happens at the last minute, is worth it for me. If this is never a consideration -- and you're only packing clothing, and will never have such unanticipated extra items to carry, then you probably don't need the Tri-Star.

As another alternative, some forum members your height use the Smart Alec backpack to travel with.

Finally, I think it is unlikely that there will be new, interior Dyneema color options for travel bags other than the Aeronaut 30 and Aeronaut 45 as part of tomorrow's product debut, if this is a major factor in wanting to switch to a new bag. The web pages for All Bags, and/or All Accessories have already been updated, so that the products we expect to show up with the new Dyneema colors have small color blocks that indicate these alternatives already in place. (If you hover your cursor over them, you'll see the color combinations identified.)

Darcy also explicitly posted about which bags/accessories would be available in the limited edition Dyneema colors this round, and bags like the Western Flyer, Tri-Star, Pilot, and Co-Pilot are not on that list.

*We’ll be offering the last of the limited edition Dyneema/nylon summer color bags (Zest, Island, Northwest Sky) at the time of this debut. (Note: bags in these colors won't be available before the debut day.) But who knows, we might offer more limited edition Dyneema/nylon colors next year so you might even want to wait for those…

This next (and final) round we'll be offering the limited edition colors in the following bags:
Aeronaut 45
Aeronaut 30
Travel Tray
Shop Bag
Packing Cube Shoulder Bag

(we wanted to make other bags -- most notably, the Packing Cube Backpacks -- in Island, Zest, and Northwest Sky but we just didn't have enough material left to do so)

HTH

moriond

[imperator]

I use a jury-rigged cache in the back pocket of the Western Flyer to achieve a sort of middle-pocket for a tablet using this method with some velcro straps, could also be done for a smaller laptop. I put clothing in a PCBP in there to cushion it. Also allows me to go TSA friendly for airlines without PreCheck.

[Canonsue]

I loved my Western Flyer but sold it and downsized to my Synapse 19. Good for a week or more in any weather.