Compare Small Cafe, Medium Cafe, and Icon

[G42]

Oooh, what color is your Icon? I love that shade of blue! I have one in SeaPine with ultraviolet zippers but have been considering a second one.

I'm going to assume you meant my Icon... that's the Logic Blue 630d Recycled with NWSky zippers - a super chill and calming combo to me... very meditative to stare at

[moriond]

I'm going to assume you meant my Icon... that's the Logic Blue 630d Recycled with NWSky zippers - a super chill and calming combo to me... very meditative to stare at

My hypothesis for why that is the only color left is that (1) a lot of people who got the Icon in the first round really liked Logic Blue - of the mods, that would be Cristina, G42, and myself, and (2) the people who really like the Icon design from the first round weren’t willing to turn in or stop using their Logic Blue Icons to wait for the redesigned version. If I didn’t already have an Icon in Logic Blue, this is the color I would buy. Apart from the color, I really like the “hand” of the 630d Recycled material. It’s too bad that they sold out of all the Ghost Whale Organizer Pouches in the 630d material some time ago, so it’s not easy to get an impression of the material unless you request a fabric swatch sample. If they ever remake the Pick-Up Truck, I hope that I can get it in Logic Blue.

[KatrinkaWinkle]

Thanks! I really like it with the NWS zippers.

[moriond]

Go Navy,

I prefer to use the Icon to the Medium Cafe Bag, unless you're using the Cafe Bag to carry something tall (some people use the MCB to carry 13" laptops, even though the top sticks up above the formal of the bag -- you definitely can't use an Icon for that.) There is more room in the Medium Cafe Bag, but some of it comes as the extra height.

These are pictures that I quickly shot with the new version of the Icon (in Constellation) and the packup that you described. (Sorry that lighting is not the best, but I was time constrained.). One of the things that I like about the Icon, is that the packed up bag stands up on its own, and that's not something that would be true of a Cafe Bag packup.


I'm carrying the iPad Pro 11", which is similar in size to the iPad Air. One thing I should stress is that I typically insert it vertically and access it this way in the Icon main compartment, but that I'm using an old iPad cache from the time the original iPad was first released, and that this cache is too large for the iPad 11 -- it's about ¾" longer than the iPad 11 and it's also wider. The very first cache they released was actual sized for a TouchPad and was also larger than the original iPad, but I really like the dense foam of the caches they used from that time so I continue to use them. The fit will look tight in all the pictures, but I manage to put this under the flap. The keys are shown attached to the keystrap in the front zippered pocket that comes Icon. In practice, I would separately attach the car key from the othe keys. I'm moving most of these organizers over from my Side Kick. Underneath the Icon are 2 checkbooks, my glasses in a Côte et Ciel eyewear pouch (discovered in these forums thanks to @adalandon). and a similarly sized Small Ghost Whale Organzier Pouch in Burnt Orange 525d Ballistic (which is holding laptop connectors and was moved from my Side Kick) Below the 11" iPad Pro lying on top of its oversized cache is a Leuchtturm1917 planner. According to the description, it is 7.48 x 4.92 x 0.55 inches (I had to look up 2021 specs since this is for 2020). So it is slightly longer than your notebook but the same width. I grabbed the Nik's Wallet and Clear Organizer Wallet (COW) from my Side Kick. You could use either one for Insurance Cards. And you could use a smaller pouch than my COW for stamps etc., like one of the leaf pouchkins from the First or Second Aid Pouch. The First Aid Kit is a Small Double Organizer Pouch in Iberian Halcyon (matches your 5x7" pouch size). Swiss Army Knife and a Quark Tactical light (this is the one I keep by my bed -- I usually carry a Quark MiNi inside a mini Q-Kit on top of a Jackery Power bar -- that's what's shown in the lower left of the picture. There's only one pen in the picture, but I packed 2 in the Icon.

This shows the 11" iPad in its cache being inserted into the Icon. I show the first aid kit in the small double organizer pouch overlying the front zippered pocket -- that's where I put it.

The notebook and the small Ghost Whale Organizer Pouch go into the back zippered pocket of the Icon

This is the top view of those items in the back pocket (sorry, not great lighting).

This is what I mean about the Icon being able to stand up after it's fully loaded. I couldn't find an easy way to show the placement of items inside the rest of the pockets without turning the back inside out, but the checkbooks, knife, flashlight, pens, Nik's Wallet and Clear Organizer Wallet are loaded into the pockets of the main compartment. I put the glasses case into the front zippered pocket. You haver room to put in gloves or a hat, too.

Here are more inside out views of the main compartment

… and of the back of the main compartment (which is similarly sized to the back zippered compartment that I can't show without specifically inverting that pocket -- but this lets you see where there are O-rings)


This is not a tight packup at all.

HTH

moriond

[Go Navy]

Moriond, those pix are really useful and informative, especially since you're showing the new version of the Icon. You've removed any doubts for me about how that bag would work for me. I've placed a watch on it waiting for more color choices to come.

Any comments on the tweaks made to the new version, if possible? If you didn't own the original version, I know it would be difficult to answer that question.