tom bihn museum?

[maverick]

tom bihn "messenger bag" on ebay

hi folks,

i came across this tom bihn messenger bag on ebay.

the seller says that it is a "medium" size, but the 12" x 13" dimensions sound like it would be about the size of a large cafe bag. the differences is that the large cafe bag has organizer pockets that this messenger bag does not have.

tom, darcy,

do you know about when this bag may have been made?

thanks!

[Tom Bihn]

The proportions make it look like a medium Cafe to me; probably made in the late 90's judging from the label.

FYI, I changed the name of the company to "Black Bag" after getting tired of hearing my name everywhere (everywhere = everywhere in Santa Cruz, California). Sales dropped: people didn't feel like Black Bag meant anything. So I changed back to Tom Bihn. I figured if I got tired of the notoriety again I'd just change my name.
I'd probably change it to Eddie Bauer

[moriond]

Hi Tom,

FYI, I changed the name of the company to "Black Bag" after getting tired of hearing my name everywhere (everywhere = everywhere in Santa Cruz, California). Sales dropped: people didn't feel like Black Bag meant anything. So I changed back to Tom Bihn. I figured if I got tired of the notoriety again I'd just change my name.
I'd probably change it to Eddie Bauer

Yes, the "everywhere = everywhere in Santa Cruz, California" does seem to be true. Just a couple of months ago someone I know noted "You're carrying a Tom Bihn bag -- I was just browsing their web site today. I used to see their bags all the time when I was a student in Santa Cruz."

Cheers,

moriond

P.S. You have name brand recognition, and "Tom" sounds much more euphonious than "Eddie" (apologies in advance to any forum readers named Eddie.)

[maverick]

The proportions make it look like a medium Cafe to me; probably made in the late 90's judging from the label.

FYI, I changed the name of the company to "Black Bag" after getting tired of hearing my name everywhere (everywhere = everywhere in Santa Cruz, California). Sales dropped: people didn't feel like Black Bag meant anything. So I changed back to Tom Bihn. I figured if I got tired of the notoriety again I'd just change my name.
I'd probably change it to Eddie Bauer

that looks really nice for a 10 year old bag!

i'm glad you tried changing the company name to "Black Bag" rather than changing your name to "Black Bag!"

[katiya]

It was very interesting to see this thread since I just joined this site! I love learning about the history of companies and seeing how product has evolved over time.

I'm thinking it was better to discover TB now because with that big logo on that messenger bag above that would have pretty much turned me off to trying the product. I very rarely advertise for any company. I'm kind of stuck with my shoe advertising but my pants or skirts cover up the logo "S" on the shoe. Darned comfortable shoes I may add which is important for my overall general health.

So I see with the messenger/cafe bags the clasp is to the side, I'm curious as to why that is? I must be missing something because pretty much everyone else centers the closing mechanism. I'd have to say I prefer it that way but am going to give a cafe bag a go of it. I pretty much carry my bags across my shoulder and to the front of me so I am not worried about someone reaching into my bag. Also with the clasp to the side it seems slight curling of the one side of the bag would become evident over time. It looks like the cafe bags were designed to specifically cut down on that issue but I suppose experience is the best judge of that. I'm the type who thinks things through before purchasing so I can manage my needs efficiently though.

I should of become an efficiency expert

[Darcy]

So I see with the messenger/cafe bags the clasp is to the side, I'm curious as to why that is? I must be missing something because pretty much everyone else centers the closing mechanism. I'd have to say I prefer it that way but am going to give a cafe bag a go of it. I pretty much carry my bags across my shoulder and to the front of me so I am not worried about someone reaching into my bag. Also with the clasp to the side it seems slight curling of the one side of the bag would become evident over time. It looks like the cafe bags were designed to specifically cut down on that issue but I suppose experience is the best judge of that. I'm the type who thinks things through before purchasing so I can manage my needs efficiently though.

The off-center buckle is part of the design of the bag - personally, I love the lines it creates. It doesn't cause curling of the flap - not that we've ever seen in 10+ years.

[Foggy Morn]

My TB bag from the early 90s has the buckle off to the side like that. In fact, my bag looks a lot like the one pictured (DH has a green one that's the same design) though I can't tell scale all that well. Mine's a small, I think.

Even that early on, the bag is lined in a light color to make it easy to locate things in the bag - in my case a pale gray. The interior pockets are a little different than my recent medium café bag, but there's much that's the same. Great quality, of course.

[katiya]

Thanks for the reply Darcy and maverick let me know about the store being open this upcoming Tuesday from 3-6pm. I'll be there to make my decisions then on the cafe bags, side effects and a grocery bag or two.

[eWalker]

It was very interesting to see this thread since I just joined this site! I love learning about the history of companies and seeing how product has evolved over time.

I agree!

I am dedicating a great deal of time browsing the old Forum´s posts and there is one thing I always miss and would love to see, a timeline of Tom Bihn´s bags and milestones (new materials adoption, for example)!

[adalangdon]

Thought I'd resurrect this thread to share a couple of things I picked up recently.

The LCB's 'Black Bag' predecessor. Sides are black, with blue tape and a Steel interior of 500D. (Colour is more or less accurate on an iphone, just FYI)





MCB. I did a bit of research on the Wayback Machine and it seems that this is the Black/Grid colourway. The Grid fabric looks like dyneema, but when I feel the back of the fabric, it seems like Cordura. The grid lines are also pale yellow-- would appreciate any info on whether this is just an age thing, or if it was always like that.



Obligatory pic of cat, who just has to sit on all my freshly laundered stuff. At least he matches this one 8-)

[Darcy]

MCB. I did a bit of research on the Wayback Machine and it seems that this is the Black/Grid colourway. The Grid fabric looks like dyneema, but when I feel the back of the fabric, it seems like Cordura. The grid lines are also pale yellow-- would appreciate any info on whether this is just an age thing, or if it was always like that.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]10365[/ATTACH]

Nice! That Grid fabric is 500d Cordura with a Kevlar ripstop. We used it briefly in the very early part of the century.

[moriond]

Nice! That Grid fabric is 500d Cordura with a Kevlar ripstop. We used it briefly in the very early part of the century.

Darcy, I remember seeing old early color swatch product links with fabric patterns like this. I'm not sure all of those still work from the Internet Archive pages. Certainly, some of the product display modes (rotating bag pictures by 360 degrees) no longer work, and some of the old image locations on the web product pages have clearly been moved, so my old links won't work.

To address @adalangdon's question, I recall that the grid appeared white in the swatch samples on the product pages. was this an off-white?

moriond

[Ilkyway]

adalangdon how very cool is this! Not only do you have bag desings and materials that are no longer around but you have so very cool old lable-desings too. I wonder how many different Tom Bihn Lables you have? Would you try and take a picture with one of each in it?

How do the old desings carry? I like the two-colord Cafe Bag predesessor.

Ilkyway

[dorayme]

I'm glad a forum member got the LCB, I was bidding on it for my 10 year old. I don't have any black bag labeled products, but desire to have one. I always think of Tom when I see black bag because of that name. I love he history behind why he chose that branding name for a time.

[adalangdon]

Darcy, I remember seeing old early color swatch product links with fabric patterns like this. I'm not sure all of those still work from the Internet Archive pages. Certainly, some of the product display modes (rotating bag pictures by 360 degrees) no longer work, and some of the old image locations on the web product pages have clearly been moved, so my old links won't work.

To address @adalangdon's question, I recall that the grid appeared white in the swatch samples on the product pages. was this an off-white?

moriond

No, it's actually a pale yellow. Not even cream. It's quite nice-- if I didn't have it in my head that it looked like dyneema, I would think it was supposed to be that way, heh.