Dop Kit?

[dclawyer]

I wish TB made a traditional dop kit. I understand about the clear one you make. I use it sometimes for travel. But when I go to the gym I want a traditional dop kit. I just bought one from Red Oxx, but only because TB had nothing to offer.

[bltkmt]

Not sure which Red Oxx one you ended up getting, but I have the Tri-Fold shave kit and it is fantastic.

[dclawyer]

Not sure which Red Oxx one you ended up getting, but I have the Tri-Fold shave kit and it is fantastic.

I got the Nomad and really like it. I looked at the trifold but thought it was bigger than I need. The zippers are really rugged.

[Twitchy]

I just bought one from Red Oxx, but only because TB had nothing to offer.

According to Darcy, in a recent topid, Tom has been designing a new gym bag. Maybe he could also add a dop kit to the ensemble ....

[dclawyer]

They've been saying a TB gym bag is in the works for years. I've given up on it. I use my Aeronaut.

[Darcy]

Many of our current bags were in the works for years before they debuted. People have been waiting for the Field Journal Notebook for 8+ years. And it will be available for pre-order by the end of September.

[Twitchy]

People have been waiting for the Field Journal Notebook for 8+ years.

Bloomin ech Guvnor!

Could you imagine if TB designed bags the way Apple did for the iPhone4?

"You just have to hold the bag the correct way...."
"Laptop bags aren't perfect...."


sorry .. just my little dig at Apple

[dclawyer]

Many of our current bags were in the works for years before they debuted. People have been waiting for the Field Journal Notebook for 8+ years. And it will be available for pre-order by the end of September.

Darcy: thanks for responding. Seeing is believing.

[Darcy]

It can be difficult. We want to give you the bag you want when you want it, but we also want to make it perfect - and there's often a struggle between those two wants. In the end, the latter wins.

I have seen a prototype of the gym bag. My guess is that Tom will work on it once again after the Field Journal Notebook and Camera Insert are done.

[maverick]

Many of our current bags were in the works for years before they debuted.

indeed, when you use a tom bihn bag, specially after you've had the opportunity to use some other stuff that's out there, the attention to the smallest details in the design become so apparent.

there are companies out there who churn out one bag design after another year after year. i am so thankful that tom bihn isn't one of those companies!

when you pick up some of the bags that are out there, you wonder - what were they thinking? why did they design this or that the way that they did?

to contrast, tom bihn bags spend years in an iterative design process. tom makes a bag, uses it, thinks about how to make it better, rips it apart and builds it all over again. and this happens again and again and again before a product design makes it into our hands.

if i may take some liberty at drawing a parallel...there are cell phone companies out there who churn out many new phone designs every year. they are driven not by designing the best product, but by a different motive.

to contrast, there is apple. for years, people said - why doesn't apple come out with an ipod phone? now, apple was working on the iphone for years before it came out. it took years and many design iterations before the first iphone came out.

those who have used the iphone are well aware of the attention to the smallest details that went into its design.

as excited as we all are to see the new bag designs debut, be it the parental unit, the gym bag, the camera insert or the gym bag, i think we all also understand and appreciate that perfection takes time.

[aiethabell]

as excited as we all are to see the new bag designs debut, be it the parental unit, the gym bag, the camera insert or the gym bag, i think we all also understand and appreciate that perfection takes time.

Ah, Maverick, you forgot one... the single-compartment Tri-Star!

[dclawyer]

I understand that TB is a small company and I can see that a lot of thought goes into each bag. I appreciate that very much. At the same time, I don't think it is a good idea for a manufacturer to talk publicly about products a long time before they come out. Apple in my opinion has this right. When you talk about a new product you should be able to ship soon. Otherwise, it's vaporware. A company that did this (and maybe still does) is Nikon. They announce a new lens and then maybe in 4 to 6 months you can buy it. That got old. I now use Canon. When Canon announces something by and large you can actually buy one soon thereafter.

[Darcy]

dclawyer,

I appreciate your point. There are so many designs that Tom plans to produce, or has in the works, and I admit it's hard for me not to share news of them with everyone because they're so exciting.

[gmanedit]

Hi, dclawyer.

I sympathize—for me, it's "How hard can it be to make cafe bags in Ultrasuede?"—but there is a certain charm in watching ideas evolve and offering our own ideas. (I begged Apple to bring back WindowShade and never heard back.) Well, in the meantime I've got a cafe bag, and the Synapse finally came out, and I certainly appreciate feeling each time I buy a bag that it's going to last forever. But it must be hard on the prospective camera-insert buyers.

Darcy, it would be fun to read a list of Tom's upcoming designs, at whatever stage they're at, just to see what he's thinking. As a sweater designer, I put ideas down on paper even if I have no intention of producing them. I like to see other people's thinking. Bring on the vaporware; just label it "idle thoughts."

[itlnparrot]

I completely agree with DCLawyer.

Why I refer to a lot of the conversation around the new 'releases' as vaporware. Too much discussion, commitment to deliver and then last minute pull. Ala TB's neighbors in Redmond.

Now, I like everyone here truly appreciate the quality and design of a Tom Bihn bag. I also appreciate Tom's commitment to perfection... However, wouldn't it be better to add iterative improvements to the bags. Release the Field Notebook 2 years into dev. Get input from users that speed improvements that lead to a 2.0 or 3.0 version within 6 years instead of 8(and counting). Customers are happy to see improvements and TB is happy to have the additional revenue, faster feedback cycle and paying, and broad set of research.

(btw - I do understand that materials/foam of the camera insert is critical... but 8 years for the Field Notebook, 2+ for Parental Unit...etc is too drastic especially after years of open discussion)