Small Cafe Bag

[michael]

Hi Guys,

I'm a big fan of Tom Bihn bags. I have numerous ones (such as Western Flyer, all the accessories and a few of the other messenger bags etc).

I recently purchased the Small Cafe bag in Black with the navy interior for a trip to Costa Rica and the USA.

After coming home and washing my clothes I realised that the Cordura fabric was quite abrasive towards my clothes. I have a bunch of piling on my Arcteryx long sleeve shirt in particular and to a lesser extent on my Icebreaker t-shirts.

I'm a little disappointed by this as the bag was great, the right size, colour, weight etc.

I'm going to stop using the bag now however as its destroying my clothes.

Is there any chance of you guys remaking the bag with the Parapack or Ballistic nylon fabrics as I believe either of those wouldn't abrade clothes as much?

[tpnl]

So sorry the read that the SCB in Cordura is a problem for some of your clothes. I have read this before from other forum members depending on the material of their clothes.

I have not seen a Parapack version in a long while. However, there is an Original Halcyon and a Nordic Halcyon version available right now on the TB site. Halcyon is basically the same denier as Parapack (400d vs 420d) but also has those fibres that are almost impossible to tear.

I do not believe the Cafe Bags were ever made in Ballistic Nylon. The only similar style (vertical) made with Ballistic Nylon is the Ristretto. There used to be a Ristretto 11 and an iPad version that may be closer to your size but they are retired. There is only the 13" version which may be too big for what you are looking for (though I love them). You may occasionally find them on some websites. Note: if going this route - make sure you get the latest version - with the half moon zippered front compartment. If it does not have this, it is an older Cordura version.

Hope this helps
Cheers!

[GoStanford]

I am hoping there may be more small cafe bags in Halcyon now that there is word of a debut of multiple products...there was mention of some of the special colorful Dyneema/Halcyon fabrics being used in accessories and bags. I had this happen with Cordura resulting in quite a bit of pilling of my everyday nylon jacket.

[haraya]

I have noticed this effect too with the handle and top edges of my Little Swift - fuzzy clothes (e.g. synthetic fleece or some cotton sweaters) rub off and leave little pills behind. I wonder if a lighter-weight ballistic might work in place of the Cordura?

[Tiviander]

I have stopped using my small cafe bag for this exact reason. Returned a Daylight Briefcase as well. I find the Cordura is not as destructive in the Synapse 19 style but refuse to purchase any shoulder bags in Cordura anymore.

[luvdabags]

This is a bit of an issue for my MCB too. The Halcyon has no abrasion issues--the SCB in that fabric should suit you well, and is nice and lightweight to boot.

[bermudajes]

I'll echo what's been said here - I destashed a beautiful plum MCB because I found the cordura was damaging my clothes. All my TB bags are now in ballistic or halcyon. But I've yet to replace the MCB; I'm holding out for a small or medium cafe bag in halcyon with a non-wasabi interior!

[michael]

Thanks for the replies guys. I guess I wasn't the only one experiencing this issue. It's a shame though because like I said the bag is perfect in all other ways. It's going to cost me money to try and sell this bag and then buy a new one with the Halcyon fabric, so I'm probably not going to bother, I'll go back to using my North Face bag which doesn't have such issues.