Synik 22 / 30 Questions & Answers

[RosemaryOrchard]

While some testers have commented that it takes both hands to open the new #10 zippers on the main compartment, what I noticed, as I had to open and close the main compartment during errands today, is just how amazingly well the new top handle and those zippers complement one another. I found that I was able to comfortably hold the pack via the ultra comfortable top handle in one hand, then easily unzip the main zipper with the other hand, no problem.

For what it's worth (probably not much!) I found the zippers were only stiff and needed two hands when going around the bottom corners - probably due to the steepness of the angle there. The top strap is great for holding the bag while you close it, but at the bottom I found putting a thumb into the area where the zip hides in the bag was helpful!

[ILUI31]

From the Synik FAQ:

Will you offer a Guide’s Edition version of the Synik?

If enough people are interested in a Guide’s Edition of the Synik, we plan to offer it in early 2020 when our upcoming 525d ballistic nylon in Coyote arrives. That new 525d in Coyote will allow us to make a full-Coyote (!!!) Guide’s Edition Synik.

If you’re interested in the Guide’s Edition Synik, please sign up here to be notified when it’s available:
sign up here

There's no link to register our interest.

A related question: are you planning for both synik sizes to have guide version?

[Rei]

From the Synik FAQ:



There's no link to register our interest.

A related question: are you planning for both synik sizes to have guide version?

click on "sign up here" (or "here" alone if you're on the bag pages)
here the link https://mailchi.mp/tombihn/guides-edition-synik

[balakay]

Is it possible for someone at TB or some reviewers to post pictures of the packing cube combinations mentioned in the Synik FAQ?

I’m particularly interested in how two A45 Large Cubes fit and if there’s any space on top.

[rishio]

I’m a synapse 19 owner and use the bag everyday as well as for travel. My ideal bag would have all the features of synik 22/30 with the zipper design of the synapse and a smaller, more discrete logo. The whole clamshell design is more unwieldy looking and makes the bag seem more prone to breaking. Not a fan. I wish they would redesign the synapse with all the features of synik except the clamshell zippers.

[imagineez]

Is it possible for someone at TB or some reviewers to post pictures of the packing cube combinations mentioned in the Synik FAQ?

I’m particularly interested in how two A45 Large Cubes fit and if there’s any space on top.

You can see some pics of packing combos in my Synik 30 Review: The New Pack for You?. At the end of the review, there is a link to an addendum with more pics. I used an A45 large cube plus 2 small A45 cubes (equals one A45 large cube), PCSBs, and smaller packing items.

Also I’d take a look at the Synik review by @Cristina. She did a great job with different packing cube fits in the Synik 30.

[metroflex]

Are there any differences between the test versions that were given out for review/testing and the final production model?

[PhillyCommuter]

I have my full text + a few picture review up here on my portfolio/blog.

For the TB forums, though, I wanted to cover a bit more about the bag and how I feel about it, as a supplementary to some degree.

To me, the Synik represents a bit of a different answer to the EDC + travel question that I had some years ago when I bought my Synapse 19. There's slightly (emphasis on *slightly*) less modularity here, especially in the main pocket; it's a good change, I think. But it also represents a bit of a shift away from this sort of luggage and travel gear being as niche as it was, to a more mainstream audience. I wonder how much more traffic TB gets nowadays, compared to the late 2000's/early 2010's.

One thing that I've noticed and haven't seen commented on much is the versatility a clamshell gives you, outside of just a suitcase-style packing ethos. For example, if you're a photographer, I could easily see either the Synik 22 or 30 being a really great photography focused bag: the clamshell gives you more than enough flexibility and room for either an APS-C or M4/3 setup (Sy22) and a mirrorless full-frame or medium format setup (Sy30). There's enough width to get a separate insert inside, and then a half zip of the opening gives you full access to your insert.

My other observation that hasn't been touched on much is the redesign of the center water bottle compartment. Moving from a cube shape with mesh sewn on either side, to a more cylindrical shape gives either side pocket quite a bit more room when there's not a large bottle in the center pocket. It's a bit difficult to get across in text, but it's a wonderful bit of very clever design to make an already great idea even better (TB in a nutshell since I've been buying their products).

It's a wonderful bag, but like I stress in my review I don't think it supplants the corresponding Synapse version. To me, they represent two answers to the same question -- neither are wrong, they just might resonate more with different groups of folks.

Sorry if this review seems to have more trepidation than most. I've written 4 bag reviews in the past 10 years and usually I wait at least a few months of hard use before I really talk about anything. I feel confident in the broad strokes of the TB product line, though, so I'm comfortable giving the Sy22 a hard recommend to any TB fan.

This is EXTREMELY helpful for me, I'm specifically looking for something I can use for my Fuji xt-20 and a few lenses AS WELL AS Ipad, personal items, etc, so I don't need to carry two bags onto the plane. This combo absolutely does not fit into the Synapse 19 and I was really hoping the Synik 22 would work for this, Thank you!!

[Cristina]

Is it possible for someone at TB or some reviewers to post pictures of the packing cube combinations mentioned in the Synik FAQ?

I’m particularly interested in how two A45 Large Cubes fit and if there’s any space on top.

I second @imagineez links to his and my reviews with pics of packing cubes, but also to shortcut to your question, two large A45 cubes won’t fit. In a Synik 30, you can fit one Large or two Small A45 cubes in the main compartment. The space left over is quite slim. I was able to fit a 3DOC at that top and small Eagle Creek Compression cubes in the elastic-top pocket in the main compartment. If you want to pack it totally full, you could fit a fourth slim item above the elastic pocket (this will be easier when the bag is mostly closed and upright as a backpack).

The Synik, like the Synapses, have a smaller main compartment and give more space over to the front pockets. The Aeronauts, in comparison, have fewer but larger compartments.

Hope this helps.

[balakay]

I second @imagineez links to his and my reviews with pics of packing cubes, but also to shortcut to your question, two large A45 cubes won’t fit. In a Synik 30, you can fit one Large or two Small A45 cubes in the main compartment. The space left over is quite slim. I was able to fit a 3DOC at that top and small Eagle Creek Compression cubes in the elastic-top pocket in the main compartment. If you want to pack it totally full, you could fit a fourth slim item above the elastic pocket (this will be easier when the bag is mostly closed and upright as a backpack).

The Synik, like the Synapses, have a smaller main compartment and give more space over to the front pockets. The Aeronauts, in comparison, have fewer but larger compartments.

Hope this helps.

Thanks! I wonder if the FAQ is incorrect on the packing cubes, as it states that two will fit.




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[KathyH]

I bought an S25 and S19 last fall and switch off between bags as my EDC, depending on my load for the day. I don’t really beed an S22 but want one. My guess is the S22 could be a solo EDC, except for traveling when I’d step up to the S25 for my traveling office.

What to do. What to do. Does anyone know what the colors for regular production will be? I’m not a coyote or gray person and am not clamoring for either. Am wondering if it’s worth waiting until Oct to order.

[KathyH]

Here’s the full list:

Black 525 Ballistic/NW Sky 200 Halcyon
Black 525 Ballistic/Island 200 Halcyon
Black 525 Ballistic/Cloud 210 Ballistic
Black 525 Ballistic/Coyote 210 Ballistic
Nebulous Grey 525 Ballistic/Island 200 Halcyon
Nebulous Grey 525 Ballistic/Dawn 210 Ballistic
Nebulous Grey 525 Ballistic/Iberian 200 Halcyon
Nebulous Grey 525 Ballistic/Wasabi 200 Halcyon
Deep Blue 525 Ballistic/Iberian 200 Halcyon
Deep Blue 525 Ballistic/Coyote 210 Ballistic
Mars Red 525 Ballistic/NW Sky 200 Halcyon
Aubergine 525 Ballistic/NW Sky 200 Halcyon
Burnt Orange 525 Ballistic/NW Sky 200 Halcyon
Navy Parapack/Steel Parapack
Black Parapack/Steel Parapack
Black 400 Halcyon/NW Sky 200 Halcyon

@Darcy - Any news on colors for "regular" production (aka, after pre-order orders)?

[imagineez]

Thanks! I wonder if the FAQ is incorrect on the packing cubes, as it states that two will fit.




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If you pack the two large A45 cubes on top of each other, but they are NOT over packed, then they could fit. I think what @Cristina was saying was that in terms of the area of the main compartment itself, only one packing large A45 packing cube could fit the borders/boundaries of the main compartment. Not a large packing cube side by side another large packing cube. So in this only-one-layer of cubes, either an A45 large cube would fit or 2 small A45 cubes, with some small space left over in the main compartment to add other things as you need.

Keep in mind that if you stack two layers of packing cubes in the main compartment (one on top of each other), they really can't be overfilled, or even just full. This is because it would make it more difficult to fit bigger laptops in the laptop compartment, eg., and make the bag likely to be overstuffed. It is doable, but it depends on what you pack and how much you pack in these cubes. This is what I tried to show in my review.

[Darcy]

First and foremost: a big thank you to all of our volunteer moderators and each Forum member who received a Synik for review. The reviews you’ve posted are answering a ton of questions + you’re also answering additional questions as they come up. Helpful all around and we are grateful.

As a side note, I’m currently experiencing internal conflict around the “like” and “thanks” buttons because I’d often just be clicking them constantly and I can’t like and thank every post but I pretty much want to so I’ve just decided not to click those buttons for now.

I saw that we don't have enough Nordic Halcyon fabric to make preorders, but would there be a chance to request or get some limited number of that or Original Halcyon before they're retired? While I'm sure custom-color combos aren't the most scalable, it would be super nice if there was a way to release even a few super limited options into the hands of those colors' fans.

I didn't forget about this! We've been thinking/talking about it, but unfortunately we can't think of a way to add additional color options to the pre-order without potentially delaying the entire order/delivery or causing other complications. (Additionally, Nordic is now officially gone.) We'll keep thinking about this for future pre-orders though.

The info that you can add to an open pre-order is great news! Now, if there were additional dedicated Synik accessories launched between preorder and ship date...

What accessories were you hoping to see? I think it’s unlikely, but we’ll see what happens if the inspiration strikes us.

A suggestion to the Tom Bihn web designers -- currently, when I select a new color, it resets the photo shown to the first photo. This is inconvenient because I find the 3rd photo (the side view that shows the interior material) the most useful when perusing the different color options. I suggest changing the behavior to either:

1. Maintain the user's current photo selection when selecting a different color.

or 2. Make the 3rd photo (side view with open zipper) the default 1st photo, so that when a new color is selected, that is the photo shown.

Noted. I'll add it to our list of website updates to consider.

I noticed that when I select a color (by clicking or tapping on one of the little swatch squares, the color names are not displayed. I assume that displaying the color name is part of the widget for adding an item to your cart or something like that.

It’s potentially a neat little ‘How well do you know Tom Bihn fabrics?’ puzzle, but frustrating if the answer is “Not that well, apparently.”

Anyway, I don’t know if there’s a good fix for this, but it’s definitely making it harder for me to do my pre-preorder thinking about what color I want to get!

If you hover over each individual color box, it should pop up their names!

I noticed this on my iPhone with Safari browser as well. If you tap and hold a color choice icon, a pop up will show with the full color and fabric name. But I agree with you that it's more difficult than it should be on mobile. It would be better if the color and fabric names appeared on the page with every selection.

As mentioned, you hover over the fabric combo square to get the pop-up of the colour combo.

Once the pages go live for ordering, the normal fabric combo drop down selection field will appear and that is dynamic - if you click a box of fabric the drop down will automatically update to that fabric you selected.

So this is partly an artifact of the pre pre-order page view, but I'm sure the TB web crew are listening to the feedback and mulling over options for the future.

Yeah, I can see how this could be improved! I’ll add it to our list of website updates to think over. Just looking at the mobile page now I saw some other opportunities as well.

Darcy, please note that in the Synik FAQ, the index link at the top for "Do you ever have sales or coupons?" does not jump down to the section.

Thank you! We fixed this yesterday thanks to you.

Anyone know the volume of the main compartment only?

I asked Nik to weigh in here, and he says:

"The fact that the Synik is a soft bag makes measuring any one compartment problematic. Even though the pockets have their own 3D dedicated space, when any one of them is really filled, it affects the capacity of the other compartments. We made an attempt to measure the main compartment both when all other pockets are empty and when all other pockets are full. This gives a range for the main compartment, but, in our opinion, not a very useful one. For the SN30, When all other pockets are empty, the main compartment can be stuffed to ~29 Liters obviously making very little room for any of the front pockets. With the pockets full, the main compartment's capacity went down to ~10 Liters. So the real world in use volume is somewhere between 10-29 Liters. Perhaps the average of 19.5 is a good estimate, but in all honesty, we feel that these numbers add to the confusion rather than help... so it's best if you wipe this whole paragraph from your memory and go about your day."

Is there another way we can help answer the root question? Is there a particular item or particular amounts of certain items you want to fit in the main compartment?

Super random question. Will the Synik 30 fit on the handle of a Pelican 1510? 1000 internet points to anyone who can answer this... Thank you!

Can you measure the width of the handle and let us know what you come up with? I couldn’t find measurements for the handle online. It doesn’t look too wide, but it’s difficult to say for sure.

The Synik 30 can fit rolling luggage handles through its pass-through slot that are up to about 7.25″ / 185mm in width; the handle needs to be at least 20” / 510mm tall.

Is it possible for someone at TB or some reviewers to post pictures of the packing cube combinations mentioned in the Synik FAQ?

I’m particularly interested in how two A45 Large Cubes fit and if there’s any space on top.

We wanted to double-check this, so Cody and Matthew stuffed some Aeronaut 45 Large Cubes, packed them in the Synik 30 once again, and asked for feedback from various people here at the factory as to whether they thought two were a good fit. While two will fit if they’re not totally packed full, everyone agreed it’s kinda a tight fit if they are packed full, so we’ve edited our recommendations in the FAQ to be:

1 Aeronaut 45 Large Packing Cube
or
1 Aeronaut 45 Large Packing Cube + 1 Aeronaut 30 Large Packing Cube

I’m a synapse 19 owner and use the bag everyday as well as for travel. My ideal bag would have all the features of synik 22/30 with the zipper design of the synapse and a smaller, more discrete logo. The whole clamshell design is more unwieldy looking and makes the bag seem more prone to breaking. Not a fan. I wish they would redesign the synapse with all the features of synik except the clamshell zippers.

Noted, and thanks for the feedback! Re: clamshell -- definitely isn’t for everyone. We don’t expect the zipper to break prematurely — that's perhaps more of a possibility with clamshell zippers, which led to us making even the zipper of the 22 a #10 (instead of a #8) and adding padding at the bottom to protect the zipper.

Are there any differences between the test versions that were given out for review/testing and the final production model?

There may be a few differences depending on when the test bag was sent out, but they are all relatively minor. For example: we ended up readjusting the universal curve of the aluminum half-stay.

@Darcy - Any news on colors for "regular" production (aka, after pre-order orders)?

It's most likely that regular production colors will be the most popular colors from pre-order. I don’t anticipate we will add new colors to the regular production batches — until 525d in Coyote arrives anyway

[Darcy]

Here's two new videos that show the Synik 22 and Synik 30 in various contexts:

Packing for a two week trip to Los Angeles + Chicago





The Trip! Travel. Bags. Food. Chicago. LA. Parks. Beaches.