Noted! Sounds like the configuration of the Synapse pockets doesn’t work for what you need to carry. To us, the front face of the Synapse/Synik and its pockets are part of what really makes it a Synapse/Synik. I don’t think we will change those things — but we will come out with more/different designs over the years that might better fit your needs.
Thank you guys for asking such good questions. I’m writing the Synik FAQ right now and it helps that process to answer these questions as they come in.
We’ve discussed whether or not to include the internal frame quite a bit — we even recently revisited that question. Originally, our plan was to make the internal frame optional because we hoped that the Synapse 25 or Synapse 19 internal frames would work with the Synik 30 and Synik 22 respectively — however, when we put the Synapse frames in the Syniks, we found that to be, at best, a kludgy hack. It just didn’t work that well for some of the reasons @Cristina mentioned, and we didn’t/don’t feel comfortable recommending it as an option.
Additionally, we ultimately determined that the majority of people will want to use the internal frame in the Synik: it provides extra stability that aids in the suspension of the laptop compartment and acts as a barrier between the handle of rolling luggage and the laptop compartment.
So: the internal frame will be included with the Synik.
Synik 22: 11.4″ x 16.0″ x 9.4″ / 390mm x 490mm x 240mm (width x height x depth)
Synik 30: 13.4″ x 20.0″ x 10.8″ / 340mm x 508mm x 275mm (width x height x depth)
If I’m understanding correctly — I tested this myself and if the front exterior pockets are fully and heavily loaded (two water bottle pockets, various other items) and the main compartment is empty, it does feel like the front face of the bag wants to fall forward a bit as I unzip it — but the zippers don’t open any further by themselves, and this didn’t seem like it was a problem to me. Maybe some of the Forum reviewers can try this out too?
Or, do you mean if the front exterior pockets are fully loaded and the back is on its back and you want to open it clamshell-style, does the front half of the bag pull the back of the bag up? The answer to that is no -- as long as the clamshell zipper is fully unzipped.
1. The Cache 15A will fit in the main compartment (not the laptop compartment) of the Synik 30, but not the 22. And I do think your Lenovo Y540 will fit in the 15A.
2. Yes. There’s one set of rail loops in the Synik; they are above the open-top pocket that’s in the main compartment on the back side of the front face of the bag (directly opposite the built-in laptop compartment.)
3. Sounds like a fun job
I’d say either the Synik 30 or the Brain Bag. And for overnights, you probably don’t need as much capacity as the Brain Bag offers.
I think the fit of the EC folder will be the same in the Synik 30 as the Synapse 25. Maybe one of the Forum reviewers has EC packing folders and can test this out?
The Western Flyer Large Packing Cube (and Packing Cube Backpack!) does fit in the Synik 30. In fact, Nik took a Western Flyer PCBP in his Synik 30 on a test trip w/the bag in April… we’ve got some photos of that somewhere, let me look for those.
No UV combinations are in the cards this year. Maybe next year if there’s enough requests.
If your Synik is stuffed full, it will be more difficult to pull your laptop out. The laptop compartment works best with a reasonably packed, but not overstuffed, Synik. We will make sure in the Synik description that people are aware of this.
The thing is — to prevent that from happening, the bag would need an effectively rigid laptop compartment that would require more bulk, weight, and build. It might even start to feel overbuilt and overly complex, and to us that just didn’t fit with the overall intent of the Synapse/Synik.
We felt it best to avoid all of that and counsel people to avoid overpacking their bag if they want the laptop compartment to work smoothly — it may also just result in an overall better packing/use experience of various features of the bag. And the 3 extra liters of the 22 / 5 extra liters of the 30 helped at least us avoid overpacking our Syniks
@Rei shared some about this (thanks!)
It’s up to you whether the in-stock items ship right away or are held to be shipped with the pre-order, and we do charge shipping twice in the case of the former.
I know, free shipping is pretty common nowadays (I’d say half of the places I shop with have it; the smaller stores often don’t). Worth noting that $10 is less than it actually costs and we cover the costs of the carbon offsets to make it carbon neutral shipping.
Here’s the official word from our pre-order FAQ:
https://blog.tombihn.com/pre-orders#instock
We totally get your concern: we shared it too. In our testing, our zippers never shifted open on their own -- but we look forward to hearing what @bchaplin @tuskegee7294*and others experience. We all use bags in different ways.
Good news about the 11” iPad Pro with the case being able to fit!
I have a (older) 13” MacBook Air and while I can get it in the Synik 22, I wouldn’t recommend that / we won’t recommend people try to fit one in there. It’s just a little too big to fit -- the bezel around the screen of the older 13" MacBook Air is over 1/2" on each side, which ends up making it rather large for a 13" laptop. A more modern bezel is about 1/4" or less. Laptops the size of the 2015-and-later 13” MacBook Pro or the newer 13" Air Retina will fit just fine.
To make the length of the opening of the exterior access laptop compartment longer, we would have needed to make the entire Synik 22 taller — and then it wouldn’t have fit those who are shorter in height as well.
That’s a great question. The Synik 22 will basically work like your L15 — the length of the opening of the exterior device pocket is the nearly same on both bags. So, any device that fits in the Luminary 15 should also fit in the Synik 22.
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Originally Posted by Traveltech
