Marsupial Icon?

[teresapoet]

Questions for the early Icon reviewers: How do smaller TB bags fit in the Icon? And how does the Icon fit in larger TB bags?

For smaller bags, I’m mostly curious about the Travel Cubelet and Side Effect (someone had posted about a 3DOC in the back pocket, which made me wonder if a TC might fit there). For larger bags, I’m wondering about the Pop Tote and SZTSB. But perhaps there are more bags other folks are curious about and would be fun to try...

[Cristina]

Questions for the early Icon reviewers: How do smaller TB bags fit in the Icon? And how does the Icon fit in larger TB bags?

I haven’t written a stand-alone review yet, so I appreciate the chance to offer some answers.

Let’s get straight to the pics, shall we?

Here is a 3DOC in the back pocket. It fits fine but it does encroach on the main pocket. I don’t find this a problem as making the main pocket smaller makes it slightly easier to see inside sometimes.



Here is a Travel Cubelet in the rear pocket. It’s at the absolute maximum height for this pocket and I wouldn’t put it here vertically.




Fits ok horizontally.



The Pika does not fit in the back pocket because there is no headroom above the zipper. Too tall!


Personally I think Organizer pouches (top choice)or a 3DOC fit better in this rear pocket.

Next, some bags in the main pocket.

3DOC. Fits fine in the main pocket and doesn’t obstruct your view of other items.



Pika. Too tall to put in without tucking it behind the zipper in the headroom.




Travel Cubelet. Fits well inside and I like that it leaves room on the side and doesn’t get too much in the way of the slip pockets.



Side Effect. I don’t like that it takes up nearly the whole width of the bag. Makes it hard to see your other stuff.


Side Kick. Takes up almost the entire inside of the bag. I wouldn’t use these bags together.




And now the Icon inside other bags. It fits very well!

Icon in a Small Zip Top Shop Bag. Great fit:



Icon in a Pop Tote. Great fit:


Icon in a Daylight Backpack. Great fit:



I hope this helps! Let me know if you’d like me to try any more.

[moriond]

Great photos, @Cristina,

I've said over at Ravelry yesterday, and in another thread here today,

My mental picture of the Icon is the carrying experience of a Little Swift that was made into a crossbody bag.

So, the basic broad answer is that things I'd put into my Little Swift, are what I'd put into my Icon, and I'd put my Icon into places where I could drop my Little Swift.

Some specifics about that: I can carry a Western Flyer Small Packing Cube of clothes in my Little Swift, and I carry an iPad (now an 11" iPad Pro), so both of those were shown going into my Icon. I used to drop my Little Swift into the middle section of my Tri-Star before I got onto a plane (this was before I made the transition to my Black Halcyon Side Kick) so my Icon could get dropped there. I did carry a Side Effect in my Little Swift…

Side Effect. I don’t like that it takes up nearly the whole width of the bag. Makes it hard to see your other stuff.

But, hey, I have a Side Effect in Solar, so if I wanted to put a Side Effect into the Icon, the fact that it's 200d Halcyon and Solar, doesn't really make things difficult to see inside:



(I won't do the inside shot, but it's not hard to see things with a Solar SE there).

Just my 2¢.

moriond

[Cristina]

Thanks, @moriond

Yes I quite agree, having Solar inside a bag is like having a flashlight in there! My Black Halcyon Side Effect is not quite the same.

I think the main reason I don’t like the Side Effect in the Icon is that I don’t like things on top of each other, if it can be avoided, and if the SE takes up the whole width then any extra thing like a small folded shopping bag or a pair of gloves or a spare phone battery will have to go on top or beneath.

An exception to this preference is the thin hat and neck tube I keep at the bottom of my Travel Cubelet. They act as a booster seat for my wallet and phone, making them a bit closer to the opening and therefore easier to reach.

(And yes, for anyone wondering, my dislike of stacking items does make it hard to use vertically-oriented bags and most backpacks.)

When I use my Little Swift as a non-knitting bag, I sometimes like a Side Kick at the bottom like a purse organizer, becoming part of the bag rather than an item that is in it. A Swift Kick!

Great photos, @Cristina,

I've said over at Ravelry yesterday, and in another thread here today,


So, the basic broad answer is that things I'd put into my Little Swift, are what I'd put into my Icon, and I'd put my Icon into places where I could drop my Little Swift.

Some specifics about that: I can carry a Western Flyer Small Packing Cube of clothes in my Little Swift, and I carry an iPad (now an 11" iPad Pro), so both of those were shown going into my Icon. I used to drop my Little Swift into the middle section of my Tri-Star before I got onto a plane (this was before I made the transition to my Black Halcyon Side Kick) so my Icon could get dropped there. I did carry a Side Effect in my Little Swift…



But, hey, I have a Side Effect in Solar, so if I wanted to put a Side Effect into the Icon, the fact that it's 200d Halcyon and Solar, doesn't really make things difficult to see inside:



(I won't do the inside shot, but it's not hard to see things with a Solar SE there).

Just my 2¢.

moriond

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[teresapoet]

I hope this helps! Let me know if you’d like me to try any more.

Very helpful! Thank you, Cristina!

The Travel Cubelet is my current purse, so I’m especially glad that it will fit inside well. And the Daylight Backpack is one I forgot to ask about! (I intentionally didn’t ask about the Smart Alec because I know that will swallow it up the Icon just fine.)

The Logic Blue is currently in the lead out of my color choices too!

Teresa



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bunchgrass]

Where did all the knitters go? How well do small (hat, mitts) knitting projects in stuff sacks or TTS fit in the Icon?

[aedifica]

Where did all the knitters go? How well do small (hat, mitts) knitting projects in stuff sacks or TTS fit in the Icon?

I have a sock-weight shawl in a Medium YSS in my Icon right now! There's enough room beside it that the HLT1 can go in there too, but having both in there does make it hard to get at the stuff lying at the bottom of the bag.

[bunchgrass]

I have a sock-weight shawl in a Medium YSS in my Icon right now! There's enough room beside it that the HLT1 can go in there too, but having both in there does make it hard to get at the stuff lying at the bottom of the bag.

Thank you, that’s good to know. I spend a lot of time in doctor’s waiting rooms and like to have a knitting project with me. I wanted to make sure the icon would hold a small project along with organizer pouches, keys and pens. Looking forward to the Monday debut.

[teresapoet]

Here is a Travel Cubelet in the rear pocket. It’s at the absolute maximum height for this pocket and I wouldn’t put it here vertically.

Since your TC is 525 Ballistic and mine is 210 (Dawn), I was hoping that my TC would fit better in the rear pocket. It didn't work well when packed fairly full as it put more stress on the zipper than I'd like, but did once I pared down the contents. And I may even leave that rear pocket unzipped when wearing, since it's close to my body and not visible to others. I was very happy to discover this, since it's a lot easier to take the TC out and put it back in when it's in a dedicated pocket rather than nestled among other things in the main compartment. Plus it leaves the main compartment mostly open for things I tend to switch out depending on my day/outing (knitting, journal, Kindle, kid activities, water bottle, etc.). I'm loving the Icon, though it's only been test packing so far - looking forward to putting it to use this weekend!

[teresapoet]

Thank you, that’s good to know. I spend a lot of time in doctor’s waiting rooms and like to have a knitting project with me. I wanted to make sure the icon would hold a small project along with organizer pouches, keys and pens. Looking forward to the Monday debut.

I posted the following in the "Icon v medium cafe bag" thread - the picture was from a car dealership waiting room:

I finally got a chance to pack some knitting in my Icon. While it may not work as well as a flap top bag like the Cafe Bags where it’s possible to knit while walking with the flap closed, I think it works perfectly fine for knitting while sitting with the Icon next to you and the main compartment open. (It may still be possible to knit while walking with the Icon, but I haven’t tried.) The main compartment’s zipper placement actually helps because the top of the yarn stuff sack can be pulled up and out of the bag a little to alleviate any concerns about yarn getting stuck on the zipper (which doesn’t worry me much anyway with the size and smoothness of the zipper).

And an update on my marsupializing of the Travel Cubelet in the Icon: While I love being able to put the TC in a dedicated pocket, the rear pocket makes it a little harder to get things out that I need in a hurry (especially when wearing the bag), like my wallet and keys. At the same time, I'm finding that I don't mind taking the whole bag in cases where I thought I'd just pull out the TC, so I may not need to marsupialize. Time to play musical pockets and reconfigure!

[MC_Squared]

This might seem like an odd request, but could I ask to see a DLBP rolled up and placed inside an Icon? Is it doable, and how much space would it take up?

I'm asking because I'm trying to come up with a solution to an unusual carry situation. When I babywear my youngest on my back, I need a messenger-style bag I can wear on my front, exactly the size and style of the Icon. If I put him down for a bit while out, I like to switch to a backpack carry so I'm not wrangling a messenger bag, carrier, and trying to chase after him . At that point, I would pull out the DLBP and put my carrier and the Icon inside. From your picture above, it looks like the Icon fits with plenty of room to spare!

Thanks!
Margot

[bartleby]

This might seem like an odd request, but could I ask to see a DLBP rolled up and placed inside an Icon? Is it doable, and how much space would it take up?

Hi MC_Squared, yes that works! Here you see a Halcyon DLBP rolled up and packed inside the Icon. I folded the DLBP halfwise and then rolled it up. I think Halcyon works better for your purpose as it is softer and lighter than 525 Ballistic.





If you put the DLBP horizontally into the Icon it takes up a little less than half of the space.



But you can also put it in vertically and you still have a good half of the space left.



Hope that helps!

[moriond]

This might seem like an odd request, but could I ask to see a DLBP rolled up and placed inside an Icon? Is it doable, and how much space would it take up?

I'm asking because I'm trying to come up with a solution to an unusual carry situation. When I babywear my youngest on my back, I need a messenger-style bag I can wear on my front, exactly the size and style of the Icon. If I put him down for a bit while out, I like to switch to a backpack carry so I'm not wrangling a messenger bag, carrier, and trying to chase after him . At that point, I would pull out the DLBP and put my carrier and the Icon inside. From your picture above, it looks like the Icon fits with plenty of room to spare!

Thanks!
Margot

Hi @MC_Squared,

Your result will depend on the stiffness of the material you’ve chosen for the Daylight Backpack. I don’t have any Daylight Backpacks in 525d Ballistic Nylon, which would be the stiffest and bulkiest of this series to try this with. However, I was previously asked about fitting the Daylight Briefcase or Daylight Backpack into a stuff sack and for a Halcyon version of each I show pictures of these packed either into the two sides of a Small Snake Charmer (2 liter capacity; 1 of each kind in each section of the Snake Charmer), or the DLBP rolled into a size 1 Travel Stuff Sack, or the DLBC packed into a 3D Clear Organizer Cube, so occupying about 1 liter — maybe 1.1 liter. See the Daylight BC/BP into a stuff sack? thread.

It’s the middle of the night here, so I can’t take pictures, but you can basically fit a Halcyon Daylight Backpack into the back zippered pocket of the Icon. If Cristina has one she can use, just fold it in half in the long direction, and then in half again. Insert it into the back zippered pocket and rotate 90° to match the E-W orientation of the bag, and zip up the pocket. (Or anyone who has both thesebags and is in a daylight location can try this and take a picture.). The weight of a Ballistic Nylon version of the DLBP is 25% higher, so I don’t know how doable that would be. My guess is that you wouldn’t be able to separately fit it into the back zippered pocket, and then it would be a question of how it divided up the main compartment of the Icon.

HTH

moriond

[moriond]

Hi @bartleby,

Can you try folding instead of rolling the DLBP? I think it would work better to separate it off into the back zippered pocket because you get a flat pack, and the backpack just simply occupies the back pocket while the entire front pocket is left open. You also don’t have to worry about the rolled DLBP unrolling in the compartment, and it’s a natural division. You do have to rotate to get it into the back pocket into optimal orientation — otherwise it sticks up above the zipper, but in rotated fashion it all works.

moriond

ETA That way you get full access to the pockets in the main compartment as well as a pretty flat back pocket

[MC_Squared]

Wow! Bartleby, thanks so much for those photos! Yes, that is exactly what I had in mind, although I must say, giving up half the space of the main icon pocket for the DLBP is a bit more than I was hoping.

Moriond, I think your solution is even better, and I would love to see how it fits! I do love the look of Halcyon so I was already thinking that would be the most compact solution.