2021 Wish List

[moriond]

I wonder if someone who has the Spiff Kit, Deluxe can check if an A5 notebook fits inside.

Spiff Kit, Deluxe:
External Dimensions:
9.4” (w) x 7.9” (h) x 2.6” (d) / 240 (w) x 200 (h) x 65 (d) mm

Weight:
200 Halcyon: 8.5 oz / 240 grams
210 Ballistic: 9.4 oz / 266 grams

Volume:
225 cubic inches / 3.7 liters

Hi @backpack ,

This kind of information is totally within the existing pictures posted within the forums. See my post (#25, dated 04-07-2015) from the question about spiff kit deluxe thread.
I've included an 8.75 x 6 x 1.25 in library book in the top half of the open DSK in this picture, where the shelf with attached Lush samplers is simply folded up, and lays fairly flat.



You can read the entire thread and its links, if you want details about how it was configured, because the excerpted comment for that image was in the context of packing up the accessory, configuring items on the folding shelf (LUSH samplers), and closing the Spiff Kit Deluxe with the book in the top half, and all the items carried below.

There are also lots of threads with pictures that compare the two sizes of Spiff Kits, and that also answer questions like whether Moleskine notebooks fit. (I know that’s not @m_cycle ’s question). Both Spiff Kits are larger than the HLT2. See the Having trouble deciding on spiff kit
thread, since I think the first comparison post picture of the two sizes that I gave in the response is no longer viewable as an image in its source thread, where it was posted via TapaTalk upload. (Since I saved it as a forum attachment when I referenced it as a sample of the pictures I thought might be useful, it’s still visible in my post. This is the image of the Iberian Spiff Kit Deluxe and the Ultraviolet Spiff Kit Standard that I think may have originally been posted by @Walker ).

Also, @backpack posted a similar request about having an accessory that could be used as a notebook cover in the 2018 wishlist thread (#233, dated 02-11-2018), and there are pictures and discussions around that post. My reply, in post #236, went back to link earlier photos showing a standard Moleskine in the Spiff Kit Standard:


but also discussed other sizes of accessories that are also larger than the HLTs (First and Second Aid Pouch).

For @m_cycle , I’d have to check the Lihit Lab Twist Notebook dimensions, but my preferred recommendation for something to store A5 journals was the (retired) Stowaway Aether Packing Cube. See my answer in the A5 in a TSS? thread of 2018

I don't have a good answer for the 10.5" iPad Pro, but here are pictures of the A5 size Leuchtturm notebook in the Aether Packing Cube for the Stowaway (just taken on my iPad). I didn't show the iPad Mini, too, but it will fit in front of the A5 Leuchtturm Notebook.


The Leuchtturm A5 notebook is just slightly too wide to fit into a Standard Size Spiff Kit. (A Moleskine Notebook can fit into the Spiff Kit Standard

HTH

moriomd

ETA: If you want organization to hold your Leuchtturm A5 Notebook without a pouch, it will fit in the back pocket of the Small Cafe Bag Freudian Slip.

If you want to see more pictures of how the retired Aether packing cubes work with other A5 notebooks, as well as how I can use these in the back pockets in either the L12 or L15 sizes Luminaries to vertically stack items, take a look at the images in my post (#1733, dated 02-22-2019) in the (long!) Discussion of New Colors, New Designs thread.

For specific reference to the HLT2, the largest notebook that I comfortably use that fits under the inside mesh pocket is the Leuchtturm1917 Planner (or similar thinner form factor notebooks). I had to match a pack up request for the Icon by @GoNavy, so I can tell you its exact dimensions

According to the description, it is 7.48 x 4.92 x 0.55 inches (I had to look up 2021 specs since this is for 2020). So it is slightly longer than your notebook but the same width.

You can see what I mean by a “comfortable” fit by looking in the HLT 2 sizing thread pictures for the same Notebook.

Slightly larger books can fit inside the open HLT2, but they are tight.

HTH

moriond

ETA: There are more helpful pictures in the last set of links. It’s just that the number of copy and pastes it takes to assemble all these answers on an iOS device can get excessive. They’re not hard for me to recall or find, but getting out the embedded images just takes a lot of extra work. BTW, if I quote without separately pasting in exact links to forum URL attachments, there is significant performance degradation when quotes are being viewed outside of their parent threads. But it’s just a lot more work to give exact URLs for absolutely every image that someone wants to see, although I know that a lot of people tend to ignore the parts of a post where the actual images are not provided in detail again

[m_cycle]

Thanks for all the details. I've added two Side Kicks on my wish list even though they're not quite the "right" color. That should fill my need/want until TB makes a A5 HLT (or field journal) type product in ultraviolet Halcyon (). I really like having clam shell cover with a long strap.

[backpack]

Just thought of something else--I'd kill for a gatekeeper clip design that's easier to open (and to a lesser extent, close). There's been many instances when I want to add or remove something (a waist strap, internal compression strap, or I want to hang my HLT from a couple clips inside my bag) but I don't because the gatekeepers are so fiddly to open.

If TB could come up with a design that's easier to operate, that would be amazing and enhance my usability of these bags by quite a bit!

It already exists, there are 2 triangles clips, in 2 sizes in Parts, sold in pair, that are easy to open and make great alternatives to Gatekeeper Clips when someone wants an easy to open clip.

1-1/2" Triangle Metal Hook: as used on the front of the Brain Bag
https://www.tombihn.com/collections/...nt=16645156935

1" Triangle Metal Hook: as used as a yarn guide in the Yarn Stuff Sacks
https://www.tombihn.com/collections/...nt=16645153799


Note that I do not remove the Gatekeeper Clips, from items that will see very hard use, they can be used as purses, held on one shoulder or cross body, then placed into a library, bookstore or coffee shop table or sometime tossed into a shopping cart (pre-covid).

For example the Gatekeeper Waist Straps of my backpacks and the Gatekeeper Shoulder Straps my retired design Field Journal Notebook (the A5 sized ancestor of the Handy Little Thing) and my Side Effect.

[backpack]

Hi @backpack ,

This kind of information is totally within the existing pictures posted within the forums. See my post (#25, dated 04-07-2015) from the question about spiff kit deluxe thread.
I've included an 8.75 x 6 x 1.25 in library book in the top half of the open DSK in this picture, where the shelf with attached Lush samplers is simply folded up, and lays fairly flat.



You can read the entire thread and its links, if you want details about how it was configured, because the excerpted comment for that image was in the context of packing up the accessory, configuring items on the folding shelf (LUSH samplers), and closing the Spiff Kit Deluxe with the book in the top half, and all the items carried below.

There are also lots of threads with pictures that compare the two sizes of Spiff Kits, and that also answer questions like whether Moleskine notebooks fit. (I know that’s not @m_cycle ’s question). Both Spiff Kits are larger than the HLT2. See the Having trouble deciding on spiff kit
thread, since I think the first comparison post picture of the two sizes that I gave in the response is no longer viewable as an image in its source thread, where it was posted via TapaTalk upload. (Since I saved it as a forum attachment when I referenced it as a sample of the pictures I thought might be useful, it’s still visible in my post. This is the image of the Iberian Spiff Kit Deluxe and the Ultraviolet Spiff Kit Standard that I think may have originally been posted by @Walker ).

Also, @backpack posted a similar request about having an accessory that could be used as a notebook cover in the 2018 wishlist thread (#233, dated 02-11-2018), and there are pictures and discussions around that post. My reply, in post #236, went back to link earlier photos showing a standard Moleskine in the Spiff Kit Standard:


but also discussed other sizes of accessories that are also larger than the HLTs (First and Second Aid Pouch).

For @m_cycle , I’d have to check the Lihit Lab Twist Notebook dimensions, but my preferred recommendation for something to store A5 journals was the (retired) Stowaway Aether Packing Cube. See my answer in the A5 in a TSS? thread of 2018


If you want to see more pictures of how the retired Aether packing cubes work with other A5 notebooks, as well as how I can use these in the back pockets in either the L12 or L15 sizes Luminaries to vertically stack items, take a look at the images in my post (#1733, dated 02-22-2019) in the (long!) Discussion of New Colors, New Designs thread.

For specific reference to the HLT2, the largest notebook that I comfortably use that fits under the inside mesh pocket is the Leuchtturm1917 Planner (or similar thinner form factor notebooks). I had to match a pack up request for the Icon by @GoNavy, so I can tell you its exact dimensions


You can see what I mean by a “comfortable” fit by looking in the HLT 2 sizing thread pictures for the same Notebook.

Slightly larger books can fit inside the open HLT2, but they are tight.

HTH

moriond

ETA: There are more helpful pictures in the last set of links. It’s just that the number of copy and pastes it takes to assemble all these answers on an iOS device can get excessive. They’re not hard for me to recall or find, but getting out the embedded images just takes a lot of extra work. BTW, if I quote without separately pasting in exact links to forum URL attachments, there is significant performance degradation when quotes are being viewed outside of their parent threads. But it’s just a lot more work to give exact URLs for absolutely every image that someone wants to see, although I know that a lot of people tend to ignore the parts of a post where the actual images are not provided in detail again

Thanks Moriond, your title of forum historian is well earned. You keep getting better and better, year after year.

[guod]

I’d like to add a +1 to a couple of last year’s wishes I saw from others on the 2020 Wish List: a Synik 40 or 45 (might satisfy my Big Wish, below); a Brain Bag with a stiff back panel and one large main compartment or a removable divider between the two main compartments (again, ties in below); attachable shoulder strap pockets/pouches that could be used for various bags.

Now, my 2021 wishes:

Small Wish:

Make Nik’s Wallets just a little longer (~3-4mm?), so that when I store U.S. bills folded once in half in the inner pockets, and I fold the wallet closed, the wallet folds over so that the ends meet evenly.

Big Wish:

Long story short:

BB & S30 have a baby.

Short story long:

From Papa Brain Bag, this bag inherits:
--Overall huge capacity
--Mostly able to stand on its own when set down
--Squared shape and dimensions
--Compression straps
--Large padded grab handle
--Regular-length (non clamshell) zippers

From Mama Synik, this bag inherits:
--Front-of-bag organization, with the 5 pockets (perhaps reshaped slightly to match the BB boxiness)
--Water-resistant zippers, no rain flaps
--Interior is lined completely
--Pen slots/pouches are on the pocket flaps (not on the interior of the pocket, like BB, where you have to navigate around or remove the other things in the pockets to access the slots)
--Dedicated protected laptop compartment, but with BB-style simple top access zipper, so we can plop one or two devices in there (maybe enough depth here to house a Freudian Slip, though some built-in admin for small items and especially for papers [“business papers, man”] would free up the volume compared to using FS). This might provide the bag some shape and support, too.
--The bag body is one color on front and sides and top, not just on front panel like BB

It would take after Auntie Synapse in that it would have a small webbing loop on the top back to hang it from a hook, such as when keeping it off nasty public restroom floors.

If it has any pouches in the main compartment, they’d be like one of it’s little relatives, such as Nephew Side Kick, and would not be elasticized, so they don’t pooch out toward the center of the compartment and need to be pushed aside all the time.

The offspring would have the following mutations:

--The aforementioned built-in business admin slots in the main and/or laptop compartment, including for folders and papers.
--Big ol’ water bottle pockets on either side. Grotesque, I know! TB sacrilege! But highly functional. I would use both every single day carrying this pack to work. Maybe the design team can find a way to hide these away when not in use, to preserve some of the BB and Synik aesthetic. Yes, I know that leaves me with 3 water bottle pockets. The zippered one in the center is there for when I want to store the drink streamlined and securely, or for a quick-grab compartment when I’m using the side pockets. And I’d use them most of the time.

Here’s where I’m coming from: I am a high school teacher and coach, constantly hauling my regular (overpacked) EDC stuff, plus one and sometimes two laptops and chargers, also often books (including textbooks), clipboards, folders, and (sometimes stacks of) papers. I have both the BB and S30. But for EDC I almost always reach instead for a pack I own from another maker because it rather effectively combines the BB’s capacity and the S30’s built-in organization (plus a dash of FS). It has a couple of big bottle pockets on the side, coffee in one and water in the other for my standard work carry. It stands on its own quite well and perches there beside my desk, open so I can quickly stash and retrieve stuff. It’s easy to interact with in this way. I really like that pack.

But dammit, it’s not a Bihn.

[Surrealle]

It already exists, there are 2 triangles clips, in 2 sizes in Parts, sold in pair, that are easy to open and make great alternatives to Gatekeeper Clips when someone wants an easy to open clip.

1-1/2" Triangle Metal Hook: as used on the front of the Brain Bag
https://www.tombihn.com/collections/...nt=16645156935

1" Triangle Metal Hook: as used as a yarn guide in the Yarn Stuff Sacks
https://www.tombihn.com/collections/...nt=16645153799


Note that I do not remove the Gatekeeper Clips, from items that will see very hard use, they can be used as purses, held on one shoulder or cross body, then placed into a library, bookstore or coffee shop table or sometime tossed into a shopping cart (pre-covid).

For example the Gatekeeper Waist Straps of my backpacks and the Gatekeeper Shoulder Straps my retired design Field Journal Notebook (the A5 sized ancestor of the Handy Little Thing) and my Side Effect.

I appreciate the suggestion but I'm not sure how well that shape would work for things like waist straps. I think it would twist or pinch any strap it's connected to once it's bearing weight. (Unless I'm misunderstanding how it should be used.)

[bijoux]

Mesh mini org pouch with halcyon backing
Thin, foldable carrier/tote bag with attached pocket. (like IKEA Knalla carrier bag, small enough to keep 3 in my handbag).

[Shortie]

Side Effect, Side Kick, Synik 22 in Black Halcyon/Acuity.

[jessmakes]

Side Effect, Side Kick, Synik 22 in Black Halcyon/Acuity.

+1 - I'm dying for a black halcyon side effect with Acuity lining.

[backpack]

I appreciate the suggestion but I'm not sure how well that shape would work for things like waist straps. I think it would twist or pinch any strap it's connected to once it's bearing weight. (Unless I'm misunderstanding how it should be used.)

In my post, I said that I keep waist straps on, at all time, in my backpacks.

My suggestion was for shoulder straps, I just realized I didn't make that clear.

[labrain]

Side Effect, Side Kick, Synik 22 in Black Halcyon/Acuity.

# 1 more. Unicorn bag.

[pott]

Same as every year. An actual laptop backpack.

The smaller Synik can't take a laptop big enough, the larger one is too big. The Synapses tend to be over-done for just a commute bag, with too many pockets on the outside for me to feel safe. They also fall when set down, even with the frame-sheet.
The Brain Bag is awesome but way too big. A (much) narrower one, with only a single compartment, would be great. Luminaries are too small and feel like 'light' versions of existing bags.

Oh an actual messenger bag would be cool too! I recently got a Bedouin Foundry Khan and I really wonder what TB could do if they were to do another true messenger.

[KAB]

Although Yeoman Duffels have (sadly) been retired, how about the same design, but maybe only in the Mini & Small sizes, in the new lighter weight fabrics? They would be nice and squishable, packable and useful. Ideal for the gym, sports etc.

[Neilster]

I'd love a limited run of the Large Cafe Bag. ...

...
Other wishes:
...
Large Cafe Bag
...

I’d like to add another vote for a ltd edition of the Large Cafe Bag please!

[Jenna321]

I would also love to see the return of Fjord!

I'd like to add yet another vote for another run of the Large Cafe Bag, pretty, pretty please. This bag has been my trusty companion since 2015-2016. It has never failed to keep my items safe and organized both home and abroad. It has traveled heavily for 6 years around town, and on boats, planes and trains and it still looks amazing! I can just wipe it down with a cloth and water, and it cleans up perfectly. Such an easy keeper that fits in in all environments! This is hands down my most used TB bag. My beloved Synapse 25s in BLK and Orig Halcyon are a close second, but the BLK Halcyon LCB wins by a narrow margin. I would love to have back up. Thank for you listening