So I'm going to start this by saying my Tom Bihn Aeronaut (not an Aeronaut 45, it's an OG from before the Aeronauts were a family) is the greatest bag I've ever owned. As you can see from the picture, it's pretty intensely personal to me, and has provided me with about six years of great service and still looks great. Through study, leisure, and work, my country count is somewhere north of 125, and my Aeronaut has probably logged about fifty. I'm evangelical about my Aeronaut, so I'm responsible for literally thousands of dollars of sales (not hard with Tom Bihn pricing), as people I've converted have bought bags.
As soon as the Hero's Journey was announced, I decided that it was perfect for me. Recently, I'd been using a simple Nike duffle bag more often, because there were some trips where I wouldn't have access to a washing machine, didn't want the hassle of hand washing, and needed more space than my Aeronaut could provide. This was going to be perfect for me, because it was an aeronaut with a little extra headroom.
Since it wasn't an absolute necessity, and I wanted to skirt the `10% of sales tax from living on the opposite side of the state from Tom Bihn, I decided I would wait until one showed up on ebay. I had bought my aeronaut on ebay, and due to the fact that the bags are virtually bulletproof, I had no qualms about it. I was hoping for an iberian inside, but was still happy with the northwest gray, for under $400 shipped.
I've now gone on two trips with this in the last month, so I feel like I've experienced enough to definitively review this. It's been on planes, trains, automobiles, buses, and boats. I want to preface this by saying that my review is based on my experiences with the aeronaut, and hiking with various bags from The North Face and Osprey, and also taking into consideration the $480 price tag.
Quick review: NOBODY should buy this bag for $480. The value is AWFUL, and it's not nearly as well engineered as the Aeronaut. I've steered a bunch of people to the Aeronaut 45, which at $295 is definitely pricey, but very justifiable if you're a frequent traveler.
-Understand that if you're going to use this bag, you must use the waist strap. The internal suspension is very poor compared to similarly sized packs I've used from The North Face and Osprey, and the Hero's Journey (I'm just going to use HJ moving forward) when filled becomes unwieldy and puts a fair amount of torque on your back when turning. It doesn't have the natural "stuck to your back" feel that a solid pack does. I made this mistake in Shanghai and tweaked my back, and I'm not a person who generally has any back issues at all.
-The backpack straps that they've opted for are total garbage. So far as I can tell, they're the exact same as the ones on the Aeronaut, but I feel the Aeronaut is meant to be used as a duffle, and I always use my absolute strap. Contrary to that, I feel that the HJ is meant to be used as a backpack 99% of the time, so their decision to use the same straps is absolutely befuddling. The straps are significantly worse than most quality daypacks, being thin and having no technology of any sort. Given that this is a pack that's about 50% more than anything produced by quality mountaineering companies like Osprey or TNF, it's completely unacceptable. I know that people will argue that it's to save weight and that sort of thing, but it's so essential to the core use of the product that the argument is nonsensical. At a bare minimum, the straps should have been wider to better distribute pack weight on the shoulders.
-The lack of grab straps is maddening. One of the great things about the Aeronaut is the versatility. One of the maddening things about the Hero's Journey is that the grab straps are in stupid places. So on the bottom, you have one on the end. Perfect. Up top, it's not on the end, it's on the front of the bag. This is frustrating because when carrying it by this strap, the weight is always going to be really unbalanced. There's also a strap on the back, but it's just webbing rather than a legitimate TB grab strap. Most frustrating is that the grab straps on the sides (so one could carry it like a suitcase) are... missing... I know that TB wanted to sell everyone the side roll pockets, but they could've left a grab strap, as it's a very natural thing while traveling to need to carry a bag suitcase/duffle bag style, and it's literally not possible here. (In case it's not clear what I mean here, on the aeronaut the side grab strap would be the one that buttons on "top" of the bag)
Overall, the pack is well made, but the beauty of the Aeronaut was that it was in my opinion, perfectly engineered, and with the absolute strap, as good of a bag as I could imagine. I even like that one of the side pockets isn't zip closed in the OG version, because I would always grab a newspaper in the lounge en route. Unfortunately, I don't think the superior engineering is true in the Hero's Journey, and I think it's terrible value for the money in comparison to the Aeronaut (You get an extra side pocket for an extra $180?!?) or basically any offerings by the other pack makers. As I articulated poorly before, with a good backpack, it just becomes an extension of your body. The HJ, even when adjusted well (I have an easy torso to fit), is awkward and unnatural. I'd seen the cascade hike review in the forum, and there's literally no reason that you would ever choose the HJ over a real pack at half the price by a legitimate outdoor brand. It would be like recommending dress shoes over snowshoes to clear a powder filled meadow. For travel purposes, I can't think of anyone I would recommend the HJ to over like an Osprey Porter, when the $100 vs $500 value is in play.
The sad thing is that this pack definitely could be made awesome, with a few tweaks here and there, but I'm already $400 into the one I've got. I've actually considered having my seamstress go to town with some of my older bags, and make this bag awesome with better backpack straps and maybe some grab handles if we can figure out how to do it while doing it in a way that won't compromise the fabric. Does anyone know if it's possible to acquire grab straps direct from GB for mutant bag purposes?
PS: I know that there's always brand loyalists who will pooh pooh any negative remarks about their brand, but understand that I am an extreme TB loyalist who is simply disappointed that the HJ didn't meet the high standards I had for it based on previous experience.