Night Flight Travel Duffle and shoes...

[Theodoric]

I've been eyeing the Night Flight for quite some time, and it looks to be just about the perfect travel/gym bag for me, with the exception of the main compartment being too small for a pair of shoes. It seems to me that if one of the interior walls could unzip and partially expand into a side pocket (like the Aeronaut), it would pretty much solve that problem. You wouldn't even need to take up the whole side pocket, just along the bottom so the toes of the shoes would have somewhere to go. I believe the main compartment is 10" length-wise, leaving about 3.5" for each side pocket, so one expandable side should do it for most shoes.

It's truly a gorgeous bag. I love the organization, and how it sits low and stable, so everything is accessible without the bag collapsing in on itself like some larger duffles. It's just that there are some instances where I'd want to be able to stick a pair of shoes in there, and I can't.

I was wondering if anyone else felt the same way? Would it be useful, or is the bag small enough that shoes would take up too much room, leaving too little space for other gear? Or is it a bad idea for other reasons that I missed?

[bradnd99]

Yeah. Its too small for shoes (except maybe baby shoes). Otherwise is great. It would really work as a gym bag, maybe just hang your shoes off the side?

[AlaskaGirl]

Yes, I feel the same way. I'll probably modify my Night Flight side pocket to make it function like the Aeronauts. Until then, it's not quite as useful to me. elisa

[PaulT00]

I use my NFTD as a kitbag when I go to my Bikram Yoga classes, but those don't generally involve specialised shoes (or any shoes at all, in fact)! It's not the most capacious bag, but it works ok with stuff which can be rolled or folded to fit in the available space. There have been noises about a 'proper' TB gym bag for some time but nothing has materialised so far... perhaps the end of November debuts might bring something ...?

[wolpertinger]

I've used the Night Flight for a trip to the beach, it is possible to put a pair of beach slippers (my feed aren't big) on top in the middle compartment.
I don't see that sport shoes could possibly fit in there. Sorry.

[Theodoric]

Thanks for the responses and confirmation everyone. It sounds like I should just keep my eyes open to see what happens for November announcements first, and make the best decision given the new options at that point. Thanks again for your input.

[FrozenJ]

Have you looked at the Road Duffel? Here's a thread with pictures of the medium size used as a gym bag:

http://forums.tombihn.com/photos-vid...el-medium.html

[bradnd99]

That Road Duffel looks perfect.

[samm]

The Skookum Dog Road Duffel looks very nice but the purist in me would rather see it available with a traditional Tom Bihn logo patch + colors...

Here's to hoping for a TB gym bag on November 30th...

[xsboost]

You're not the only one. Still waiting for that feature before I buy one. I just don't see it being that useful with the main compartment being as small as it is right now.

[Theodoric]

I hadn't actually considered the Road Duffel (interesting that one ends in "el" and the other is "le". Both look right to me). Thanks for pointing that out. The problem there is that it's significantly larger than the Night Flight. The Aeronaut 30 is closer in size, but it's wider and lacks the structure. That's what I really like about the NFTD--the layout and structure to the bag. It just seems like you could set it down and grab whatever you want from any of the open compartments without it folding in on itself.

It seems so useful, I may just get one anyway. Still eager to hear what's new though.

[SarahR]

For me my shoes fit in the nftd however I have small feet (Australian size 8) if you are wanting to fit anything bigger this is not going to happen. Mine fit in the side parts however I didn't try it in the main compartment but they would have fit.