I’m based in Europe so have the same desire to get material, colour and bag choices right.
I have owned an S25 in Cordura, Halcyon and Ballistic so I’ll try and answer your questions, focussing or the available halcyon and ballistic.
- Floppiness (how it works half packed) is about the same for the cordura and halcyon. The Ballistic holds its shape marginally better but they all ‘look’ good either overpacked or underpacked. Sorry I don’t have both together to do a comparison photo/video.
- Robustness and UV. This is a little subjective but I feel the Halcyon to be less resistant. In a couple of cases, I’ve seen the Waterproof uerethane coating weather quicker on the underside of halcyon than ballistic. No comment on the UV colour resistance over time other than I’ve never seen a difference.
- Colour - Black Ballistic, Navy Ballistic, Black Halcyon would be my order of choice from your selection (I had Black Halcyon and have Cloud Ballistic). The Halcyon is nice and formal enough for work use. It can look charcoal grey is some light. The new ballistics have a silky look to them, sort of between Matt and Satin finish if you were buying paint (Matt - Satin - Silk Finish. I never thought I’d be comparing TB bags to paint). I really like this, especially in the black which is a really rich finish. I have a Cloud/Island S25 but I’d be really happy with a Black/UV or Black/Wasabi S25.
Hope this helps to figure out the right bag for you. Let me know if you have any questions.
P.S. It’s a great point about the videos and trying to see them in use rather than a more static reviewing of the features. When I first started ordering, I really missed that practical user information. I started doing videos specifically to talk about the bags I have bought and how I use them. Haven’t done an S25 review yet but here are the 3 I’ve done so far.
Tristar Business Travel Review -
https://youtu.be/cNkY-mwY7cI
A45 Comparison Review Old v New Design -
https://youtu.be/BJkJ9Icz6AQ
In Use. In The Real World. A45 Review -
https://youtu.be/BS_b6IWLWrc
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