Question about the ID

[roguexuk]

Hello all,

I was wondering if I could pick your brains?

With all the upheaval lately (Locusts & Plagues...), the stuff I have to haul to and from work has increased:
I work admin in a hospital, so, of course back in April when the lockdown in the UK had really kicked off, I was given a works laptop to use for both at home and at work. So I switched from using my everyday medium Cafe bag, to using my Imago (my 14" laptop in neoprene sleeve just about squeezed in there).

But now all patient-facing staff have to wear scrubs at work (in a lovely berry colour I must say ), and anyone who goes on public transport has to get changed at work, so that meant saying goodbye to the Imago and moving up to the Synapse 25 to fit it all in.

Now it all fits fine, but I'm not really a backpack person - yeah it takes all the weight nicely, but I do like just reaching down into my bag to get something without having to remove the whole bag. And ironically it aggravates an old shoulder injury having to take it on and off. With a messenger bag I can just sit on the train and not actually have to take the bag off - it just swings round, plus the Absolute strap works wonders :-)

I managed to find a never-been used ID on ebay (something I debated about years ago, but decided on the Imago), that comes with a 6z cache, and it's winging its way over to me. From what I've managed to find on the forums, the bag is a bit bigger than the Imago, and should hopefully fit all my work stuff in, and of course, putting my Absolute strap on there, it shouldn't get too heavy.

I was hoping to pick your brains - because I can't seem to find any specs for the bag on the main website - I suppose fair enough, it's pretty old. Does anyone have an old copy of the sales page?
Some reviews have the basic sizing out there, but it's the little bits of info I like to keep. What was the material? How many litres can it hold? What TB add-ons are compatible? That sort of thing.

Many thanks

[G42]

here's an ID page from the Wayback Machine @roguexuk

https://web.archive.org/web/20070219...ROD/TBP/TB0805

[moriond]

Hi @roguexuk ,

The ID Messenger Bag is 20.9 liter capacity -- it can easily carry 15" laptops (and even larger). The fact that you've gotten one with the size 6z cache means that you have one of the later models that were modified to include webbing loops for the cache as well as hold a laptops in a Brain Cell (original design) for ID bag. I think that happened in late 2013, so you'd be better off looking at a later version of the product page from the Internet Archive Wayback Machine (this one has pictures and accessories for that model and is from 2015):

https://web.archive.org/web/20150905...es/TB0805.html

The other changes that were made compared to earlier models were in the comfort/padding of the top handle and in the grab handle when the bag is open. As for accessories, this bag can accept the horizontal Freudian slip (which is now called the Freudian slip for Tri-Star/Western Flyer, and is available in Black, Cloud, and Island 210 Ballistic)

The outside of the bag is 1050d Ballistic Nylon (one of the Imago options) and the inside lining is 500d Cordura (also the lining used on the Imago) and 200d Halcyon for some of the pockets. The 6Z cache fit the older (larger) 13" Mac laptops, and a number of 14" PC laptop models (Lenovo T460, Dell7450, etc.).

The retirement of the ID Messenger and other Messenger bags like the Ego and Super Ego was announced in March 2015

Here's a look from the side of the bag


You can see the main zippered compartment under the flap, and some of the pockets in the front. The other product page views show the side pockets and the water bottle pocket.

I think the last ID Bag sold in November 2015. You can take a look at @sujo 's Review of the ID (after a week) which describes her impressions of the bag.

By the way, you're not the only one to adopt the ID Messenger Bag post (its) retirement. @jujigatame had posted in the Sad Days: Longing for a Messenger Bag. He later got an ID Bag

Got a line on a black/black ID. Tip of the hat to moriond for that. Guess I won't be complaining about the lack of messenger bags anymore.

The ID is here and it's pretty great. QAM strap is excellent so far.


ID 1 by Nate E, on Flickr


ID 2 by Nate E, on Flickr

[G42]

Yet another post showing why @moriond is The Historian and The Librarian

[roguexuk]

Wow. I knew that the ID was bigger than my Imago, but i didn't realise that was that much bigger.

Thanks @moriond , i'll have a look at the links. If it helps, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tom-Bihn-...rdt=true&rt=nc is the one i bought (hopefully the link comes through okay)
It was listed as having a 6z brain cell, but looking at the pic, I think its a cache.

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[moriond]

Wow. I knew that the ID was bigger than my Imago, but i didn't realise that was that much bigger.

Thanks @moriond , i'll have a look at the links. If it helps, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tom-Bihn-...rdt=true&rt=nc is the one i bought (hopefully the link comes through okay)
It was listed as having a 6z brain cell, but looking at the pic, I think its a cache.

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That’s a beautiful bag. It has a Sapphire Cordura lining, and comes with the Quick-Adjust Messenger Strap. (You’ll note that @jujigatame got that strap as well). Tom Bihn still sells some Q-AM straps, but they’re no longer listed on the web site. If you want to use an Absolute Strap, you can remove the metal snap hooks at the end, and thread the webbing through the toothed clips at the side of the bag.

There’s an old @maverick video of the ID Bag and how to wear it with the Q-AM strap.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HV6k_8HXhq8

There are also some pictures of the Black/Black/Sapphire ID Bag from posts by @tommylane here:
https://forums.tombihn.com/general-b...tml#post112944
@maverick also did an old video of the Horizontal Freudian Slip https://forums.tombihn.com/photos-vi...dian-slip.html

Basically, the ID Bag has pockets for pens, etc. But the Horizontal Freudian Slip is useful when you want to also hold folders (on the reverse side), and want the ability to take out everything together— e.g., at your desk.

HTH

moriond

ETA: Forgot to mention that you have the original strap-mounted Guardian Light, too. These were made to mil spec. They take a pair of CR2032 batteries if you need to replace them.

See https://www.tombihn.com/products/guardian-light

Also, @maverick is using the Brain Cell for a 15” laptop in the old video — that takes up more room.

[roguexuk]

Woah, you do know a lot about Tom Bihn bags @moriond
Thanks for all the links, I've been trawling throught the forums, but whe you search for the ID bag, an awful lot of posts with sometimes only one mention of the bag.

Also thanks to both of you for sending me the 2 different product page links, I have a whole section in Evernote with info copied from the sales pages for all my TB stuff. I also like to save pics where people use their items in a completely different way from how I might've, do you guys find that you do that?

I just looked at the water bottle post, I usually carry a Contigo 470ml/16.5oz travel mug, which I'm hoping may fit, I know that Contigo mugs are quite wide, and it was mentioned that a 750ml mug doesn't fit. So i guess I'll have to wait and see..... in fact once the bag comes, I'll post pics of it fully loaded.

I have to say I'm glad the bag has a nice colour inside, when you're ebaying, you dont really get to pick and choose. The last TB bag I got off of Ebay was a LCB in black and lined in black which kinda sucked, its no fun trying to find something small in that bag I can tell you

I'm trying not to get my hopes up about the guardian light until it comes, as it isnt mentioned in the actual product description, I may not get it.
I got burned that way when i got the LCB - the pics of the bag showed a Tile with it, so I thought 'great, the bags now even better value than i thought'. And when it didn't come with the bag, I asked and the seller said that as it wasnt actually in the product description, and they realised that Tiles sold for good money, that they didnt include it in my parcel!
Scoundrels! I say, if its in the picture, its in the auction.

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[G42]

Also thanks to both of you for sending me the 2 different product page links, I have a whole section in Evernote with info copied from the sales pages for all my TB stuff. I also like to save pics where people use their items in a completely different way from how I might've, do you guys find that you do that?

I have a separate Evernote note for each TB item I own - basically copied the description & the attributes table....so I can quickly access the stats even if the item goes away. For long ago disco'd items, I use the Wayback.
On a separate note, I have a list of each actual item I've bought, been gifted, gifted to someone else, or traded for - including what colours/fabrics/version, etc.
I also copy the links to blog posts and Forum posts that have pertinent info/pics/use cases of things I'm interested in.
And I still don't come close to @moriond 's memory or details

[roguexuk]

@G42 . Ahh it's nice to know I'm not alone

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[roguexuk]

Bag loadout.

Hi all, as promised attached are my loadout pics.

The first pic show everything in the bag roughly set out by pocket placement:
- Left pocket: 1x add-water towel, mint tin, eye dropper bottle with Dr. Bronners unfragranced soap.
-Right pocket: Anker power bank with assortment of short cables.
-Front pocket: set of Mpow m9 ear buds, mini solar pouch with first aid kit, small clear organiser pouch collecting odds & sods into one place.
-Middle Pocket: Insulated epi-pen pouch, sunglasses, keys & loyalty cards attached to o-rings, pocket-sized book (currently The Hobbit), various pens, wallet attached to o-ring, mini ghost pouch in mars(?)- holding glasses cloth & defogger, fabric travelsized tissue pack with 6x9" actual hankies in + old ripstop nylon pouch I whipped up years ago to put used hankies in on the go.
-Main Pocket: Size 6z cache that my 14" works laptop fitted into (luckily), Onya bag that holds my scrubs (I can compress the bag down + it can all get chucked in the washing machine when I get home), Filofax slimline, a just under a5 non-tb pouch that holds a little sudoku book, a purple 3DOP that holds my laptop cables, and a little pouch that keeps my ID safe.
-Flap Pocket: I have a Planetwise wet/dry pouch that holds dirty/clean face masks & a medium Heroclip.
-Back magazine flap: holds a small ghost whale pouch clipped to an o-ring in the main compartment via a 16" keystrap that holds my travel passes.
-Water bottle pocket: holds my alcohol gel attached to the zip of the main pocket via an 8" keystrap. This makes it easy to grab on the go.

I'm finding it to be a great bag, it's heavy, but that is simply from the amount of stuff I put in it.

I try it initially to use the QAM strap, but I found that it made my shoulder sore a bit - I carry it cross-body. So I switched it with my Absolute Strap, although I did move the little messenger clip to this strap. I find this strap much more comfy.

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