The Bottom Line
Pros
- Versatile: It can be a backpack or shoulder bag
- The Aeronaut is much lighter than a rolling bag
- Many handles make getting it off luggage racks easy
- Durable: Built to last with water shedding covered zippers
Cons
- The Tom Bihn Aeronaut is not cheap
Description
- The Aeronaut is made of heavy-duty 1050 Ballistic nylon with splash-proof YKK #10 Coil zippers.
- Meets most non-commuter domestic airlines' carry-on size standards (check first, this standard becoming a moving target).
- Need to get organized? You can add some nifty Tom Bihn packing cubes to keep your small stuff in one place.
- Weight: 2.71 lbs. Volume: 45 liters (2700 cu. in.)
Guide Review - Tom Bihn Aeronaut Carry-On Bag Review
Our trips to Europe have become complicated lately. We bring two carry-on sized bags with us from the states. The bags are then used for day trips, or weekend trips, or even longer excursions. This year, one of the bags was the Aeronaut. The carry-on sized bag really earned our respect--and got a workout. After a few weeks of travel, Martha declared it her favorite bag.
"You can always get one more thing in it," she declared, "and the two side compartments can be used for shoes, underwear, or dirty clothes, keeping them out of the way. There is easy access to everything in the bag."
So I'm sitting here looking at the bag and wondering how it shed all the grime. We put it down on train platforms, floors, and carried it in the rain. It looks new.
The bag has three handles. The primary padded one is for normal carrying like a suitcase, but then there are two other handles on the ends. These allow you to swing the bag up to the overhead racks on the train and easily retrieve them without rotating the bag to get at the handle. No matter how you put the bag and how many people jerk it around to get their bags up there, there is always a handle where you can get to it.
Concealed straps pull out easily to convert the bag into a backpack, my preference for travel. They're easy to extract and set up, and the back is comfortably carried on your back.
So, yes, this is a well designed bag using top materials. It's made to last, which is a good thing considering the price. But then again, good stuff doesn't come cheap.
This is an extraordinary bag that met all our needs for 10 weeks.
Tom Bihn Aeronaut Bag Video Reviews
See our first look at the Aeronaut.
