Category Archives: Bags & Luggage

Bags & Luggage, Luggage, Packing, TeamUltraviolet, Tom Bihn

Organizing my travel stuff day

(I swear this is not a shrine to Tom Bihn 😉 )

Bags (from left to right):

1. Pacsafe Citysafe CS300 GII Anti-Theft Backpack

2. Tom Bihn SideKick and Tom Bihn Daylight Backpack

3. Tom Bihn Co-Pilot

4. Tom Bihn Synapse 25

5. Tom Bihn Aeronaut 30

On end: misc Tom Bihn stuff sacks

Below, right: Tom Bihn Night Flight Travel Duffle sitting on top of sunset orange Lug Puddle Jumper
In an effort to curb my wants for MOAR TRAVEL STUFFS I decided to gather my travel gear together to clear out any unnecessary duplication and be ready for my next trip.

I used a shoe organizer on the side of a portable coat rack to corral travel wallets, travel pill carriers, wet kits (liquid shampoo etc), dry kits (shampoo bars, toothpowder, etc), packable purses or day packs, and journals ready for filling with adventures.

(I don’t have my travel clothes hung up here as I have a good amount of wool based stuff so I keep them in an air locked bin with cedar and lavender to discourage the critters. )

Also, very important to leave space on top of a bin for a cat to crawl in and not wreak total havoc. 🙂

Bags & Luggage, travelbunny

New travel day pack!

Recently I sold my Sea to Summit daypack, which served me well, however it drove me bonkers by not going back into the sleeve nicely. (Truly a personal issue… it’s a great daypack.)

I found another ultralight pack nosing around a drugstore and it passed the “go gently into that good storage case” test. It’s the Lewis N Clark electrolight pack. They also have ultralight compression micro packing cubes and dopp kits which I also tested out and loved. REI  has almost the exact same micro packing cubes in grey if you want to use your dividend there 🙂 

NOTE: to all the Tom Bihn afficionados, the micro packing cubes work perfectly in the Night Flight Travel Duffle center section for packing as well, but, I digress…

The shoulder straps are nicely lined with a bit of a grippy material which helps when you are wearing a Patagonia slippery down jacket. The material isn’t shiny, but has a gloss to it while still feeling a bit velvety. I toss it into my one bag carry set up and can use it as a shopping bag or a plane stuff bag while I’m in the air.

I’m ready to go test this out on a trip now!

Packing, Tom Bihn, travelbunny

Night Flight Travel Duffle & an ultralight trip 

I went home for a visit recently and decided that I just didn’t feel like bringing much stuff at all. (It’s home; I generally end up running around in leggings and a sweater all week. My family isn’t all that dressy anyway 🙂  )

So I grabbed my Tom Bihn Night Flight Travel Duffle and put in the basics:

  • Survival kit (see contents below)
  • iPad and keyboard cover + cables
  • Noise cancelling ear buds
  • Travel cpap + wall plug
  • Some tshirts, socks and undies
  • Miscellaneous stuff (glasses case, 1st aid kit zippy, power bank, gorilla pod, slim power adaptor, etc.)

Here is most of the “stuff” that I took (my iPhone is taking the picture) and most of that went in one of the side pockets.

One of the things that really saves space is my “survival kit”.

It stands up in the corner of the center compartment and takes the place of several other pouches people tend to have. It is a LeSportsac Kevyn Cosmetic Case that has a large zip section and a side pocket. I have several dry toiletries in the big zip compartment, such as JR Ligget shampoo bar, tooth brush, tooth powder, an eyeliner pencil, lip stain, nail nippers, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Swivel Stick (0.5 Ounce) and I made a tiny deodorant by remelting it into an empty swivel stick container. (Regular travel deodorants are handy but the form factor takes up a lot of room.) The side zip pocket has several short cables for charging my phone and iPad as well as micro USB for my travel batteries. I also keep a low profile power bank in there that stores tidily and lets me charge my phone at least once.

(I have a USB extender cable in my duffle so that I don’t have to worry about using those 3 inch cables in a wall plug 😉 )

This kit stays packed and moves with me from bag to bag. Mighty handy.

So aside from what I wore on the plane, this was the clothing I took and it fit in a Tom Bihn mesh packing cube that went into the same pocket as the little bit of stuff.

It fits under the seat rather nicely.

Not pictured: I do carry a pouch purse (usually the Side Effect) for my phone, wallet, etc.  it’s much easier to get through security with that stuff at hand.  I just got the Sidekick so it will be even easier to travel ultralight now!

Bags & Luggage, Packing, TeamUltraviolet, Tom Bihn, Travel: Packing List

2-3 days in the Tom Bihn Night Flight Travel Duffle

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See my actual packing list for 4 days in my Night Flight Travel Duffle!
I’ve done several mini-trips for work that involved flying up somewhere one day and back the same day or even just catching the earliest flight the next day  home after delivering something or attending an important meeting.

But what if you got a free ticket to Vegas (but sleeping is such a buzzkill time waster)!?!? Or a quick flight on a no-frills airline for a family emergency? Or did you get stuck somewhere when your flight was canceled? Quick, versatile packing is a skill that is good to have.

I got the Tom Bihn Night Flight Travel Duffle for more than just minimal travel, but I know it could be used for up to 3 days travel if you are judicious. If I did need to add, the first thing that would go in would be a pair of leggings!

Here is my baseline for a day trip (via plane):

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I don’t have much in the way of spare clothes but I do have clean (SmartWool) socks and undies that live in the orange TB Travel Stuff Sack and a long sleeve shirt for layering. I travel with the Ex Officio undies that are super comfy and wash/dry easily just like the SmartWool socks. I could add another short sleeve shirt if I wanted to extend a day.

Otherwise this is pretty much what I need to work and amuse myself for a day or so.

In my dry kit:

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Clothes:

Wearing:  Columbia pants, quick dry (or wool) black t-shirt, black pashmina/shawl, lightweight jacket, smartwool socks, ex officio undies, black shoes

Packing: long sleeve wool shirt, wool buff (can be used as hat or scarf or headband, eye cover…).

For an extra day or 2, I’d also include another shirt and some cute leggings.

This all fit with room to spare 😉

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Side pockets:

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Center section:

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The travel tray with my cord and wall plug:

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Then my long sleeve shirt and buff folded in:
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