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Details
- Price $190 at tombihn.com
- Material 630d Ballistic nylon
- Capacity 11 L / 671 cubic inches
- Weight 21 oz / 595 g
- Dimensions 17.0" (w) x 10.1" (h) x 3.9" (d) / 432 (w) x 257 (h) x 99 (d) mm
Overview
It's been a while since I wrote about TOM BIHN's bags. Although I might have well written about all of them. It amazes me that after decades in the business, they still churn out bags for different purposes to meet the ever-evolving needs of their customers.
Like how they upgraded the Synapse to the Synik to accommodate digital nomads, the Nomad Tote, as the name suggests, caters to the same audience.
Short of bringing an entire backpack, sometimes a tote is easier to take out. This is especially so for someone like me who either brings my laptop to the nearby Starbucks within walking distance or drives to the Komeda nearby. The Nomad Tote seems like the perfect vessel for dumping my laptop and charging accessories, usually held in the GRAMS28 109 Essential Case, into.
In this review, I'll take a close look at TOM BIHN's Nomad Tote in the Black Ballistic/Northwest Sky 200 Halcyon variant and help you decide if you should get it or not.
Style
The look of TOM BIHN bags remains the most divisive point for me. This year, I vowed to reduce my overwhelming bag collection and, unfortunately, TOM BIHN was my main target.
Sleek and minimal aesthetics when it comes to my products are important and TOM BIHN doesn't quite have that. While they are sleeker than when they first started with younger designers taking over, they haven't quite shaken off the old-school styling.
While the materials and colors of the Tote lean towards sleekness, the form and lines of the bag give it a somewhat frumpy impression. This can be endearing, even charming, for fans of the TOM BIHN aesthetics. But I find that it doesn't do the quality justice.
This impression is created by details like the curved zipper, disproportionately long strap, and slight jutting of the top zipper on both ends. These probably exist for practical reasons but, as a result, don't quite pass the mark if you are a minimalist who just wants to own no more than a couple of bags.
There are some nice little details like an exposed stitch that I thought gave the bag character, intentional or not.
The seams also add to the goofiness with a straight seam right above the front zipper and angled seams, one on each side. These are much more apparent in non-black variants.
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The bag is small for my 6 ft frame. It is designed to fit essentials but might look a little unbalanced. The long strap allows you to style it in different ways; slung over the shoulder, hand-held, or a combination of the two.
However, there aren't any loops for you to add a shoulder strap. At the capacity, it shouldn't be too strenuous to sling it, but a strap that goes cross-body does give more stability.
While I wouldn't call the bag ugly, it isn't something that will elevate your look.
Material
While TOM BIHN offers various materials on most of their bags, this one only comes in 630d ballistic nylon. You'll find ballistic nylon as the main material offering for most of their lineup, and one they have the most experience with.
Out of all the bag brands, TOM BIHN is the brand that has the most expertise and experience with materials. This is largely due to their in-house manufacturing team. I would trust them completely with material choices and would be lying if I said that I knew more than them.
The denier count is 630, which is quite lesser than their 1050d, available on larger packs like the TOM BIHN Techonaut. While this does technically mean less abrasion resistance making it more prone to scuffing, 630d is going to be more than enough with day-to-day usage.
Denier counts like the 1050d is only required for the harshest of environments, so unless you are a war photographer, 630d is more than enough.
To add to that, in the past year, I've seen 1050d offered less and less. 1050d is a harder material to work with and, according to them, simply doesn't sell as well. This is sad considering this was the material I used the most, but TOM BIHN is still a business, after all.
I designed a thing.
I found a 100 year old company that would create these heirloom quality canisters for me. They are handmade and will keep your tea leaves, coffee beans or anything that you need dry for years to come.
or read review
I wrote an entire article on ballistic nylon here, but the TL: DR is that it will probably outlast you. While there aren't any choices in materials, it shouldn't matter unless you need it for an extreme environment. Which, this wouldn't be the right bag style anyway.
Usage
Organization
Front pocket
The front pocket is designed to be the quick-access pocket you find on most bags. It features several smaller slots; two pen/stylus-sized ones, and a larger one on each side of those. I put my RORRY Portable Charger in the larger one. I don't usually carry a pen around, but I sometimes put my chapstick, the RUGGED & DAPPER Organic Lip Balm, in one of the pen slots.
The pocket itself is relatively spacious, perfect for cables and power adapters. I usually have my assortment in a GRAMS28 109 Essential Case, which fits nicely in there.
It comes with an O-ring and TOM BIHN Key Strap. I never like putting my keys onto the straps since I change bags often but you could do that if you take this out everyone.
Main compartment
The main compartment has an open-topped device pocket, designed to fit most 13-inch laptops. My laptop is 16-inch so I use this primarily for my 12.9-inch iPad Pro. This device pocket uses spacer mesh which makes it easy to stretch out to slot your device in easily.
This will fit a 16-inch Macbook Pro, but the zippers at the side hinder the entry and access of the laptop. It's manageable in a pinch but I wouldn't recommend the Nomad Tote if you primarily use a 16-inch laptop.
On the opposite side of the laptop pocket, two slots span the entire width of the compartment. I usually have random items, like a packet of wet tissue, in them.
The organization opens up the middle part of the compartment well, allowing space for stuff like my Stanley Travel Mug and my Outlier Ecstasy in the Rain jacket.
The top zipper makes the entire tote highly water-resistant, although I seldom close it up since I mainly head nearby with it, so would have an umbrella handy.
Zippable luggage handle passthrough pocket
I underestimated the importance of a passthrough handle that lets you latch your bag onto a luggage handle. As I do short trips around the region more frequently, being able to stay hands-free with my Aer Carry-On, or Rimowa Original Cabin S is pretty awesome especially when I tend to move around a lot.
TOM BIHN's one isn't just a passthrough handle, but it can be converted into a pocket by zipping the bottom up. This is the first time I've seen such an implementation and I have to say, I am pretty impressed by the ingenuity.
I use this pocket for my wallet and keys to keep my pockets light, when I don't use it to travel. Using it when you need it as a passthrough handle wouldn't be practical, since you have to empty it each time.
Handle
While the handles are awkwardly long, the return is that they sit in a very comfortable position when slung on your shoulders. Depending on the shape of your shoulders, one of the handles might slip off pretty easily.
It helps when you put one of the straps over the other over your shoulder to lock it in place a little better.
Conclusion
The Nomad Tote is a well-intentioned tote for digital nomads who want to dump and go, or just want a simple companion to their roller luggage.
I am in the middle of decluttering to keep the bags that I'll use heavily, so sad to say, that the aesthetics don't quite live up to this. After all, I am hoping to filter down my collection of 50+ bags to just 5.
Of course, most of you aren't obsessively hoarding bags, so this might be the bag for you if you intend to use it the way it's designed.
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Tagged bag ballistic nylon review tom bihn