4/17/2012

Peru's Coast on Minimal Packing

Truth be told, I have to make a confession. Prior to starting my trip I was extremely nervous about being able to fit everything into the Tom Bihn Western Flyer. I had downsized from another brand's travel tote with 2,200 cubic inches of volume to the Western Flyer's 1,600 cubic inches, just to test myself -and the Western Flyer- about possibly traveling 9 days with a bag designed for a maximum of 3 days.

I had combed forums extensively, even participated in asking members about their longest trips with the Western Flyer. The responses I received were nothing short of stunning. 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 10-day trips were the norm for owners of this very intriguing bag. Based on that I told myself, "you can do it!"

As I prepared for my trip packing well in advance -more than 3 days ahead of time- I kept going back and forth on the content of my Western Flyer. I had read a couple of forum posts advising on color-coordinating every item, so that, mixing and matching garments while abroad, would allow for less items to pack. Keeping this in the back of my head was the reason I kept adding and subtracting items from my already packed bag. As the time for departure approached my doubts increased about whether I was going to be able to pull this off. Fitting everything I was bringing into the Western Flyer was not as big a worry as the return flight was. Inevitably, I am one of those travelers who always comes back with more than what I left with.


The day before departing I had made up my mind and decided the Western Flyer was NOT being open one more time. Everything in it was traveling with me and that was that!

Inside the Large Packing Cube, also manufactured by Tom Bihn in their Seattle, Washington factory I had managed to fit quite a bit -or so I think-. One pair of linen pants, three pair of shorts, 4 t-shirts, 8 pairs of socks, 4 boxer briefs, two swimming trunks, and two button-down shirts. The packing cube took all of the front compartment of the Western Flyer.


In the rear compartment I fit a small Eagle Creek Pack-It Folder 15 with 3 button-down shirts, a pair of indoor soccer shoes in one of the square pockets against the back wall of the rear compartment, and a pair of flip-flops in the other pocket. Also, a Tom Bihn 3D Clear Cube and an Eagle Creek medium Pack-It toiletry bag.

On one of the front zippered slash-pockets I put a leather personal tray, which opens completely flat. I did not use any of the other two pockets remaining in the front of the bag -one of which is advertised as a water bottle compartment, and the other a smaller zippered pocket-, nor the 2 open slash pockets in the rear of the bag. As it was, the Western Flyer looked pretty much to capacity.

With all the electronics I run around with, chargers, plus smaller odd-ends I did end up switching my choice of a personal carry-on bag. Originally, everything was inside the Tom Bihn Co-Pilot, which fit everything, but did not leave any room for anything else -or error for that matter-. I decided the night before my 6:00 am flight, I would switch for a TravelPro Crew 5 Tote I have had for years. The tote, although small in looks, fit absolutely everything -and then some- with lots of room to spare. I even decided to pack my Tom Bihn Ristretto for iPad -empty- inside the TravelPro, which I couldn't have done if decided to stick with the Co-Pilot. The Ristretto was going to be my around-town bag, plus the bag for a couple of business meetings I needed to attend.


As I was walking around two airports before reaching my final destination, I realized what a wonderful shoulder strap the Absolute -by Tom Bihn- is. The Western Flyer, filled to capacity and equipped with an Absolute Shoulder Strap was a delight to carry. I can honestly say I did not feel the weight of the bag -approximately 20lbs- on my shoulder. The TravelPro tote however, being much smaller and lighter, was a real nuissance to carry because of the strap. The Tote felt heavy and kept sliding off my shoulder constantly.

The Western Flyer also served as our luggage for a 4-night/4-day beach-trip for my son and I. We packed everything we both needed into the bag and it not only performed very well, but had plenty of room for the both of us.

All in all, the Western Flyer was a superb bag to bring on a 9 day trip. Although I consider myself a minimalist, I ended up not using 3 of the garments I brought and the pair of sneakers, so it would have performed even better had I not traveled with the extra stuff.

One thing I really missed from my previous travel system was the organization-rich feature of the Eagle Creek Pack-It Cubes. I was used to packing socks and underwear in one cube, t-shirts in another, and so forth, but the Large Packing Cube by Tom Bihn -made especifically for the Western Flyer- had to carry everything -pants, shorts, socks, tshirts, etc- so managing to "live" from a single cube was not all that comfortable.

If I could only now find a personal carry-on bag from Tom Bihn it would be ideal as I have also adopted their wonderful pouch system. In the TravelPro Travel Tote I took with me, I had to throw all the pouches in different pockets, so reaching for them was a challenge. All of Tom Bihn's bags come equipped with "O" rings, which are ideal for hooking the pouches onto. The search is on...