Tom Bihn is a boutique bag maker.  Our senior correspondent, Sol, remembers Tom Bihn from his college days in Santa Cruz in 1995, though now the company is based out of Seattle, WA.  As (both) of our steady readers are aware, I have long been on a search for the *perfect* laptop bag.  This might be a messenger bag, it might be a shoulder bag (as distinct from a “messenger bag”), or it might be a backpack with a laptop sleeve. I haven’t found the perfect bag yet, and that does include the Smart Alec (the backpack which is the subject of this review.)  But I will say that this bag that the folks at Tom Bihn sent me comes closer than anything else I’ve used so far.

That’s no faint praise.  I’ve used some good packs (back and otherwise) and I’ve used some terrible ones.  I look at size, comfort, versatility, aesthetics, materials, and a number of other categories.  On almost every level the Tom Bihn Smart Alec kicks ass.  I’ll dive into some details.

The bag is a good size.  You can fit a remarkable amount of crap inside, especially considering the clean, svelte look of the bag.  It has a narrow profile and a sparse exterior (which I like), and that appearance belies a capacious interior with just the right amount of organizational versatility (i.e., pockets.)  :)

Comfort is the (only) area where the Smart Alec falls a little short for me.  I’ve been looking for a bag that suits all purposes, which is admittedly a patently unfair criteria.  I use it for walking around conferences, for car commuting, and for commuting on my bicycle.  The bicycle commuting was the only issue for me – the backpack straps were a little thin and hurt my shoulders a bit.  This is when I’m loading the bag fairly heavily (macbook pro, charger, clothes, shoes, notebook and a cup of coffee), and riding a relatively long time (45-55 minutes.) With that load and over that length of time, I found that the bag hurt my shoulders a bit.  Not unduly, but not cushy either.

In terms of versatility, I’ve never seen a better designed townie pack.  (That’s as opposed to a mountaineering pack.)  The laptop sleeve, called a brain cell, clips into the pack with the hands down absolute best clip system I’ve ever used; one that’s easy to open and close, and that fits intuitively and easily.  The sleeve is easy to install and remove, and makes the bag useable for a variety of purposes from commuting to grocery shopping to day hikes. It appears to be pretty darn safe too, as this video demonstrates. (Wonder how many takes it took.)  It also has great pockets, intermal and external both.  The top loader style has a wide, oval-shaped main opening that’s easy to open and to use, and the two side pockets are elliptically shaped and proved an enormous amount of space without any sense of being bulbous or oversized.  (Easy to fit a Nalgene bottle in there.)

Aside from long distance, heavily weighted (dis)comfort, the other main issue is price.  $130 for a daypack isn’t the *most* exorbitant price I’ve ever heard of, but it’s far from the most reasonable.  If your budget is flexible (i.e. you have disposable income) this is a great buy.  Also, an argument could certainly be made that this bag will last a lifetime, and pay for itself over a period of blissful, pack-filled years.  Certainly in the course of 6 months of daily, all-weather use, I’ve seen no signs of wear or fallibility, and that’s pretty impressive considering how much I abuse my gear. This pack ain’t cheap, but in my estimation it’s giving damn good value for your money.

I’m not the first person to review this pack, and likely I won’t be the last.  They’ve been making this design for a number of years, and it doesn’t seem to have changed much.  That’s for good reason – they made it the right way.  Both MacNN and our friends at LIVEdigitally reviewed this pack in the past, as have others.  But my review is better.  Smarter.  Bigger. Longer.  Uncut.  If I were forced to give this pack a numeric rating between 1 and 10, it would get a 9.  They did it right, and aside from a minor quibble or three, I’m pretty impressed.  You can buy one here, right now, and you probably should.

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On a scale of 1 to 10, these sites are dope (if you’re a tech-weenie on a budget.)

As most of my friends know, I am a gear queer.  I like outdoor stuff.

I wrote a post a few months ago about Steepandcheap, a website for buying cool outdoor gear at low-low prices (insert tv-promo voice here.)  I wanted to put a quick post about a couple of related websites that are also cool, and have more specific foci:

Chainlove: for all your biking needs (at a discount)

Tramdock: If you are into backcountry skiing (for reduced prices)

Whiskey Militia: If you’re a skate-punk on a budget, this site is for you

I’ve been digging on all of these sites, and found good deals everywhere.  In spite of my initial concerns about Steepandcheap, I officially now a fan.  Dig it y’all, these sites are great.

If I were forced to give a numeric rating, I would call each of these a 8 out of 10.

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