- The Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45 toes the line between
messenger, backpack and duffel and is,
overall, a durable workhorse of a bag.
I'm Tom, the founder of Pack Hacker,
you guide to smarter travel.
If you're new to the channel, consider subscribing
and ringing the bell for notifications.
We've been testing the Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45
for the last three weeks in Detroit, Michigan
between me using it and our managing editor, AJ,
using it as well.
Make sure to visit PackHacker.com
for the written review, as well as links
to the best buying options for this bag.
That'd support our channel at no additional cost to you,
there's a link in the description below.
Lets dive into the Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45.
(casual music)
This bag, overall, has a boxy and rectangular shape,
which maximizes carry capacity through and through.
From a branding perspective, you will see
a decently large Tom Bihn logo on the front of this bag,
this is the flap of the main compartment,
other than that, not a ton of Tom Bihn branding
and we like that, overall, its kept minimal.
We have the black 1050D ballistic nylon on the exterior
with the 200D blue halcyon on the interior,
its called island.
This bag comes in a ton of different
combination of materials and colors,
so, all that's viewable, over at the Tom Bihn website.
We polled our Instagram audience
to see what they thought of this bag
and here are the results, be sure to go
follow us @packhacker on Instagram,
if you'd like to be involved in future polls.
Tom Bihn usually selects excellent materials
on all of their bags and the Aeronaut 45 is no exception.
We've got durable, beefy, YKK Aquaguard zippers,
used throughout the bag, that help with weather resistance.
Duraflex, Nexus and Woojin plastic buckles and components
are used in areas like the sternum strap,
the shoulder strap buckles, where they attach to the bag
and rings for the messenger strap
to attach to on the exterior of the bag.
There's also dense foam used in areas
like the back panel and shoulder straps.
(casual music)
There are three main ways to carry this bag,
there is a messenger strap, so you can carry
it messenger style, backpack straps for backpack style
and a side handle to carry it briefcase style.
Lets start off with the backpack harness system.
Starting out for these straps,
Tom Bihn uses some pretty high density straps here
and overall they're pretty comfortable to wear.
Moving down, we have a pretty permanently attached
sternum strap, so that's nice,
you're not gonna lose it and its fully adjustable
and having a sternum strap is really nice,
especially for a bag of this size,
it makes it a little bit more comfortable to carry
and wear.
Towards the bottom of the bag,
these straps are buckled in as well.
We dig tat these buckles, kind of,
disappear into the fabric of the bag when not in use.
It keeps a low profile and doesn't get in the way
when the bag is carried in messenger mode
and briefcase mode.
The whole strap system is stowable as well,
so, when you unbuckle the straps,
they easily stuff into the curved zipper compartment,
at the top of the bag and hide away when not in use.
The back panel offers some pretty dense padding as well
and its more dense than the shoulder straps
and its great because it'll shield
anything from poking into your back
when you're wearing the bag.
Just to note, that on this back panel,
there is not a ton of mesh for
breathe ability or air channels built in,
its pretty much that ballistic nylon material
that we see on the rest of the bag.
Moving to the top, there is a handle at the top of bag here
which can be known for hanging it up on a hook
that's strong enough if its fully loaded
however this top handle here is just
a lot better to grab onto and we'll get into this
a little bit later in the video.
Overall, we feel like this harness system
is so, so, especially for a three-way hybrid bag,
like this one.
We have a couple of specific qualms with this bag,
though, and generally it carries
a bit saggy while its in backpack mode.
The straps themselves are anchored in
a narrow fashion, on the bag and while we
were testing it, AJ and I could
feel those straps dig into our traps
and our neck, while in use.
This is, especially, noticeable when the bag
is fully loaded out with heavy gear.
Also, unlike the Tom Bihn Cynic,
which features edgeless strap design,
so its really comfortable and really streamlined,
there is an edge on the straps of Tom Bihn Aeronaut
and we think that added to the feeling of
it digging into our neck and traps.
Additionally, if the bag isn't fully packed out
it can, kind of, buckle, so the bottom straps
pull up here and the bag can curve.
This is likely due to there being no frame sheet
inside of the bag and it does definitely
have a bag feel, so, some bags will
offer a stiffer frame sheet to keep
the shape of the bag, overall the bag carries
a lot better if its fully packed out,
which is probably how you're going to use it
anyways if you're gonna go with
a 45 liter bag of this size, its likely that you're
gonna use every single little inch of space.
Also, this bag lacks a hip belt
which isn't surprising for a hybrid back of this nature,
however, we think that when bags get over
30 or 35 liters, it should at least
have an option to attach a hip belt, if you'd like.
The handle, up top, is great for carrying this bag
in briefcase mode.
The thinner profile of the bag allows this
to stay close to your body, which is handy while
carrying in this mode, we like that these handles
on top can pretty much stay buttoned together
at all times, as well, so you don't need
to unbutton then to get access to a zipper,
you just leave them there, like that, and its totally fine.
45 liters can get heavy really quick,
especially if you pack out the entirety of the bag,
so, we think this mode of carry is
a little bit more suited for the 30 liter
version of the Aeronaut, rather than this larger
45 liter version.
Tom Bihn also offer some attachment points
on the top to be able to wear this bag in messenger mode.
Again, we think that this mode of carry
is better in the 30 liter version
because its a little bit smaller
but the option is here, if you'd like to use it
and pair it with Tom Bihn's absolute shoulder strap.
The thinner profile is definitely helpful,
both in this messenger carry mode
and backpack carry mode and we can appreciate
that, its a little bit easier to
travel with so the bag isn't super bulky
and sticking out off of your back quite a bit.
And lastly, we've got two grab handles
on the top or bottom or the sides of the bag,
depending on how you're carrying it.
These are excellent for pulling the bag
from the overhead compartment in an airplane
or from the trunk of a car.
We dig the positioning, angle and grabability
of these handles.
(casual music)
Kicking off with the inside of the pack,
lets start with the side diagonal pockets.
These diagonal pockets are good for items
that you'd like quick access to,
however, we've found it best to use larger items,
so, if you toss your wallet in here,
its gonna go all the way to the bottom
which you can definitely grab but if you have
a bunch of smaller items on the inside
of this pocket, they're gonna be
a little bit harder to access.
We found that this pocket was great
for something like a water bottle.
Just note that whatever you put in here,
if its overstuffed, it will cut into
the pocket behind this one.
Behind each of these diagonal zippered pockets,
we have two larger horse shoe zip pockets as well.
When testing this bag in backpack mode,
we like to have our tech gear, keyboard
and laptop stand in the top pocket,
and extra shoes, dop kit
and a water bottle in the bottom section.
These pockets offer some ample space
and we use them a lot more than we originally expected.
There's also a ring on the inside
which is great for adding additional pieces from
the Tom Bihn eco system.
You can use a simple key chain
to put your keys or you can attach
other organizer pouches like the 3D organizer cube,
which we found to be a great dop kit.
Or any of the small zippered pouches
that Tom Bihn has to offer, there are a ton
of them available, we've done a couple of reviews
on these, as well,
so be sure to check those out on the website.
Finally, onto the main compartment
and one thing to note here is just
the stickiness of these zippers.
We've brought zipper stickiness up
on other Tom Bihn bags but it seems
more pronounced on the Aeronaut 45
than on other bags we've tested,
like the Synapse and the Cynic.
We think the main reason for this
is that if the bag is a backpack,
oftentimes its easier to grab onto
and, kind of, rip open quickly
versus with the duffle and the curve,
you're, kind of, going around the curve
and being a little bit more delicate with it,
its not really as easy to grab
onto since the duffle is so large.
The zippers may break in over time
but at the time of this review,
three weeks in, they are still quite stiff.
We highly recommend adding Tom Bihn zipper pulls, here,
as it just makes everything more grabable
and easier to unzip.
When you get it open, you're basically
greeted with a giant tub on the inside,
with a couple of tricky features going on, as well.
There are some tabs at the bottom
that can hold two compression straps
or, in our case, we've been using laptop cache, here,
since there is no dedicated
laptop area inside of the Aeronaut.
Overall, this isn't the greatest option
but we do like that Tom Bihn offers
so much customizability with their eco system.
And if you want to buy into an eco system,
Tom Bihn is not a bad choice.
Additionally, if you wanna keep your laptop
protected but you don't wanna spend
the extra money, you can put a layer of packing cubes
or clothing at the bottom of the bag,
put in your laptop and then put
another layer of clothing or packing cubes at the top,
for additional protection.
If you look at the bottom of the bag,
you'll notice two zippers and these can be
fully zipped in order to keep some independent liter
sizing on the side pockets or they can be unzipped
so you can push those side pockets aside
and just have more access inside
of the main compartment of the bag.
We like the thinking and the design
that really comes together on features like this
for the Aeronaut, typically you'll have
a duffel which is a workhorse made out
of solid materials but they don't have
these smart little touches that the Aeronaut offers.
We really appreciate that.
The top flap of the zippered pocket
offers a handy mesh pocket, as well,
that's good for socks, underwear,
maybe you wanna throw your dop kit in there,
just anything smaller that you wanna keep organized
and don't wanna have it floating around
in the main capacity of the bag.
You'll also notice a handle above
the mesh pocket and opposite of that,
inside of the bag, kind of, tucked away,
you'll see another handle, so,
this is a great way to transport the bag while its open.
Lastly, there are four additional rings
on the Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45, two are right
under the mesh compartment and two
are on the sides and, again, this is great
for those accessories that we mentioned earlier.
(causal music)
AJ, our managing editor and I have been
testing the Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45, fully loaded,
for the last three weeks, in Detroit Michigan.
So far, its held up nicely and the organization
of the bag has been really great to use,
especially for us, since we typically use
pouches and packing cubes more often,
so we like having that larger space
in the top and bottom of the bag,
those larger horseshoe pockets.
Now, we didn't like this bag in backpack mode
quite as much for what we mentioned earlier
and we think that briefcase and messenger mode
aren't necessarily ideal either,
especially for a bag of 45 liters,
if you're on the fence between a 45 and 30 liter Aeronaut,
you might wanna go with the 30.
Overall, we've had a pretty good experience with this bag,
though, we like all the smart organizational
features and we like that it is a durable
workhorse to boot.
So, to wrap this thing up with some pros and cons,
starting with the pros.
Durable materials and high-quality construction
are used to create the Aeronaut.
There is simple and versatile organization,
we especially like the adjustable pocket capacity.
There's some clever design and integration
with other Tom Bihn products.
Onto some of the cons, the bag can buckle
in backpack mode if not fully packed.
The zippers are stiff and touch to use,
especially around the rounded corners.
The carry modes are not optimized,
especially the backpack straps, they can dig in.
(casual music)
Overall, we like that the Tom Bihn Aeronaut
offers a no nonsense workhorse design
with some versatile and customizable organization options.
Although we think that the separate modes
of carry are not ideal, if multiple carry
options are important to you, this bag handles
them well enough to get the job done.
Its a solid, durable bag, that's great for
maximized carrying and travel,
especially if you're a fan of Tom Bihn.
So, there you have it, our review of the
Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45 liter, we could love to hear
what you think of this bag, in the comment below.
So be sure to let us know.
Thanks for keeping it here at Pack Hacker,
your guide to smarter travel,
we'll see you in the next video.