For over 30 years, I’ve relied on a Made in USA Libaire® leather-based tote bag. That bag has gone all over the place with me — from highway journeys and shopper conferences to commerce reveals and even New Zealand. You possibly can learn the story concerning the bag, and the corporate, now out of enterprise, within the write up I did (see hyperlink under).
Whereas the bag has held up extremely nicely by way of fixed use, it was drained, so when it got here time to order a brand new MacBook earlier this yr, I additionally ordered a brand new Maker’s Bag from Tom Bihn.
I found Tom Bihn a number of years in the past when in search of a laptop computer bag to offer as a present. On the time, messenger luggage had been the craze; discovering a great, well-constructed, and Made in USA bag that was giant sufficient for a laptop computer and different gear was powerful.
I spent a number of hours looking and eventually discovered Tom Bihn. When the bag arrived, I believed, “Oooooh, I need one. Possibly I ought to hold this and discover a totally different present?” haha
My new Maker’s Bag has a lot of pockets for all of the issues I convey to shopper conferences: pockets, bottles of water, my laptop computer and plug, telephone, notebooks, pens, folders, snacks, a branded HIM t-shirt as a present for the shopper, and so forth.
I really like the bag, that it’s made within the U.S., and the corporate start-up story.
When he was 10 years outdated, Tom B. requested his dad and mom for outside gear. They instructed him to both get a job to pay for what he needed or discover ways to make it himself. He selected the latter.
His whole household helped: His brother obtained his grandmother’s outdated Singer machine up and operating, Tom’s mom taught him the way to sew, and his dad “supplied the foundations of the mandatory engineering.”
Tom grew the corporate from a one-person store in Santa Cruz, CA to a thriving staff now situated in Seattle, WA.
What I search for in luggage: Development!
Having labored for a small contract stitching firm, I discovered fairly a bit about materials varieties and their properties and the way to assemble industrial sewn merchandise to face up to fixed stress, environmental situations, and so forth.
Many backpacks, laptop computer luggage, and so forth. are normally fabricated from nylon. Again within the day, we labored with coated nylon known as Cordura. An exceptionally sturdy and versatile materials, Cordura is used for outside and marine purposes. As a result of it’s coated, it repels water.
My Tom Bihn bag is constructed of 630 denier, high-tenacity 2×3 ballistic nylon which is woven and completed in South Korea with yarns from Canada. (The corporate is upfront about utilizing globally sourced supplies.) It’s additionally coated with extra-heavy urethane coating — making it waterproof.
The seams are closely strengthened (I consider they used a welted seam); the nylon webbing holding the buckles and different gadgets in place additionally has strengthened stitching.
One drawback with woven materials is that you need to bind the seams — in any other case, they’ll start to fray and pull aside if always harassed.
Binding seams is an additional manufacturing course of that provides to the price of a bag (or any sewn merchandise); for a bag like this, it requires nylon webbing be used to bind the seams, plus the extra labor and time.
If you happen to’ve ever had a backpack come aside on the seams, that’s why. They weren’t sure. My faculty backpack, for instance, fell aside on the seams attributable to stress of carrying heavy textbooks.
You possibly can see the within pockets of my Maker’s Bag are properly completed. I really like that they’re completed with elastic — which implies they stretch to accommodate no matter you’re placing into the pockets.
The corporate focuses on high-quality backpacks, journey luggage, crossbody luggage, tote luggage, organizers, and different journey equipment. All the pieces is designed and hand-crafted within the Seattle workshop utilizing top-grade supplies.
The opposite factor I really like concerning the firm is the quantity of element they supply for every bag — which makes it tremendous straightforward to match with different Tom Bihn luggage: supplies, specs, pockets, straps, units the bag will maintain, equipment, and opinions — and movies too!
If you happen to nonetheless have a query, you possibly can name or e-mail. And talking of which, I really like that the corporate telephone quantity is true there on the label!
Hyperlinks
www.tombihn.com — Official Tom Bihn web site
Libaire Bags: Vintage Made in USA — Preserve It Made USA weblog
Full Disclosure
I’m not paid nor requested to jot down about merchandise or the businesses that make them. All hyperlinks on this piece are FREE — that means, they’re not sponsored or paid for. I purchase merchandise, use them, and if I like them, I inform everybody about them.
I do that as a result of my mission is to maintain manufacturing jobs stateside. This mission is my method of giving again. We prefer to assume our “small” decisions, reminiscent of shopping for a bag made by American staff, received’t make a distinction. They do.
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