If I buy another travel bag my wife, who already suspects that I am somewhat nuts, may become permanently convinced that I am. BUT, as a secondary "personal" item bag for a trip, either to be carried separately, or tucked into an Air Boss or the like for contingency usage, the:

Tom Bihn Medium Cafe Bag

http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/200/TB0202

which looks like it would easily pack inside a larger bag, strikes me as a nice option, either during an airline trip, or for day excursions. Surely a reader or two on this board either already owns one, or might have related input from using the Small or Large variant....is this item worth the $55?

The TBMCB would be in lieu of the REI Stratocruiser Carry-On Shoulder Bag

http://www.rei.com/product/778739

which is similarly priced, but somewhat larger and heavier, and as a structured bag, not as suitable for tucking into a larger bag like the Air Boss. I haven't actually used my REI SCOSB, still have the tags, so a return might be feasible.

I have the large Cafe bag and it's very good. I've just decided it's a little on the non-masculine side. I do like it as a day bag though.

I have the olive green large cafe bag. It is perfect for trips and have used it several times.

I also have a large cafe bag and think it would work well as a personal carry on. The large is small enough to fit into a Red Oxx Air Boss or most other bags, as it isn't bulky at all when collapsed.

"I have the large Cafe bag and it's very good. I've just decided it's a little on the non-masculine side"

Curiously my looking at the bag came after Redoxx recommended their "Chica" bag, which has a similar albeit horizontal format. "Chica" in Spanish literally means... "girl."

"The large is small enough to fit into a Red Oxx Air Boss or most other bags, as it isn't bulky at all when collapsed."

So surely the Medium would fit, while it's still large enough for a standar-sized, 8-1/2 x 11 magazine in its obliquely cut back pocket.

Hmm....anyway, as previously discussed, due to the basic "BINARY" math, on a nearly or fully-loaded plane, one cannot assume that it will be possible to find BIN space for an Air Boss or the like. At best, there's only space for two bags out of three, so being able to quickly grab essential and valuable items out of a larger bag if forced to gate check is important, above and beyond not having to open the bin in flight.

Actually, the Large Cafe looks like the old Army haversack bag used by soldiers from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Indian Wars, etc. In other words, not "non-masculine" at all.

I have a Medium Cafe bag in Sapphire/Olive (no longer made in those colors), and it fits perfectly into my Mariner Air Boss. I use it as an en route bag when my Lil Roy from Red Oxx isn't big enough.

A netbook (I have an Acer 10.1') will fit on end in a neoprene sleeve, even wth an extended battery, and still leave room for other stuff. I haul mine around Seattle almost daily with no fuss at all. If you use it for a netbook, I suggest getting the new ultrasuede shoulder pad from Tom Bihn with it. Mine has an Absolute, but the style was changed after I bought my bag, and now that strap is no longer a choice on the Medium bag. It's still an option on the Large.

The Large bag is, well, LARGE. If you don't need a big bag like the Chica, I'd get the Medium. I doubt any museum would complain about the Medium bag, but the Large might not pass muster. The Chica can also sag if not full enough to cover the bottom. The Cafe bags don't. I prefer the vertical carry on my hip, as it seems to take up less space in crowded places.

Large Cafe Bag owners, have you had trouble getting into museums? I've never had problems with my Medium.

No, it does NOT look like a purse. It looks like a daybag. Rick Steves makes a similar but not as sturdy bag and I've seen lots of men carry that one. I wouldn't worry about it being non-masculine.

I just looked at the stratocruiser at REI yesterday. It about the same size as the main bag I have been traveling with. My wife has it on a 6 day jaunt to Florida right now.

" the Large Cafe looks like the old Army haversack bag used by soldiers from the Revolutionary War, Civil War, Indian Wars, etc."

and those guys surely were masculine, not to mention probably only changing their underwear once a season!

"I have a Medium Cafe bag...it fits perfectly into my...Air Boss...A netbook...on end in a neoprene sleeve (fits), even wth an extended battery, and still leave room for other stuff...I doubt any museum would complain about the Medium bag, but the Large might not pass muster.. I prefer the vertical carry on my hip, as it seems to take up less space in crowded places..... I wouldn't worry about it being non-masculine."

Nice to hear from someone who has used the MCB with the RAB. Certainly our trip to London will be heavy on museums. Deciding whether to get the MCB, and returning the REI bag, won't be a simple decision, but I appreciate all the input from actual experience.

I'll grant the haversack point, but I still contend the Cafe bag is more at home in Paris, Geneva, or Seattle than in my small southern city. And mine is brown and smells of pipe tobacco. I still travel with it and it's near ideal for a netbook.

Just for comparison and reference, this is the leather bag I have been using for a medical bag, for a year or so, similar in that it is a vertical format:

http://www.leathertree.com/mans-handy-bag-629/

but for travel, it would be rather too heavy, while at the same time, a bit too small, the critical dimension for travel being able to hold a standard-sized magazine, and beyond that, a small inflatable pillow and a lightweight pullover sweater, hence my interest in the medium Cafe Bag.

You might try the messenger bag from ChicoBags. http://www.chicobag.com/p-38-chicobag-messenger-repete.aspx. It weighs less than 8 oz and folds into itself. I've ordered one as a replacement for my Patagonia One Bag when traveling since I'm now using an EBags TLS Convertible as my only bag but still need to carry my business gear (including laptop in a sleeve) to customer sites. They also make a daypack with the same functionality. I got over my issues with the masculinity of bags after years of standing outside the changing rooms a Nordstrom holding my wife's (always brightly colored) pocketbook. What I haven't gotten past is the amount of stuff she carries, I think her purse is heavier than I pack for a two day trip.

There was a lengthy thread about "man bags" on the Tom Bihn forum:

http://www.tombihn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2039&highlight=manbag

I don't know if you're worried about security, but Pacsafe has come out with a few new bags similar in size to the Medium and Large Cafe Bags.

Thank you Buzz, for that link, which included this pertinent comment about TB Cafe Bags:

"I tried the small as well, but ended up going with a medium for that very reason. The medium is just big enough to accommodate the 9" x 11.5" binder I carry to work one or two days a week, but still small enough that it doesn't feel oversized the rest of the time when it's filled only halfway. Ideally sized, really."

The folder I got at my last medical meeting measures 9.3 x 11.5 inches, and likely would slip securely into the back pocket of the Medium. Medical meetings used to give away inexpensive bags, but various restrictions on drug and medical device company marketing have largely abolished that, so bringing one's own bag is a good idea, above and beyond having it available to carry a different set of items during the trip to and from the meeting site.

As well, something like the TBMCB might be very useful for me relative to an increased number of medical meetings at my local hospital, that have moved onto my schedule this last year. Sure, I have a Tumi expandable briefcase, but generally that's overkill, particularly if I end up taking it out onto our wards to do chart reviews and the like.

I took a quick look at the Chico Bag, in its vertical Messenger Bag format. Actually they list it as less than SIX OUNCES, cost at $18 a third of the Tom Bihn Medium Cafe Bag. The two are clearly different items, BUT, for a lot of people, the lighter, cheaper alternative would work just fine, particularly if its being take for occasional usage. Clearly it would fold neatly into any larger case, add a half pound less to one's load that the Tom Bihn, etc. It does come in several colors, including business black.

This is a good discussion.
I've been experimenting with various bags to be small local carriers for my 13" MacBook, cables, file folders, magazine, waterbottle, etc. while still fitting neatly inside my Air Boss.

I tried the MacCase Leather Jacket. The big disappointment there was the way the strap rings attach prevent use of the back pouch for documents or magazines. The pouch on the front barely fit the power adapter and a few other small cables. The interior document pouch only held 1 small magazine.

I've been looking at the following as alternatives, in order of most to least likely options:
+ Booq Mamba Catch S
+ Tom Bihn Buzz
+ Booq BOA SlimCase S90
+ Tom Bihn Imago
+ MarWare Sportfolio Deluxe
+ Tom Bihn Large Cafe Bag (thanks to this post) in lieu of Ristretto for double the price
+ REI Stratocruiser (thanks, Alan...though sounds like ultimately did not work for you in a similar application)
+ Crumpler Moderate Embarrassment
+ Timbuk2 Commute 2.0
+ BBP Hamptons

Anyone care to post an update to what you've tried and thought during the past 4 months?

The next time I need a small bag (?!), I'm opting for a Tom Bihn cafe bag, either M or L. I recently got a Chico messenger bag - great concept but it has a design issue that might be a problem for some. The outer flap secures with magnetic closures. I don't know how I'd feel about slipping a netbook or other small electronics in there. Just a thought. I also have a Timbuk2 small messenger in a kind of understated dark gray plaid design. Got it on sale from Sierra Trading Post. It's fine but doesn't have the same classy design of the Tom Bihn.

I have now used my Tom Bihn Medium Cafe Bag, in Black/Steel, several times, including for a weekend conference just completed. This is a VERY functional bag, just large enough to hold a spiral-bound book of reference handouts, pens, a penlight, my Canon S95, and an Eagle Creek three-compartment bag for small items. It carries either over one shoulder, or cross shoulder. So performance proves to be exactly as anticipated in my 2/17/10 posting, the first one. Compared to the less expensive Chico Bag, the heavier fabric provides enough shape to make a difference, the subtly smaller size makes it more practical when placed on a relatively narrow meeting table, the clasp as opposed to magnetic closure is superior, and the shoulder strap is much better.

Alan, which shoulder strap are you using? The standard one or did you upgrade to the Absolute? If it's the standard one, did you find it comfortable with the load you were carrying?

I had just the STANDARD strap; I have an Absolute Strap, that stays attached to my Redoxx Air Boss, and did not take it off its hooks to use with the Medium Cafe Bag. For the short distances I was walking, the standard pad was fine. My wife did buy for me the waist strap, which is attached, but which I have not used. I did not get the Ultrasuede Shoulder Strap Wrap:

http://www.tombihn.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=001&Product_Code=TB0530

For use in cool weather, where one would be wearing a sweater or jacket, I doubt the need for the USSW, but if I planned to use the TBMCB during warm weather, I'd look more seriously at it. As the bag adapts rapidly to cross shoulder carry, I think the waist strap is...optional.

What is in the TBMCB at the moment includes:
- inch thick spiral bound weekend notes, reference on medical staff issues
- my Kindle 3 3G inside a neoprene sleeve (but it would take an iPad)
- a set of Westone pro earphones
- my penlight
- a spare pen
- the Eagle Creek 3-compartment sack with small items such as keys
- a medium-sized note pad

and there's be room for more, such as a bottle of water, a snack bar, a Kangol cap, my Canon S90, while I just took out two magazines from the open back pocket, to go into the practice waiting room.

I can't help but notice that you have both an S90 and S95...I am very interested in either/both of these. Can you tell me why you have both, and which you like better?

Actually, I have ONLY the S90. The S95 has a few improvements, nothing that was essential to me, but as both remain available, the S90 as a close-out, regardless for the difference in price I'd suggest the S95.