Might anyone have field experience with the new version of the REI Boarding Bag? I hav a $50 REI gift certificate, and the bag looks like a possible use for that.

http://www.rei.com/product/816194/rei-boarding-bag

I did take a close look at the bag today at my local REI. The compartmentalization is extensive, including a dedicated spot for my Amazon Fire 7-inch tablet. The strap is long enough to allow a cross body carry. Unlike my Eagle Creek Guide Pro bag, a nice piece also, the REI bag has elastic mesh pockets for a water bottle This bag is slightly larger than that one, and also certainly larger than the bag I bought in Paris (which is, no surprise, more...stylish.)

Anyway if someone has actually bought and used one for a real trip, I'd be interested to hear how well it did...or did not...work for them.

I decided that getting the Boarding Bag was the best use of my remaining holiday REI gift cards. Not only does it take an Amazon Fire, but it very neatly fits my wife's iPad2, including its folding leather cover. Basically the bag will replace my Eagle Creek Guide Pro Bag, which I think is no longer made, as the Boarding Bag is a bit larger, and has the mesh side pockets for water bottles, not to mention additional compartmentalization, including a secure spot for my clip-on sunglasses, a zippled slit pocket on the very back suitable for folded maps, etc. However, the bag is a bit too small to take unfolded 8-1/2 x 11 paper items, such as most magazines, but for the future, I'd anticipate for most trips acquiring those in the Kindle versions anyway.

My six month report on the REI Boarding Bag is POSITIVE. I used it for a trip to Quebec, where it seemed to be just the right size walking around Montreal and later Quebec City. The strap is long enough for cross body carry, which I prefer for comfort and security. My wife appreciated its ability to carry two water bottles. In transit, it handles as much as I really need, including not only the Kindle Fire that I used, but the current iteration of the iPad which I am now using almost exclusively, which fits into a specifically sized and separately zipped pocket. In fact, the bag even works nicely as a medical bag during my on-call weeks. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Alan - thanks for the update. A couple of questions - how would you say it compares to, say, Tom Bihn's LCB? And any ideas if it would fit a DSLR camera in there? (Say, one by Sony, with perhaps one extra lens?)

You said it works for water bottles - what size?

Looking for potential birthday presents for DH and a camera bag+ would be useful. Thanks!

An update on the REI Boarding Bag would be, alas, that it seems no longer available, at least through the REI website, though I recently saw these in my local retail REI. I have used mine almost daily for another five months, my comments above unchanged. I hope that they bring it back; I am hard-pressed to imagine potential improvements. The price is great at $50.

Thanks to a holiday gift from my wife, the Tom Bihn Ristretto for iPad, however, I will be taking the Boarding Bag out of daily service, in favor of the subtly larger and heavier duty ballistic nylon TBRiPad, with its better shoulder strap, and its ability to carry 8.5 x 11 papers unfolded. For TRAVEL however this $135 bag has several disadvantages:

- just a bit too large for walking around a city

-easy open/close flap is much lower security and less weather proof

-lacks the two elastic water bottle holders of the REIBB

So, I will now reserve the REI Boarding Bag for trips, particularly those by air, as an excellent complement to any of my several main carry-on bags.

As a footnote on the Ristretto for iPad, its tablet computer compartments seems generously-sized, to the extent it wouldn't surprise me if it might not also snugly accommodate the 11-inch MacAir notebook computer. I'll check that the next time I'm at a meeting where someone has one.

Compared to my Tom Bihn Medium Cafe Bag, the Ristretto is subtly larger, allowing it to hold in its open back pocket a standard-sized magazine, and its carry handle is more substantial. Of course the TBMCB is more collapsible, allowing it to be readily stowed empty inside a carry-on bag, for someone who needs a day bag, but who really needs to TRAVEL with just ONE bag.

So, each of these three bags has its advantages and disadvantages, the choice for any given day or trip depending on the situation, the REI Boarding Bag and the Tom Bihn Medium Cafe Bag in my view being better for TRAVEL.

My conundrum tends to be that the size of my in-transit "personal item" tends to be larger than what I would really prefer touring an urban area, beyond which Frank's point is well-taken. Tom Bihn provides several answers to that, particularly their packing cube that can be emptied, then used as a day bag by moving the shoulder strap from either one's main bag, or the personal item:

http://www.tombihn.com/messenger_bags/TB0921.html