Beep boop - this is a robot. A new show has been posted to TWiT…
What are your thoughts about today’s show? We’d love to hear from you!
This is gonna be a great episode!
“Does Tim Cook Skeet?” would’ve been a great title.
I’ve tried for years to teach my mom & dad to text me before calling: but it has never been successful
I’m a big backpack geek. I typically spend too much money on bags. I rock an Osprey Talon 22 currently.
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Cool. Can we get the TWiT Network to start developing a backpack show, please?
The Tom Bihn bags are great stuff. I have an old Brain Bag – probably older than Andy’s. One of the features of these packs is that the laptop/tablet sleeves are suspended from the top of the internal bag. TB Bags have always been hand-made out of Seattle. If Andy either breaks his, they will fix it at their factory – at cost. It’s a bit of a mystery why @Leo has a Tom Bihn bag but doesn’t use it. My earliest bag was from Tom Jones from JRAT Designs, who was a gradual student in the mathematics department at MIT: great great backpacks that could be customized. He eventually moved to Colorado. Apparently, the P-company took offense to JRAT’s use of the name “Ratagonia”. Searching on “JRat” and “Ratagonia” will find some interesting things, like this on Instagram:
I remember that rat from my childhood! I believe that Tom ended up at Black Diamond in Utah, but I never got confirmation on that story.
5.11 Tactical packs are great, too. The ability to attach stuff to the outside is an advantage of the smooth exterior of the Tom Bihn designs. I like to walk with Nordic Walking poles; designs with the webbing would be helpful to secure poles to the backpack. I had no idea that 5.11 Tactical now has retail stores around the USA.
One issue is locally-made packs vs. the imports. I suspect that Leo’s and Jason’s picks are imports, but I haven’t confirmed.
One other thing not discussed in the MBW picks was secure backpacks. In some cities, travelers are at risk to having their packs ransacked while they are wearing them. Ugh. Some manufacturers make packs that are resistant to this violent vandalism. I bet @MikeElgan could tell us something about that. Perhaps a future episode of This Week in Backpacks. 
UPDATE: I found JRAT on the bio page of canyoneering.com. Believe it or not, they’re also selling backpacks – Imlay Canyon Gear. I bet they’re pretty poor for carrying a MBP or iPad.