When I recently tripped in Times Square and nearly fell flat on my face, the one thing that saved me from a smashed pelvis was the Tom Bihn Cadet bag I use every day to protect my 11-Inch MacBook Air. My iPhone and computer and teaching materials were in my Tom Bihn bag and, even though I fell, full-force on that bag, nothing was damaged except my ego and a few scrapes and bruises won on the way down.
The moment after I purchased my new 13-inch MacBook Air, I headed over to the Tom Bihn website and purchased the larger Cadet bag for my new machine. Yes, Bihn bags are expensive, but I wanted the comfort, protection, and ease-of-use that Tom Bihn is famous for in the web of real life.
Inside the main compartment of the Cadet clips a Cache for Cadet: a specially modified version of our popular Cache laptop sleeve. Using two Gatekeeper clips, the bottom edge of the Cache for Cadet attaches to two vertical pieces of webbing sewn into the Cadet. When passing through a TSA checkpoint, you can easily slide your laptop/iPad (still in its protective Cache for Cadet) out of the Cadet for X-ray inspection; your laptop remains protected and attached to the Cadet. Also inside the main compartment is a large open-top pocket: your files or magazines won’t come along for the ride when you slide the Cache for Cadet out at the checkpoint.
The reason the Tom Bihn Cadet bag has become my one and only go-to bag for all things large and small, is that it is perfectly set up to meet my needs. Some days, I’m lugging lots of paper and no computer or iPad. Other days, I’m on full-on electronics mode. Traveling with the Cadet bag is easy and simple. There’s never any hassle trying to decide what to take with me. Everything fits.
The Cadet bag also provides outstanding protection in the rain and snow of New York City. I’ve been drenched many times walking the streets of Manhattan, and while my Cadet bag also gets wet, what’s held inside stays dry. That’s a massively big recommendation for any bag — let alone a computer bag — and a paramount point of importance for something in which you entrust the protection of your livelihood as well as your tripping life.