Packing the Tri-Star for a quick 3d/2n trip…

Very quick shots and post regarding a trip for which I’ll be using the Tom Bihn Tri-Star.  Pretty much bare bones pack list; miscellaneous electronics, my GPS, iPod shuffle with some music and podcasts, a couple of Bihn clear pouches – the 3D clear organizer cube with my 3-1-1 stuff, another with my “dry” toiletries…

…and a bundle with 2 dress shirts, a golf shirt, and an extra pair of chinos.  A couple of undershirts and underwear served as the “core”:

The bundle of course went in the rear compartment.  The folders and magazines went in the 2nd compartment; my dry toiletries, the GPS/mount/power cord went in the front compartment.  The 3-1-1 liquids bag was placed in the middle zippered compartment on the front; the iPod/earbuds, reading glasses (looks like a cigar tube) and my keys will go in the bottom compartment on the front.  The Platypus folding water bottle went in the water bottle/boarding pass pocket.  Of course my car keys aren’t shown here, but they’ll end up on a key retainer in one of the front zippered compartments.

Putting the bundle in requires a bit of finesse, as the bag is only 19″ wide, but I was able to coax it in.

Fully packed, the bag weighed 11 lbs.  I am not going to use a shoulder strap on this trip:  through the airport, I’ll use the backpack straps; while boarding, the briefcase carry handles.

I’ll do a brief recap later this week.

Update:  I am a slave to the internet.  I threw in (not literally) my Asus netboook, its power brick, and a folder with a bunch of research materials.  I am guessing all of this added 5 lbs.   I am sitting at the airport as I write this.  I’ll update later in the week.

Amazing:  I went through the TSA checkpoint at The World’s Smallest Airport and the TSA agent didn’t give me any grief about having my liquids in the Bihn 3D clear organizer – as opposed to a quart Ziploc bag.  I am stunned.  And disappointed…  I had my speech prepared.  With nothing to do other than processing perhaps 40 people per day, these are the most zealous TSA agents in the land; nothing escapes their attention.  Perhaps this will be a good trip!

More good news:  the Tri-Star easily fits beneath the seat on a Beech 1900, an aircraft designed during (this is purely conjecture on my part) the Spanish Inquisition.   What it lacks in space, the Beech makes up for with a raucous drone from its propellers.   Lovely.

Making the trip from the end of the A concourse to the middle of the B concourse at Denver International, the Tri-Star was quite comfortable in the backpack mode; so far, so good.