Tom Bihn Imago is Useful as Well as Ornamental

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Accessories, Cameras, Design, PC / Laptop, Product Reviews

I now know why other Gear Livers were raising such a fuss. Tom Bihn’s Imago Messenger Bag, featured here in steel/cork/deep blue, is amazingly functional while being way more than aesthetically pleasing. At a size of 14.5 x 12.25 x 3.5-inches and a weight of only 1 lb., 9 oz., you can fit a laptop (preferably within one of their cells,) and/or a camera with all your accessories inside its roomy olive interior with two pockets. Then again, maybe you can just share the Designer Bag with your cat. There is also a zippered pouch in the front, a pocket in the back, and a ring to clip your car keys (hooray!) or one or more of their organizer pouches. Check out more details and images after the jump.

Crafted at the Bihn factory in Seattle, the bag is constructed of 1050 denier Ballistic nylon or 1000 denier Cordura and lined with 500 denier Cordura, and is so well made that it is guaranteed for life. There is also a removable waist strap if you are biking it and can choose one of three different shoulder straps. They were kind enough to send us an elite Absolute, which features a non-slip grip, is adjustable for 20 to 52-inches, and has hooks so that we can utilize it with other bags.

We took the bag out for a test run. In it we put our camera, extra discs, and had enough room for extra lenses in the inside pockets and miscellaneous cleaning gear. If you have a collapsible tripod, that would probably fit as well. We also had enough room for a couple of work shirts, some paperwork, and still had space left over.

Bihn also sent four of their organizer pouches, which come with rust-proof zippers and hooks for attaching to the Imago. The small-sized pouch was large enough for a Nokia clam phone, the medium held a wallet and portable cassette player (some of us are still iPodless,) and the large handled a small notebook, with pens.

Available in 11 colors, the Imago has a MSRP of $85.00, well worth the expense considering the fine craftsmanship and warranty. We now look and feel so cool that we are thinking we need to purchase a new laptop, just to show it off.

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