What follows are production and design notes pulled from various meetings, our project management app, and our recollections. In some instances, we added to the notes to make them more descriptive of what we, in person, were discussing: folks asked us to share more about design choices and considerations or explain more about aspects of the manufacturing process. We first experimented with this format for the Old School Carry-All; see our Production & Design notes: OSCA edition. Now, it’s the Addax’s turn.

We share these notes in the hopes they give you a sense of what it’s like to be here on the factory floor and understand more about what goes into realizing the design of a bag like the Addax. 

ADDAX 26 and ADDAX 31 NOTES -

When our design team came together to discuss the next addition to the TOM BIHN line, our designer, Jose, pitched up this idea: create a roll-top bag, something that we didn’t yet have in our backpack collection, designed with commuting in mind. His vision included implementing the following features into this new bag:

• Laptop sleeve
• External + Internal laptop access
• Breathable, mesh back panel
• Large exterior zipper pocket (a la Cambiata style)
• Exterior zippered pocket for small items (keys, wallet, packable jacket, etc.)
• Bike light anchor point
• Reinforced bottom 

We went through many different prototypes of what would eventually become the Addax 31. 

An early design of what would eventually become the Addax 31.

 

Below is Jose’s feedback from the very first iteration of the Addax 31:

The Good:

Comfort

• The bag is very comfortable to wear. The shoulder straps and mesh back panel with foam inserts make the bag great for riding or wearing for an extended period.
• Need to add a 1/8 foam insert between the back panel lining and the back panel shell.
• The sternum strap and waist belt work great to keep the bag secure.

Features

• Exterior pockets are a great size for the different items you carry daily. Items like keys, phones, wallets, and glasses fit well in the top front pocket. Bigger items like a packable jacket and helmet liner fit in the lower front pocket. It’s great to be able to access these items quickly without having to open the bag and dig for them.
• Need to add O-rings to the interior of both pockets.
• A whale pouch for eyeglasses would work great for the front top pocket.
• Side Pockets are great for other items you don’t access all the time but prefer to keep on the outside of the bag. Having the added security of a zipper is great.
• Side pockets can fit a water bottle.
• The exterior laptop zipper works well and is easy to access.
• Need to alter the interior laptop pocket panels to keep laptops off the bottom of the bag.
• Interior organization pockets worked great for keeping the items I need to carry on my commute organized. 
• The interior mesh pocket at the back panel is large enough to fit items of different sizes. 
• The mesh drop pockets on the side panel are great for items like my laptop charger, USB cords, and mouse. 
• I have not found a use for the zipper pocket on the other side pocket yet. 
• The interior mesh pocket at the front pocket is great for keeping items like extra clothes organized.
• The bag still has room for other items after all the pockets have been filled.
• Back panel pass-through
• The pass-through works well for common luggage handles.

The Not-so-Good:

Roll-top panel

• The roll-top panel comes open.
• I can try to improve this by making the roll top longer (3”) or moving the buckles on the side panels to the bottom seam.

Exterior side pockets

• I used two different stretch fabrics on the side pockets and two different constructions.
• The construction of the pocket on the right side is better, but I would like to use the stretch fabric from the left pocket.

Interior mesh pocket at back panel

• Need to improve the look of the panel, the mesh pocket is very wavy, this could be due to the zipper, mesh, or elastic binding. I would like to improve this.

Laptop Pocket

• Need to rework the panels to keep laptops from touching the ground.

Changes for the next sample:

 Exterior side pockets

• Use stretch mesh with a bound zipper finish.
• Add a pleat to accommodate a larger water bottle.
• Develop a drop-in pocket so we can compare the two constructions.

Roll Top Panels

• Increase the height from 6” to 9” to achieve a better roll.

Back panel

• Shoulder straps
• Move shoulder straps and hanger loop down, sew to the back panel and reinforce with 1” webbing sewn on top following the Technonaut shoulder strap attachment.
• Mesh Back panel
• Reduce height to better fit foam inserts.
• Reshape the bottom of the panel to be straight across instead of curved.
• Interior 
• Remove the large mesh pocket at the front interior panel.
• Replace laptop pocket panel with foam panel - Following the Paramour construction.
• Add 1/8 foam panel between the back panel lining and the back panel shell.

 

There was one main challenge that we were trying to solve: how do we achieve a clean look for the maximum number of rolls while also allowing the bag to buckle together with any number of rolls?  The day after our meeting, Jose proposed sewing the male buckle ends to the webbing at the back panel that holds the shoulder straps. This helps bring the folded roll top panel towards the back panel and leaves a clean-looking roll even when the bag is not completely filled. He also suggested swapping out the male and female buckles on one side, allowing the bag to buckle filled to max capacity, without an extra piece. Could our roll-top problems finally be solved?

 

The question of pocket height also came up, as the bag needed to be able to roll all the way down, which would limit the height of the water bottle that could fit. Mike suggested that many of these issues could be addressed with an exterior water bottle pocket – a first for us here at TOM BIHN!

 

When Jose brought this sample to our next meeting, we felt ecstatic about this sample. Finally, it seemed like our roll-top issue had been solved! We loved the versatility his solution provided, now you could roll the bag one, two, three times, or not at all! There were a lot of other things we loved about this version too. The exterior water bottle pocket was balanced with the Cambiata-style pocket and was able to fit in both without too much issue. 

 

Cindy tests out an Addax 26 in the showroom.

 

Below is Cindy’s feedback on the Addax, after traveling with the first X-Pac prototype:

What I really like:

• The Addax is incredibly flexible. I'm the type of person that carries a lot of odd-shaped necessities when I travel (like a hairdryer, heels for nicer events, dog stuff if Daikon is with me, etc.), and I've found I can't pack any of these things easily in a traditional backpack
• The drop pockets are excellent for my two most important chargers (laptop, iPhone & apple watch) that also happen to be a little too bulky for the HLTs.
• Very glad to have that external-access pocket for the laptop.
• I spilled a half bottle of water onto the X-Pac, and the fabric was completely fine.
• The T45/A45 packing cubes fit perfectly in the horizontal orientation. It was also really easy to pull the packing cubes out since the little handle loops for them are at the top. Felt like a natural match for this backpack!  
• The heavier 1050 fabric at the bottom is great. Given how tall this bag is when unrolled, I found myself setting it down on the ground a lot.
• It doesn't look too bulky when it's packed out, it still sat close to my back.

What I'm a little unsure about:

• The open cache foam feels a little loose to me, concerned about the laptop "swimming" in a less packed-out bag, maybe add an interior zipper? 
• Cache foam pocket currently could easily fit a laptop and tablet/Kindle/books. Let’s test two device pockets. 
• Top grab handle didn't feel super useful at the moment. Suggested re-orienting upwards to ease use

With the feedback in mind, Jose then began to implement many changes to the next sample, most notably dividing the laptop pocket and adding an interior zipper. However, in an early prototype we felt a "bump" when unzipping the exterior laptop compartment, we realized this was caused by the interaction between the interior and exterior zippers.

 

Below are excerpts from notes detailing the Addax construction process with co-Production managers Fong, Honguyen, and Trang:

We suggested using bartacks to hold certain parts down and away from the zipper track to help the zipper glide better. 

The back panel is difficult to sew.  There are a lot of different parts going into one area, making it very complicated. The zipper used is a bit softer and more flexible, better for the laptop. When it comes to sewing, it makes it very difficult to incorporate not only softer fabric with harder fabric at the bottom, but also compounding fabrics, zippers, binding, foam, mesh, and corners. Many layers, complicated and difficult!

Honguyen suggested cutting the back foam slightly smaller.  This provided a bit more generous spacing for the joining of the bag and helped with binding bulk, at the final interior and exterior back pieces. 

One touch that Jose wanted to add to the Addax’s exterior laptop compartment was a zipper garage. It gives the zipper an extra level of protection from the elements, especially important for the laptop compartment, and we liked the look. It’s a small piece but required some design iterations, what feedback did you provide to Jose? 

Trang was the one who came up with a better way to construct the zipper garage in this particular back panel piece. She suggested changing Jose’s original two-piece panel into a one-piece panel with a longer extension. It accomplished Jose’s goal while creating a more efficient production process. The new piece has a special fold internally where binding is not required and the zipper ends are protected at the same time. Also, the best part is that it looks good, especially as an exterior piece, with small details.

Co-Production managers Fong, Honguyen, and Trang's interview excerpts continued:

Sewing a new bag with a new fabric also led to some exciting, new challenges for production. Here are some of their thoughts on working with X-Pac:

 

Fong explained that the X-Pac fabric has unique characteristics, different from Ballistic Nylon and all other fabrics we currently use. The feel of X-Pac seems to have a bit more crispness to it, it’s easier to crease during production and has very little give and flexibility. Working with it at the beginning was a little different and took a little bit of getting used to since it is not a very forgiving fabric. It may take someone with good sewing skills and attention to detail to work with this fabric. If a sewing mistake is made, there is a good chance that the panel cannot be reused on the same bag due to the punctured marks on the existing panel, which will need to be recut and replaced with a new panel piece. 

Honguyen agrees with Fong and explained that with the X-Pac fabric there is no give (think sewing thick paper). When sewing this fabric one has to consider and prepare it for joining. This involves sewing a smaller inseam (normally 1/2 inch, now closer to 1/3 of an inch) to accommodate the fabric. At the later stages of joining the fabric, it makes it easier and provides just enough spacing.  It is an exterior fabric, so we have to be very careful with how it is sewn, basically no room for errors. 

 

 

Below is also an excerpt of feedback from advisors Tom and Nik: 

• Concerns on the triangle panels (same panels Nik mentioned). 
• The corners of triangular panels can be challenging to align perfectly during production.
• Tom suggested moving the panel seams down to meet with the bottom seam and making the point of the triangle pieces wider to move them away from the side seams.
• For the side panels Tom would’ve tried to find a way to move the horizontal seam at the bottom of the panel, so it does not meet with the front panel's horizontal seam.
• This was a suggestion to reduce bulk at the seam where other seams meet. Fong addressed this by suggesting to not bind this seam.
• Tom liked Jose’s bowtie handle at the bottom, reminiscent of the handles on bags like the Aeronaut. (Jose also added a splash of color on the flip side of the bowtie, a nice little touch :))
• He would’ve made the radius of the bottom corners a bit bigger for easier sewing.

We translated the concerns about the corners and bottom shape of the bag to Fong, Honguyen, and Trang. 

Fong: I think because I am so used to it, it is not as hard for me to sew the corners. I know where all the points on contacts are, and I know exactly where the hard parts are so I can make adjustments as I am sewing to accommodate these points of difficulty. It will take a bit of practice to understand the bag and how to properly sew it. 

Trang and Honguyen both agree that once you understand how the fabric works, and how to manipulate it in a way that works best, then the sewing is not too different from our other bags. Of course, it will be hard at first, that’s why we always plan extra time for Production Managers to train the rest of the floor on sewing new bags.

 

The idea to create a second Addax in a smaller size came from our Production managers, who are all on the more petite side. They loved the look of the bag but felt the 31 was too large for smaller frames. Jose tried a couple of different dimensions for the smaller Addax and had a few more petite members of the team try the bag to make sure that proportionally it felt right. We wanted the bag to sit close against the back and prevent it from pulling away from the back when fully loaded. 

For the smaller Addax, we wanted to have all the same great features we loved about the larger Addax, especially the ability to fit a 16″ Macbook Pro even with the reduced dimensions. 

 

Jose’s notes for creating the new Addax 26 sample:

New Dimensions

13W x 17H x 6D

The change from our current Addax is in the height. I am making the height of the front and back panel shorter by 3” and shrinking the width by 1”. The new dimension would get us closer to a 21/22 liter bag.

Front Panel

• Front pockets will be smaller.
• The top front pocket height will be 4.75”.
• The pocket on the 30L version is 5.5"
• A bit tough to fit a bigger cell phone upright would have to change the interior pocket to allow the phone to rest on its side.
• The bottom pocket height will be 6.5”.
• The pocket on the 30L version is 8".
• Still works for stowing away packable items that don't take up too much space.

 Back Panel

•  The mesh back panel will be reduced by 3” making it 14” in height.
• We will not be able to use the “Finger foam” due to the height being 16.5”
• Will need to move to a different foam we can cut to fit the new panel.
• Consider moving to construction like SYNIK- Same foam and mesh.
• We may not be able to use the frame sheet due to the new height of the mesh panel (that's okay, just need to use get another die)
• Zipper opening will be smaller

Side Exterior Pockets

• Shortening the length of the zipper for the zipped-up water bottle pocket
• Maintaining the height of the mesh for the open water bottle pocket 

 

During this fine-tuning process, we moved the wings of the backpack straps over to the inside panel, a deviation from the Synik construction. Since the Addax has a longer opening to the laptop compartment than the Synik, this change was added to ease the user’s experience of removing their laptop from the compartment by ensuring that the wings would not get in the way as one unzips the pocket. 

When we received the next sample of the smaller Addax, we found that it could hold a 16″ MBP with some restrictions, this being that the laptop could only go in through the top side in one slide. Satisfied with these results, we had finally come to the finish line of the design phase. 

Now, on to color choices. For the X-Pac fabric, we wanted something that would pop with the new fabric which led to the usage of Solaris Halcyon. We also wanted to try two new colorway options – Burnt Orange Ballistic/Moab Halcyon and Constellation Blue Ballistic/Island Halcyon. These choices were made by Maia, our Social Media Coordinator, and Jose, our designer, respectively. 

Jose liked these two fabrics together due to their similarities. We liked the look of a monochromatic bag and thought that it could be a cool option! Maia was inspired by the fall leaves for her colorway. She loved the combination of colors, and so do we!