March 29, 2020

Factory Update: Making Face Masks

34 comments
TOM BIHN crew members wearing and sewing cloth masks.

We hope you’re well and safe as you read this. We know bags might be the last thing on your mind — on the other hand, bags might be a welcome break from everything else that’s going on. 

First, let’s talk about face masks. Our Seattle factory is still at work — we’ve devoted our entire production capacity to efforts to make surgical-style face masks for our healthcare heroes due to the shortage of medical-grade masks. For the sake of healthcare professionals, we hope that real, medical-grade personal protective equipment is produced and restocked as soon as possible; in the meantime, we are here and working as fast as we can to help. 

We know you care about our safety as much as we do; see the list of the precautions we’re taking at the factory. We've also posted expanded instructions on how to clean and disinfect your bags. 

Some photos of our crew at work this week....

We at TOM BIHN are sewing face masks for healthcare professionals in our Seattle factory.

Nik working late one night (maybe about a week ago or so) on one of the three mask designs we can make.

We at TOM BIHN are sewing face masks for healthcare professionals in our Seattle factory.

Edelmira plying up the fabric to make a particular mask; Irma is cutting the fabric.

We at TOM BIHN are sewing face masks for healthcare professionals in our Seattle factory.

Mei sewing the ties on the masks.

We at TOM BIHN are sewing face masks for healthcare professionals in our Seattle factory.

Chun also sewing ties on to masks.

(The Original) Icon and (The Future) Icon
Long story short, the response to the debut of the Icon was overwhelming: people loved it. Still, several of you shared feedback on what you think could make it an even better bag; we (mostly) agreed and the next production run of Icons will have these changes implemented. Now, however, we're busy making masks, and we don't know when we'll make the next run of Icons. We did make a run of the original Icon a while back, and we're making those bags available for purchase now. They don't include the shoulder pad (can't make shoulder pads right now) so we're offering them for $50 instead of the usual $75. Full story here, including a list of the design updates.

Upcoming Debuts
We're working on debuting some new designs — even if it means the only photos we can share are drawn sketches — just so there's something fun and interesting we can share with all of you. If you'd like, you'll be able to sign up via email to be notified when the new designs are available for pre-order. 

34 comments

Stephen Kavalin - April 2, 2020

Can we purchase masks ?? Do they have a PM 2.5 filter pocket ?

Sam - April 2, 2020

Thanks for finding a way to contribute to our healthcare workers and also keep your own family of employees working at the same time.

Val Naisbitt - April 2, 2020

Your talent and commitment to making functional and durable products is the reason I’ve always supported you gong back to your Santa Cruz days. Now – I applaud your selfless work to save lives too! Much love. Val

Lori Rhodes - April 2, 2020

Kudos for all you are doing. I read that health care professional who have to wear face masks all day, their ears are getting sore. So they are taking a stretch headband and sewing buttons on them so they can take the elastic and put it around the button and not their ears. In case you have the capacity! You guys rock

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We're the TOM BIHN crew: we design bags, make bags, ship bags, and answer questions about bags. Oh, and we collaborate on blog posts, too.