The story goes something like this. Tom Bihn – a guy so completely enamored with gear growing up – that he borrowed his grandmother’s old sewing machine so he could make his own. From there, he began making gear for others and that grew into a nice Seattle-headquartered business that sells in a local shop and online.

Tom Bihn (the company now) builds a range of messengers, backpacks and accessory products that deliver a level of customization almost unheard of in the soft goods market, or any other for that matter. More on this in a future review of the Tom Bihn Ego messenger bag. For the rest of this article, we will concentrate on one of the company’s iPad accessory products, the Cache.

Specs
Upper: Foam padding, Taslan nylon
Weight: 3.75 oz

Tom Bihn designed the Cache essentially as an envelope for the iPad. It’s built from high quality padded nylon material that provides approximately 6mm of iPad protection. The Apple device slides easily into the Cache and closes with a small flap that tucks into the envelope opening. When we first looked at the Cache, our initial reaction was that the flap would never stay in place given its size and lack of mechanical closure. Well, we were wrong. The closure worked flawlessly in our tests and kept the iPad securely inside. The interior of the Cache was also large enough to fit an iPad either with or without a Smart Cover.

True to Tom Bihn’s approach, there are plenty of Cache options. First, you can choose the orientation, either vertical (which was our sample) or horizontal. Then select the size. There’s an iPad-specific version and 13 other choices.

The Cache also meets TSA regulations so you can send your iPad through security without removing it from the case. Nice.

Find it at www.tombihn.com.

Rating
[Rating:4/5]