TOM BIHN Medium Cafe Bag Review

The TOM BIHN Medium Cafe Bag is one of those bags that feels like it’s been quietly refined over years of real-world use, rather than designed to chase trends. After testing it for a couple of weeks, it became clear that this is a sling built around practicality, durability, and a very specific carry style. It doesn’t try to be flashy, tactical, or overly modular—instead, it leans into a clean, utilitarian silhouette that TOM BIHN fans will immediately recognize. Whether that aesthetic clicks with you or not, there’s no denying the brand’s reputation for thoughtful construction and long-term reliability.

At 8.5 liters, the Medium Cafe Bag sits in an interesting middle ground. It’s larger than a minimal sling but smaller than a full messenger, making it a strong option for everyday carry, light travel days, or quick café runs when a backpack feels like overkill. During testing, we found ourselves reaching for it when we needed to carry more than just the essentials—such as a travel water bottle, tech, and a few personal items—without committing to a full backpack. It’s a niche size that won’t work for everyone, but when it works, it really works.

External Components

TOM BIHN sticks to a familiar and proven materials recipe here. The exterior is made from 630D high-tenacity 2×2 ballistic nylon, which feels tough without being overly stiff. It’s the kind of fabric that inspires confidence when you’re tossing the bag under a café table or brushing past others on crowded sidewalks. Inside, TOM BIHN uses a 210D high-tenacity ripstop nylon, and all of it is bluesign® approved. There aren’t alternative fabric options at the moment, but TOM BIHN regularly rotates colorways, which gives you some room to express your personality if you’re willing to wait for the right combo.

Design-wise, the exterior is intentionally minimal. There’s a TOM BIHN logo on the front and matching branded zipper pulls, along with YKK zippers and Duraflex hardware throughout. Everything feels reliable and well-executed, even if nothing feels particularly experimental. One subtle design touch we appreciated is the diagonal front panel and off-center buckle, both of which break up the otherwise straightforward shape and give the bag a bit more distinct visual without going over the top. Compared to some of TOM BIHN’s more visually busy designs, the Medium Cafe Bag feels restrained.

Around back, there’s a simple top carry handle that’s useful for quick grabs. The shoulder strap doesn’t detach, but you can shorten it enough to tuck it out of the way if you want to carry the bag by hand for short distances. There are also two loops on the back panel designed for attaching an optional waist or hip strap. While this won’t be necessary for most use cases, it’s a nice option to have—especially if you’re cycling or want to keep the bag more stable during long walks.

The shoulder strap itself uses a closed-loop design, which means adjusting one side automatically balances the other. There’s no loose webbing flapping around, and no need for strap keepers that inevitably slide out of place. The strap is made from a soft, seatbelt-style material that feels comfortable against the shoulder. Given the bag’s relatively small capacity, we never felt like it needed extra padding. That said, the strap isn’t removable or swappable, which means you can’t upgrade to TOM BIHN’s Absolute Shoulder Strap if that’s your preference.

Fit Notes

On the body, the TOM BIHN Medium Cafe Bag feels most comfortable when worn toward the back, rather than directly on the side or front. While you can wear it messenger-style or sling it casually over one shoulder, we found that positioning it slightly behind the body distributes weight more evenly across the chest, rather than concentrating it on one shoulder. This made a noticeable difference during longer carry sessions, even though the bag never got particularly heavy. The bag is only 8.5 liters, so fit issues are minimal. Even when fully loaded, it never felt unwieldy or awkward.

Adjustments are quick once you get the hang of the strap system, though tightening the strap when the bag is fully packed can take a bit of effort. Loosening it is easier, and overall, the adjustment range feels well-suited to a variety of body types and carry preferences. We also appreciated that the bag didn’t feel like it was going to slide off the shoulder when worn casually. The strap material has enough grip to stay put, even without aggressive texturing. While we wouldn’t call this a performance-oriented carry system, it’s more than adequate for everyday use, urban travel, and light errands.

Inside The Sling

The storage layout of the Medium Cafe Bag is straightforward, but there’s more going on than it appears at first glance. Starting from the outside, there’s a slip pocket on the back panel. It’s sized well for flat items like notebooks, documents, or a tablet, and it remains usable even when the main compartment is packed out. We found it handy for quick-access items, though we often left it unused simply because we don’t regularly carry notebook-like items.

On the front, behind the main buckle and zipper, there’s a zippered dump pocket. This pocket includes one of TOM BIHN’s signature O-rings, allowing you to attach the included key clip or other accessories. It’s a flat pocket, best suited for items like a phone, wallet, or passport. While it can technically fit thicker items, doing so puts tension on the corners, which gives you a good sense of its intended use. Access can feel a bit tight when the main compartment is fully loaded, but not to the point where we’d avoid using it.

The main compartment opens fully once you release the buckle and flip up the front panel, giving you a clear view of everything inside. The rectangular shape of the bag makes packing surprisingly easy, and depending on how you load it, the bag can even stand upright on its own. This shape also helps keep items organized visually, since gear tends to stack neatly rather than collapsing into a pile.

Inside, there are a few organizational pockets along the walls, along with additional O-rings for attaching TOM BIHN accessories. We found ourselves using the interior pockets less than expected, mainly because the external pockets handled most small-item storage. That said, the options are available if you prefer to keep everything internal.

In terms of capacity, the Medium Cafe Bag punches above its weight. A 21-ounce water bottle fits either horizontally or vertically, despite the lack of a dedicated bottle pocket. During testing, we also fit gloves, headphones, a Nintendo Switch in its case, and various everyday carry items without issue. Impressively, we were able to fit a 13-inch MacBook Pro inside as well. While it sits slightly above the curved top edge of the bag, the buckle closes comfortably, making this a viable option for short work sessions away from home.

The adjustable front buckle allows you to compress or expand the bag based on your load, though adjusting it when the bag is fully packed can feel a bit fiddly. There’s an elastic strap keeper that helps manage excess webbing when the bag is cinched down, but if you want maximum expansion, you’ll need to feed the strap out from under it. It’s a minor annoyance, but one worth noting if you frequently adjust how much you carry.

Overall, flexibility defines the interior experience, rather than strict organization. If you prefer a bag that is adaptable to different loads and lets you decide how to arrange your gear, this works well. If you prefer lots of built-in structure and dedicated pockets, it may feel a bit barebones.