Field Testing Report

I am happy to report that the all-in-one bag did well on its first field test -- hiking in the Smoky Mountains.

Here are some of the features and qualities that got tested:

1) Durability. Both bags did great. And I was not gentle. I slung these things around, took them off and put them on lots. They were tossed onto the floor of the car and in between boulders. The straps stretched a little, but nothing broke, tore or fell off. Yay.

2) Flexibility. The clips actually made going from one bag to the other pretty easy. Most of the time I could do it with one hand. I had an extra strap with me, so I ended up keeping one strap on the Momma and one strap on the Baby the whole trip. I wished that it were easier to adjust the strap. Right now I have a clip on one end and the other end is knotted. I think that I need to have a proper buckle or set of D rings there.

3) Functionality. I tried several combinations. I did the Momma alone, the Baby alone. I tried them 'conjoined'. I took my 'pockets a-go-go' out of the Baby and put everything in the Momma. What seemed to work best for me was having them conjoined whenever my hands would be full otherwise. Packing, unpacking, and moving several items from one location to another. The rest of the time, I used the Baby for town and the Momma for the mountains.

The capacity of the two bags seemed adequate for my use. Momma was almost too big to be used as a daypack. I found myself wishing that the Baby bag could be worn as a backpack. That would not be a big adjustment.

I also wished that there were a better way to carry my water bottle and camera. If I carried them in the bag, they'd be hard to get to when I was hiking. I ended up giving my water and camera to hubby to carry. Problem solved!

4) Comfort. I really appreciated the fleece lining on the bags and straps. It provided a good buffer between me and my stuff, and made carrying the bags much more pleasant.

5) Looks. The neutral colors were a good match for my hiking clothes and my town clothes. But all the tan was almost too bland for me. I need to put something flashier on the bags. The microsuede did dress up and down well. The Momma bag turned out to be a pretty slouchy backpack and it got slouchier when I clipped the Baby to it. I think that a squared off bottom to both bags would help.

Conclusions.

I will definitely continue to use these bags. I might add a some loops or buttons to the Baby. I will probably try to put a cinch on the straps before the next trip as well.

I'm not sure about starting a whole new product line around this concept though. Having coordinated bags that clipped together was nice, but I don't know if the idea 1) is distinctive enough; or 2) could be illustrated in one Etsy page. It really needs a video or personal demonstration where a customer could see the possibilities up close.

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But I'm not discouraged. I really loved being in the mountains for four days. It was very relaxing and feel inspired to start new projects. Check out these amazing colors and textures!