I BOUGHT and USED this item. It WAS NOT PROVIDED to me for review by any company.
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The Tom Bihn Travel Tray is one of those pieces that you don’t realize you needed all along until you have it in your hands – especially on the road. And It’s also at this precise moment that you realize how amazingly simple and good Tom Bihn has made … a tray.
So yes. It’s a tray. Wait. It’s a bowl. So it’s part flat bottom, which is a tray. But it has sides that provide depth like a basin, which is kind of like a bowl. But then it flattens… Ok. Tom Bihn says it’s a tray. So I’m going with tray.
Wait… a Tray? What’s the Point of this Tray?
The point to the Tom Bihn Travel Tray? Well… wallets, phones, keys, coins, bills, chapstick, ticket stubs, receipts, earbuds, and all the other things we drag around with us and throw onto a table, desk, or night stand, wherever we may be, tend to spread all over the place. Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a vessel into which we could throw all of these things to keep them together and not be surrounded by a mountain of clutter or have it fall behind the dresser? A nice large round space…
Ah… I’m Listening
The Tom Bihn Travel Tray, which comes in two sizes, Small (rated at 1.5 liters of volume) and Large (rated at 2.5 liters of volume), is a shape shifter that offers itself up as that very containment vessel we might need for our clutter. Available in two fabrics, 210d Cerylon and 200d Halcyon, the Travel Tray weighs next to nothing and makes a nice addition to one’s gear. It tidies our clutter.
I chose a large Tahoma Halcyon tray for my clutter.
Note: At the time of publication, the materials section of both product pages for the Small and Large Travel Trays still lists Ballistic as an available material with no reference to Cerylon. I have not seen a Travel Tray available in Ballistic in a minute, though there are pictures of such a tray or two on the product pages as well.
How Does the Travel Tray Work?
The Travel Tray, in its “ready to receive” position (see above), has nice high walls to contain a lot of clutter, about 4.5″ tall. It’s also about 7″ in diameter. It’s able to hold this shape, because both Halcyon and Cerylon (also Ballistic) are rigid enough fabrics that they don’t really have a need for interfacing or stiffeners. There is a single added ring of piping that keeps the round opening when the fabric is folded down into a bowl.
When it’s time to move the clutter from one location to the next, we just do three things:
- Fold the doubled over wall of the Travel Tray up, which consequently doubles the height (and allows for more clutter, for better or worse),
- Cinch it closed,
- Smash it down for easy transfer into another bag (or use it as its own bag).
Is That All There Is?
Yep. That’s all there is. collect, contain, and carry that clutter. Pretty neat.
It’s super simple. But there is one thing that I think would make the Travel Tray even better!
Wouldn’t it be cool if…?
One cool improvement that I believe would make the Tom Bihn Travel Tray so much better is to…
Poke a hole in it!
Just at the bottom of the tray, a hole large enough to push a charging cable through would keep nightstands the world over even more free of clutter! It would be great to put the phone in without having the charging cable pulling down on the sides of the tray and adding stress to the connection point at the bottom of a phone.
“First world problems”, I know. But it would be a nice and sensible addition. I may actually mod mine and add a grommet.
Conclusion
I’m a fan of the Travel Tray from Tom Bihn. It really has helped me to keep track of all of the little things while on the road. Its price point is fair. It has style. It’s functional and makes quick work of gathering up the clutter of one location and moving it to another.
I really need to start throwing some of this clutter away or I’ll need to buy another one!
For a list of items that you see in the Tom Bihn Large Travel Tray, scroll down.
Thank you for reading!
How I Got This Item for Review
I purchased this item myself. Tom Bihn did not supply it to me for review. The opinions in this review are my own and would not be swayed one way or another if I had been given a review unit by Bellroy.
Products shown in this review and/or visible in photos (some affiliate links)…
- Tom Bihn Large Travel Tray – Tahoma Halcyon
- Tom Bihn Small Snake Charmer – Sangria Cerylon, Moss Cerylon
- Tom Bihn Key Strap – 8 inch in Northwest Sky
- Clipa Bag Hanger – Hang your bag anywhere (springs closed when you pick your bag up)
- Hero Clip – Hang your bag anywhere (you have to manipulate the clip to close)
- Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm – Best ever!
- Apple Air Tag
- Apple Magic Mouse
- Honda CRV Key Fob. Sorry, no affiliate link here 😉
- Red webbing keychain with two split rings, a D-ring, and a YKK LN15Z Snaphook (yes, same one Tom Bihn uses) … I made it. I’ll sell you one, if you want – contact me! Red, black, or…? 😉
