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Tom Bihn… Make Me Spiffy!
I’ve tried all sorts of toiletry kits over the years, all of which had in common one weakness. Not a single one of them was able to spiff ME up and make me look like I should be on a runway! Then I found the Deluxe Spiff Kit from that magical Tom Bihn! Hold on… Yeah, that’s gonna take more magic than even Tom Bihn can conjure! I’ll start again.
I’ve tried all sorts of toiletry kids over the years, all of which had in common one prominent weakness, in my opinion! It’s first and foremost on my mind when it comes to a spiff kit and, as far as I can tell, Tom Bihn has come closest to hitting the mark I’ve been looking for with the Deluxe Spiff Kit. I’m sure the regular Spiff Kit nails it, too. But I don’t have that one. And before I get into that prominent weakness and how the this spiff kit seems to leapfrog right over it and others, let’s look at the rest of the Deluxe Spiff Kit from Tom Bihn.
The Outside
Yes, I admit it being a former hater – a little disgruntled that Halcyon, the beloved of so many, could seemingly be passing on to another plain while Cerylon was making inroads to the products that so many have grown to love. I discriminated. I wanted nothing to do with Cerylon. It’s just not Halcyon. And somehow I wound up accidentally ordering a Small Snake Charmer, which I meant to be some ballistic color or other. I must have clicked wrong and wound up with Moss Cerylon. And how about that? This Cerylon stuff isn’t too bad! In fact, I really like the muted grid pattern of Cerylon vs the prominent grid of Halcyon. I repent and convert.
Fast forward to the Deluxe Spiff Kit, which I ordered in Sangria Cerylon. What a color! It’s luscious and deep. It’s so rich. And I just love it! I’ll admit now that Cerylon is really quite nice for me. Yes, the kit was available in Halcyon but the colors just weren’t there for me this time. Also, Cerylon is a little more structurally sound, holding its shape a little better than Halcyon.
Speaking of shape, it’s boxy, which is good for packing. Two webbing grab handles that are absolutely sufficient for their purpose top the Deluxe Spiff Kit. Just grab them and go. And when you get there – unzip a bit and pull those handles apart!
The Inside
Open the Deluxe Spiff Kit up and it’s spacious! The two sides of the clamshell are each adorned with a large mesh well and split by a plastic mirror that’s held in place by velcro. Well, in my case, was held in place by velcro but I digress.
You can fit a LOT of stuff in or around these two mesh wells – o.k. three, if you consider that the bottom well, which is slightly smaller than the top, is actually two divided mesh pockets. The mesh on the bottom two pockets is intentionally puckered to make each more voluminous so as to fit a wide variety of items. The large mesh pocket on top is just… large. You can actually fit an entirely packed Small Snake Charmer in there! My Oral B hard plastic toothbrush case also fits down into the bottom of it with ease. But I usually keep that somewhere else. More on that later.
That’s all the organization that there is. And I LOVE this! THIS is the single biggest weakness of most spiff kits, in my opinion – way too much organization in the way of loops, pockets, slots, sleeves, rings, zips, pulls, etc. Sometimes items just don’t fit well into all of that organization, which can lead to lots of wasted space. This is NOT the case with the Deluxe Spiff Kit, which is why I said that it leapfrogs all others – for me. I LOVE the “throw it in and go” approach of the kit.
A small caveat though: the zipper pulls used to access the mesh wells can be a little tough to grab, pinch, and pull for arthritic hands. I would recommend throwing a Pull du Jour (or some approximation of that) on each. That’s what I do.
The Mirror
The small plastic mirror that, in my case, was held in place by a a bit of velcro, seems utilitarian enough – just not for my use case. I’m definitely not out there camping or somewhere in the morning where I don’t have access to a full-size mirror. But I can understand that my use case is not equal to the use case of others.
The only concern I have about the plastic mirror, which now resides in a drawer somewhere, is with the edges. They’re uncovered. It seems possible that someone could grab it and somehow cut themselves. Maybe it’s a silly concern but better safe than sorry, if you ask me. It would have been nice if the mirror had some sort of a rubber ring around it. I may have actually kept it in there in this case. It just seems like unfinished business to me. That’s all.
The Hook
The hook that can be used to hang the whole Deluxe Spiff Kit somewhere when in use. I love this! It’s super useful. However, it can also be slightly bothersome. It’s sewn into the kit on a piece of webbing that has its attachment point under a very stiff ring of bias tape. This forces the hook downward over the top mesh well, which obstructs the zipper path. This isn’t a problem when the kit is hanging up. The zippers move with fluidity when the kit is hanging. They are obstructed when packing the kit out.
Another maker of a similar kit actually included a small pocket just for the hook. So it’s out of the way. Perhaps this could be a consideration for a future iteration of the Deluxe Spiff Kit.
The Shelf
The shelf on the inside under the smaller divided mesh well is held in position whether open or closed by a small plastic buckle in between the mesh wells. This may be why Tom Bihn divided that smaller well into two. There had to be a connection point for the buckle. The shelf is faced with velcro and serves as a connection point for four 1 ounce screw top plastic jars from Nalgene. Each jar has a circular velcro sticker on the bottom to keep them in place on the shelf. Whether it’s lotion or a necklace inside, the jars are secure on the shelf.
With that said and although I get the point, I’m not entirely keen on the shelf for holding plastic jars in place. Rather, I stuck a velcro patch on my toothbrush case and I velcro that there instead. Now I’m keen on the shelf again.
In truth, I intentionally ordered the Deluxe Spiff Kit for its volume – one more liter (3.5L) than the standard Spiff Kit (2.5L). Call me vain! Eh… that extra liter still doesn’t do what I thought it would for my appearance! But it DOES hold more in the attempt!
The Conclusion
So the Deluxe Spiff Kit absolutely hits the mark for my needs with a few petty concerns overshadowed by a lot more praise! Tom Bihn’s thoughtfulness of utilitarian design and attention to detail, in my opinion, is unsurpassed. Do they ALWAYS hit the mark? Eh… does anybody? But I STILL love what they do! And with Cerylon, too!
Now, if only they can make a kit to make me look like…
Disclaimer
I provide links to the items/products mentioned throughout this piece for referential purposes. They provide context and ease of use in not having to scroll all over to find “where that link was”.
However, I have to say that some are affiliate links. I am affiliated with Tom Bihn and Amazon and receive a small commission, if you should choose to purchase one of the items below after clicking over to their sites. If you do so, thank you!
I purchased this review item myself. Tom Bihn did not supply me with this item.
