June 13, 2005

• Dang it, none of those brands have shown up in the thrift stores here yet. But I bemoan the disappearance of hard shelled luggage, myself - it's very difficult to smuggle home rare cowries and ivory and weapons without breakage in soft-sided suitcases.
• I use the Patagonia Maximum Legal Carry On. http://www.patagonia.com/za/PDC?OPTION=PRODUCT&merchant_rn=7385&sku=48104&ws=false This is the outlet to use, they do mail order, 1/3 - 1/2 off retail prices. http://www.patagonia.com/za/PDC/Pgonia/retail/retailer_detail.jsp?ARTICLE.ID=16 Oh yeah, how the hell do you get the link command to work?
• mlis: < a href="url">blahblah remove space before first 'a'.
• Then again, soft-sided have the advantage of disapearing when you need them to. Mine is a hockey-shaped bag, with one hard side (valuables go against that safely, including framed pictures), and fits under my dresser, though it's wheeled and holds up to 70lbs when packed (that's the max airlines will take). And it's much easier to move than wide bags (being only slightly wider than a person). I have heard very good things about Swiss Army bags, but I was also told by a very experienced traveller that most expensive luggage is nicer looking/feeling than, but doesn't last much longer than, cheap luggage. She was the one who sent me looking for the big hockey bag, which has now taken me across the Atlantic twice, and home to Toronto about 4 times, all the while being beaten up on subways and buses and trains, as well as on planes. If you are going expensive, you will probably want to go tough, rather than fancy. If you are looking for backpack style travel bags (which are very convenient, especially if you have to go on a lot of buses or trains), I would check out somewhere like Jansport or REI (or the equivalent - Mountain Equiptment Coop in Canada). Both my mom and my fiance have had good luck with those style bags from MEC (though they went without wheels, and just with a really good hipstrap). If you are flying, and want this style, try to find one where the straps zip away for their protection.
• fish tick: thank you! squidperson: I posted an answer to that Curious George Apnea question you had want to make sure you saw it
• Squid, I can understand wanting cool luggage, but why do you need any thing more than the basic? I travelled frequently on business and for fun for 30 years using soft-sided, really cheap sets (just 2 sets over that period, with a temporary diversion to a garment bag for business trips back when there was preferential storage for them .) They never failed me. When I added a couple of organizers for toiletries and other things I'd want to have in the bathroom when I was getting dressed in the am, it all fell into place. Packing conveniently seemed more important than what the luggage looked like. My business associates didn't see/notice what I was hauling, and I didn't care what the hotel minions and taxi drivers thought. They didn't care either if I tipped them appropriately. Bit then, I worked in accounting/finance management, where being fugal seemed appropriate, even though I was making nice money. Which I got to use for other things.
• Squid: Where are you going and how are you traveling? Will you be doing any longish hikes with your luggage? Your basic choices are a soft suitcase with rollers and shoulder straps (cheap, lots available), or a real backpack zippered pockets to tuck away the straps when inconvenient (more expensive, won't have wheels). It sounds like you are looking for the former. My wife likes this one from Eddie Bauer that she bought at Target for less than $100. It is well made and has dividers inside.
• I have had good luck LL Bean's luggage over the years.
• In my 25+ years on the road I generally bought samsonite soft suitbags & the wheeled carry-ons. I went through two suitbags, still have the wheeled carryon. In the last two years of corporate travel, I became a consultant with 100%corporate casual clothes (no suit & tie) and so switched to a Jansport backpack, which has served me well in the five years since and has been to Europe 4 times & camping all over the states. My boss was a big fan of Tumi, and his luggage always held up well, but was ripped-offlost twice that I know of--once in Miami and another time coming back from SFO through Phoenix; he got back, the bags didn't. Though mine had been lostdelayed a couple of time, they never have completely disappeared. And my theory is, the price you pay for Tumi means you have the expensive clothes & goodies inside, too.
• mils, I have seen your post re: sleep apnea and I thank you. Re: brands of luggage. I walked into a discount seller and asked for Tumi. The salesman told me about Briggs and Riley with (an unlimited lifetime guarantee) and they seem a pretty good bet, but I wanted a real time review of the bags. I am not going to take longish hikes with the bags, but would like the option of putting it (i.e. the carry one bag) on my back if I have to. The other larger bag would be checked and not be a backpack type. It comes down to buying something that I can depend on for 10 years or more. I have a fantastic bag manufactured by the North Face that has lasted over 25 years. I've had baggage collectors (I had no idea there was such a thing before I was solicited) ask me if I would be interested in selling. I'd like to find something that will last as long.
• Don't buy a black bag - you'll be there at the carousel going: 'is that mine? no, is that mine? no, is that mine? oh, sorry, thought it was mine ...' etc etc etc etc My North Face rucksack has been going strong for 15 years - do you really need to replace yours. For smaller bags, despite (or because?) being the geekerati's bag of choice it's hard to beat timbuk2
• joe vs the volcano: "we're taking those trunks everywhere" disclaimer: havent flown since before 9/11 i hear carry on is your best bet
• being fugal seemed appropriate Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Johann Sebastian Path! :-)
• many punny ('s for fish tick!
• i hear carry on is your best bet Carry on is nice, but if you're going on more than a day trip, your clothes with be toast in a back pack or one of those silly little black square boxes that you see sweaty businessmen in tennis shoes cramming into the increasingly small overhead compartment - feh. Squiddy, I don't know what you do, but if it involves a jacket and tie? Consider getting a larger suit case, and checking it. Since 9/11, I've only had one instance of baggage mishappery, and that happened at check in when the knuckleheads at the desk put my tag on the dude next to me's bag and his tag on mine. In most airports I've been in, the carousels move pretty fast, and who's in a hurry anyway? Not you, that's who! Plus, the larger bag does two things: one, it allows you to carry your clothes flat and avoid having to fold everything up into loose-leaf-paper sized squares, which you will have to spend twice the time ironing the next morning, plus it will give you a bit of much needed sartorial leeway to carry an extra shirt or couple ties, a second pair of shoes, or a change of clothes for going out on the town with colleagues (who wants to chat up the local damsels-in-distress in the same suit they've spent all day funking up in meetings? Not me). Second, you can cut a lot of your carry on stuff loose into you checked bag, and thus decrease the amount of stuff you have to walk around with. I carry my laptop in now, but once was a time that my entire on-board kit was a Palm, a cell, a paperback and a thing of those mint strips. Why lug your stuff all over the airport if you can have the good people at Delta do it for you? just my .02
• I do a fair amount of business travel and, in my experience, mid-price to somewhat expensive wheeled bags last much longer than the cheapest ones. I have a Briggs and Riley that I've used for every trip since 1996, and it's still functional and decent-looking. --Pat
• For checked baggage, if you're carrying nice clothing (button-up shirts, slacks, etc.), I'd recommend a nice hanging bag. They make them now that have rigid frames, that essentially fold double and zip into a box shape, and they've got tons of pouches for undershirts, boxers (or tightie-whities, or manties, as you prefer) and so forth. You'll pay for a good one, particularly if it's got wheels and all that, but man, if you pack your clothes correctly, they will come out pristine, even if the handlers are tossing it around like a frisbee.
• I'm a radical carry-on guy. I use a red 20"x18" backpack I bought at Canadian Tire, twenty years ago for $20. It's the only thing I carried in trips to Italy and the U.K., twenty trips through Canada and the U.S. WHY CHECK-IN AND HAVE YOUR BELONGINGS USED AS FOOTBALL, DEPTH CHARGE OR INTIMATE DEVICE?! WHY CHECK IN WHEN YOU CAN HAVE GLORIOUS, HAPPY, CARRY-ON EXPERIENCE?! BUT HOW TO DO IT? CAN I SARDINE MY BIGGUS-DICKUS CONSUMERIST LIFE INTO A LITTLE BACKYPACK THINGY?! Can I be small when all around is large????? YES YOU CAN!! YES YOU CAN!! (looks around at stunned faces, sidles out of room, embarrassed)
• I'm not sure an extra jacket and couple ties is a "biggus dickus consumerist life," but I concur that there *is* room for diverse opinion on the subject.
• Sometimes people need to switch countries for a long time, or take ridiculous numbers of research books with them when they go places, if only to act as a hairshirt.
• I have a few pieces of Briggs & Riley. One is a large-ish suitcase, the other is carry-on legal wheelie deal with a nifty trifold garment bag thingie that is awesome for business travel. (It will hold a suit and keep in looking nice.) Those suitcases have gone to South America and back more times than I can count, have been beaten on by baggage handlers from Newark to Guayaquil and places in between, and they still look great. I've had them for about 10 years and the suckers take all sorts of abuse with aplomb. I don't expect it to become a collector's item ever, but it's great luggage.
• Well, as I said earlier I want two pieces of luggage, one carry on, the other larger checkable size. Sometimes I will use just one of them as well on longer trips when I'll use them both. I've packed small and large. It dependes on the situation. And I am not getting rid of the North Face duffle bag. I just want to get some wheeled baggage so I don't have to lug the duffle all over the place. My original question was more about quality and reccomended manufacturers, not the size of the baggage or how to pack. So, I have heard two good reviews of Briggs and Reiley. Perhaps I will give them a shot. Any other thoughts?
• Fes, jb, I be in guacamole from my hyperbole. :-) Yeah, sometimes you do need more than a backpack. This reminds me of a business trip to LA with a colleague, a few years back. He had two huge check-in suitcases. Anyhow when we met at the airport, the difference between what we were toting was so outlandish, it cracked us up. Funnier still was when we compared what we packed. For kicks, i was trying to guess how heavy his bags were. He was arguing with me and to prove a point with the numbers, he takes this humongous calculator out of his bag. Much hilarity.
• I don't travel very often so I get by with a cheap set from eBags. However, I'm a FlyerTalk devotee so I recommend going there to see what the real frequent fliers think. I found this thread where a number of people recommend Briggs and Riley.
• (Pet peeve) People who obsess and prosyletize about "carry-on-only", but don't actually pack lightly, and instead abuse the legitimate restrictions by bringing far too much stuff, thus making it a competition to find space for my (reasonable) stuff in the overheads. I wish the airlines would be much more strict about stopping the abusers, since it just makes it more painful and slow for everyone. (end pet peeve) (Not talking to you, StoryBored, probably) My favorite luggage, which just survived a long trip to China, with multiple in-country flights, is a Samsonite 27 inch zip-tight hardside upright The "zip-tight" feature is really nice, since it is next-to-impossible for the thing to pop open in flight or on-carousel, which is a very bad event. I think I bought mine for approx $80 on sale in a mall luggage place. It is a dull red, which is nice and obvious at the luggage claim, too.
• Thanks for the thread, Squid. I was going to ask something similar because my big wheeled suitcase just died (I think this has something to do with 10 years of my overpacking and the airlines' overzealous baggage handlers, but anyway...). Have you checked out ebay? They seem to have a lot of either cheap nastiness and what I suspect is fake Diane Von Fustenberg, but if you check often there seems to be some good quality, reasonably priced goodness. I think I've seen Swiss Army stuff there. I'm probably looking for something like this simply because a)I don't know much about luggage quality, but I've had $8 bags that lasted a decade of frequent travel and b)I want something I can find really quickly at the baggage claim. Anyway, good luck and let us know what you find!
• May I offer a pet peeve? Noone here is the small, fierce looking woman who packed her carryon full, hauled it onto the plane, and then, without looking for assistance, heaved that bag **almost** into the overhead? Over my head. Ouch. On the bag choice, I have noticed a reduction in quality in the brands I used to respect, including American Tourister and Samsonite. It could be that I was unlucky.
• I have nothing to contribute to this thread.
• Squid, having been involved in the re-design of Briggs & Riley's identity, I was very lucky, indeed, to have received several pieces of their luggage for free (nice!). I can tell you that their warranty is the deal. Not that I've had to use it as-of-yet, as the pieces I've used have outperformed my other run-of-the-mill luggage (including one Samsonite piece that was mangled on a domestic flight). Having been back and forth between the U.S. and SE Asia, they are all in great shape after a few years. And that's my input to this thread...
• *pantses Koko, stores them in overhead bin*
• Onebag.com - not only useful advice on packing light, the author also has an extended discussion on what makes a good suitcase and various recommended bags.
• *is escorted from plane for not wearing pants, made to stand on tarmac. shakes fist at middleclasstool*
• I have a small Dakota carry-on/roller, which has held up very well. It's Tumi's 'budget' brand. Re. 'lifetime guarantees' these do not cover normal wear'n'tear, or being destroyed by baggage handlers.
• A word of warning: if you are planning to travel to the UK much, I would go with a hard-sided bag for check in (like the one invoke links to). Without exception, every single time I have traveled to the UK to visit friends or family I have had my soft luggage shredded. I've noticed that most British travelers have hard-sided luggage too. YMMV, of course.
• Actually, according to the sales person that I was quizzing regarding Briggs and Reiley, they have a unlimited guarantee, which means they will repair or replace anything that goes wrong with your luggage for any reason, from normal wear and tear to an elephant stepping on your carry on bag.
• Whoa, you're right. It does. That's pretty good!
• I haven't heard of Briggs and Riley, but I would second the mention of REI and Swiss Army (Victeronox or whatever they're called) bags. I'd also add Eagle Creek to your search list. All three companies stand behind their products with really really good gurantees, as in, Eagle Creek and REI will replace the bag if they can't repair it, and I know dealing with Eagle Creek in this regard is a snap. (Full Disclosure: I work part-time for REI, so naturally I'm familiar with a lot of their products) As to what size you want, all three offer good "maximum" carry-on bags with wheels and in some cases backpack straps. For the larger bags you'd check-in, both Eagle Creek and Victorinox have great bags that can accomodate a long, long trip with careful packing. I confess, as my old Atlantic brand bags (gotten in '87 or so) are expiring, I'm looking into seeing if I can do the "one big ole carry-on" travelling. I am interested in this new generation of garment bags alluded to, though.
• Filson is my favorite brand. I also have several items of their clothing. Filson luggage.
• I second the One Bag site recommendation. And there, they will recommend sites like Magellan's. You need not use every idea there, but good ideas are offered. (For example, the average woman will have to carry more than the average man, and an infrequent traveler will not want to spend a lot of money on quick-dry nonwrinkle packable clothing. But if you're spending over a month on a trip, it might be a good idea.) As a woman, I generally find "all carry-on" or "one bag" ideas pretty restrictive. I have long hair that requires a separate shampoo and conditioner as well as at least one styling product and a brush, sensitive skin requires that I bring my own soap, I wear makeup, etc. (Some women don't, I realize, and some men do use quite a lot of "product.") If travel were my life I'd consider further editing to make everything easier - a haircut, etc. - and I've learned to buy packable items and make things do double duty, like using my shampoo as a shower gel. But in general I think it's easier for men to take a small carry-on or a single bag, because culturally and on average, you guys just don't need as many toiletries. There are certain items that are kind of necessary for most women to have access to on a trip of longer than a few days, especially if it involves business or nights on the town. And since it's always recommended that you put your necessary toiletries in your carry-on in case your checked bags are lost, I always wind up with a pretty heavy carry-on, though I am never one of those people who tries to push the amount they can bring onto the plane. Try looking for discount name-brand luggage at places like TJ Maxx, Marshall's, Ross, etc. Off-price retailers. No guarantees on stock, but they often have fairly high-end stuff at a good price. My current luggage is American Tourister, which seems to be the same as Samsonite, more or less. There are features that I like, but the construction isn't great. A little tab sticks out of the seam, and you're meant to lock the zipper of the front pouch of your bag to it. The little tab pulled out of the seam the first time I used the suitcase. I haven't pursued this in warranty terms... I just don't put anything of value in that pocket. What I like about their luggage as opposed to anything cheaper is the fact that it comes with a lot of nice zipped pouches in heavy plastic that are designed to snap to the sides or lid of the case; there are also zipped mesh pouches all over to hold underthings. The straps to hold everything in place are usually triangular panels of fabric with the pouches on the panels, which are way more functional than straps that are just webbed straps. This is common in higher-end luggage but not with the cheap stuff.
• I agree with you, verbminx. I have to bring a lot more when I travel than I'd like. To be considered professional looking at conferences requires an astonishing array of junk to pack. Also, for the past couple of years whenever I stay in a hotel, I have a reaction to the detergent they use to wash the linens. (At least, I'm pretty sure that's what's going on.) When my career heats up (hopefully soon) and I start travelling more, I may have to consider (horror of horrors) bringing not only my own shampoo, conditioner and soap (since I'm allergic to most brands) but also my own linens, which will be very annoying. However, I promise on my honor as a lady not to cram more than I can lift into my carry-on and smoosh Ear Wax's head :)
• I've got an eagle creek backpack, maximum carry-on size I think. It fits me well and is comfortable to wear, even when packed heavy and carried for very long periods of time. Also, all the straps tuck away so there's nothing to get caught and shredded if you decide to check it. The zipper goes all the way to the bottom and the whole front panel opens up so all your stuff is easy to access. I've put it through some shit and it's still good as new. They also make a larger backpack with wheels. If you go to a good store like REI for a backpack, you can and should throw some heavy stuff in there and wear it around for a few minutes. Different packs are good for different-sized people (I'm talking mostly about torso length, not girth), so make sure you get one that's good for you.
• A solution to Ear Wax's issue is simple. Get up and help the lady put the case into the overhead bin. It doesn't take too much effort, you avoid being squished and you make friends with your seat mate.
• When my career heats up (hopefully soon) and I start travelling more, I may have to consider (horror of horrors) bringing not only my own shampoo, conditioner and soap (since I'm allergic to most brands) but also my own linens, which will be very annoying. Get a sleepsack/sleeping bag liner! It's a little person-sized sack like a sleeping bag, only made out of the same stuff as sheets, and you hop in, then wriggle into bed. I have a comfortable and cheap one made of cotton, which rolls up to about the size of a can of beans. You can also get a silk one for about $60, which, I'd imagine, is softer and packs smaller.
• You can also get a silk one for about $60, which, I'd imagine, is softer and packs smaller. I have one of the silk ones and they are quite nice, especially in summertime. It does pack down smaller than the cotton ones, and more importantly it's very light. I got mine from JagBags.