I’ve been stuck figuring out in which ways I can contribute to the forum and help people better themselves, asking myself what knowledge I can share. I know there are a few other posts about luggage, but I wanted to write up quite a bit of info and didn’t want it to get lost in with all the other stuff. I did commission luggage sales in college, and learned waaayyy too much about what people use to keep their shit together while traveling.
Luggage. You’re traveling, you need it to haul your stuff from timezone to timezone. Luggage is often (certainly not always) one of those things that you get exactly what you put into it.
There are three tiers of luggage: The cheap stuff, the mid-range, and high quality.
The cheap stuff can be bought anywhere - Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Sears, Piggly Wiggly, etc.. and is usually a simple plastic or wire metal frame surrounded by cheap badly colored canvas. It’s usually found in sets but occasionally is sold piece by piece. I would really only recommend you buy this stuff if you a)have unimaginable luck, b)don’t travel often, or c)are in desperate need to get some more stuff packed and don’t have money to spend on better luggage. The upside to these besides their cheapness is that they typically weigh the least - what they sacrifice in protection for your stuff, they make up for in their light weight. Even the mid-range and high quality pieces advertised as light weight typically won’t weigh as much as the cheap stuff. Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein luggage fits into this category. These are almost always soft-sided, meaning they offer little protection for what’s inside.
Typically if it looks like this, it's not a long term investment...
![[Image: U.S.-Traveler-4-piece-Exotic-Zebra-Print...528332.jpg]](http://ak1.ostkcdn.com/images/products/7022950/U.S.-Traveler-4-piece-Exotic-Zebra-Print-Spinner-Luggage-Set-P14528332.jpg)
Mid-range are recognizable brands - High Sierra, Delsey, Samsonite, Atlantic and so forth. While they have sets, they’re typically purchased individually. The fabric used in these is typically a nylon (sometimes ballistic nylon) basket weave, and they often have lightweight but strong plastic or metal frames. These pieces usually are expandable, have garment bags, and a long (5+ year) warranty. Typically soft sided, most hard shell cases fall into the mid-range category as well.
Delsey
![[Image: Helium_Breeze_3_6pc_Set_green.jpg]](http://www.1ststoptravelstore.com/Delsey%20Luggage/Helium_Breeze_Luggage/Helium_Breeze_3_6pc_Set_green.jpg)
High quality - Anything made by Victorinox, more expensive Travelpro series, and Tumi. These pieces are almost always made of ballistic nylon with a high thread count, they’ll typically have metal or very durable plastic frames. The zippers are almost always metal, which makes them last longer and hold up to travel beatings. They’ll typically have “self-repairing’’ zippers, which helps you repair the zipper by yourself when they get stuck - very handy if you’re one of those people who overstuffs their bag on the regular. I don’t see much of a difference between higher end Travelpro, Victorinox, and Tumi. While typically Tumi is seen as the highest quality luggage typically available, I personally find it to be a waste of money - an extra hundred or more dollars for extremely similar quality. Most of these bags are water resistant, as well. They typically come with a lifetime warranty. These bags are typically used by people who travel frequently, though usually not to off the beaten track places. The bags are heavy, their durability comes from the materials used, which can lead to these pieces reaching their weight limit very quickly.
Victorinox
![[Image: 312IH7qEG-L.jpg]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/312IH7qEG-L.jpg)
Tumi
![[Image: tumi_detail.jpg]](http://tuckstuff.com/images/products/detail/tumi_detail.jpg)
Note: Very high end luggage like Hartmann needs a quick mention - it’s typically not worth it. It looks pretty when it’s brand new, but I saw one too many occasions where it looked like the baggage handlers had run it over then pissed on it a couple times for me to think it could hold up well considering the price.
Speaking of weight, large pieces and hard shells often end up weighing 1/3rd the weight limit completely empty. It can be a total pain in the ass.
Types of Luggage:
Carry-On: CHECK THE SIZE BEFORE YOU PACK
For a general idea of what different airlines allow for carry-on, take a look at this graph from luggagepros. http://www.luggagepros.com/travel/carry-on.shtml
Typically any piece under 21 X 14 inches will be allowed as long as it’s under 50lbs. Check it in the little “Does your luggage fit” box at the ticket counter, nothing sucks more than missing your flight because your carry-on was half an inch too wide.
Garment Bag: A large bag designed with high end clothing in mind (the kind you don’t really want fold a zillion times to get it to fit). Useful for your suits/pants/quality shirts. Typically comes with a hanger and will unzip to display your clothes like a mini-closet. Two basic types, a free form bag known as a sleeve, it’s basically a cloth cover around a clothes hanger that fits one or two suits comfortably. The other type is a rolling garment bag which is the bigger, badder version of the sleeve. They usually fit three to five suits and offer a little more protection on account of being soft-sided.
![[Image: Wheeled-garment-bag.jpg]](http://www.skyroll.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Wheeled-garment-bag.jpg)
Backpacks - With these I tend to trust High Sierra, I’ve had really good luck with a big ass High Sierra bag I picked up and has held up against camping for weeks in the Boundary Waters, getting rifled through by customs officials in Asia, Latin America, and the TSA here in the US. I also have a smaller duffel that’s out of production these days but I can only imagine they designed it to survive the fucking apocalypse, it’s heavy as hell but it as best as I can determine is invulnerable.
Larger backpacks are good for traveling to places where there won’t be taxis or sidewalks, where wheeled luggage may not be the the best option.
I wouldn’t recommend buying a backpack where you buy your other luggage, instead buy them from camping stores - these are built to take a beating and are designed to be relatively lightweight.
My personal favorite is the Kitchen Sink. This is the backpack to end all backpacks. I imagine it’s heavy as hell, but it looks sweet and I’ve heard nothing but good about it. I’ll probably pick it up as a Kwanzaa present to myself later this year, in fact.
Duffel Bags: When you positively, absolutely, have to pack damn near everything with no concern about the condition it arrives in, this is the bag for you. Keep in mind that the really large ones are more prone to tearing, and being over the weight limit because people tend to pack them full of every goddamn thing they can think of.
If nothing else, always remember that ballistic nylon is tougher than a nylon-polyester weave, and a nylon-polyester weave is tougher than polyester.
Questions? Want help purchasing the right luggage? Want to know if yours sucks? I'll try to help out.
Luggage. You’re traveling, you need it to haul your stuff from timezone to timezone. Luggage is often (certainly not always) one of those things that you get exactly what you put into it.
There are three tiers of luggage: The cheap stuff, the mid-range, and high quality.
The cheap stuff can be bought anywhere - Walmart, Target, Macy’s, Sears, Piggly Wiggly, etc.. and is usually a simple plastic or wire metal frame surrounded by cheap badly colored canvas. It’s usually found in sets but occasionally is sold piece by piece. I would really only recommend you buy this stuff if you a)have unimaginable luck, b)don’t travel often, or c)are in desperate need to get some more stuff packed and don’t have money to spend on better luggage. The upside to these besides their cheapness is that they typically weigh the least - what they sacrifice in protection for your stuff, they make up for in their light weight. Even the mid-range and high quality pieces advertised as light weight typically won’t weigh as much as the cheap stuff. Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein luggage fits into this category. These are almost always soft-sided, meaning they offer little protection for what’s inside.
Typically if it looks like this, it's not a long term investment...
Mid-range are recognizable brands - High Sierra, Delsey, Samsonite, Atlantic and so forth. While they have sets, they’re typically purchased individually. The fabric used in these is typically a nylon (sometimes ballistic nylon) basket weave, and they often have lightweight but strong plastic or metal frames. These pieces usually are expandable, have garment bags, and a long (5+ year) warranty. Typically soft sided, most hard shell cases fall into the mid-range category as well.
Delsey
High quality - Anything made by Victorinox, more expensive Travelpro series, and Tumi. These pieces are almost always made of ballistic nylon with a high thread count, they’ll typically have metal or very durable plastic frames. The zippers are almost always metal, which makes them last longer and hold up to travel beatings. They’ll typically have “self-repairing’’ zippers, which helps you repair the zipper by yourself when they get stuck - very handy if you’re one of those people who overstuffs their bag on the regular. I don’t see much of a difference between higher end Travelpro, Victorinox, and Tumi. While typically Tumi is seen as the highest quality luggage typically available, I personally find it to be a waste of money - an extra hundred or more dollars for extremely similar quality. Most of these bags are water resistant, as well. They typically come with a lifetime warranty. These bags are typically used by people who travel frequently, though usually not to off the beaten track places. The bags are heavy, their durability comes from the materials used, which can lead to these pieces reaching their weight limit very quickly.
Victorinox
Tumi
Note: Very high end luggage like Hartmann needs a quick mention - it’s typically not worth it. It looks pretty when it’s brand new, but I saw one too many occasions where it looked like the baggage handlers had run it over then pissed on it a couple times for me to think it could hold up well considering the price.
Speaking of weight, large pieces and hard shells often end up weighing 1/3rd the weight limit completely empty. It can be a total pain in the ass.
Types of Luggage:
Carry-On: CHECK THE SIZE BEFORE YOU PACK
For a general idea of what different airlines allow for carry-on, take a look at this graph from luggagepros. http://www.luggagepros.com/travel/carry-on.shtml
Typically any piece under 21 X 14 inches will be allowed as long as it’s under 50lbs. Check it in the little “Does your luggage fit” box at the ticket counter, nothing sucks more than missing your flight because your carry-on was half an inch too wide.
Garment Bag: A large bag designed with high end clothing in mind (the kind you don’t really want fold a zillion times to get it to fit). Useful for your suits/pants/quality shirts. Typically comes with a hanger and will unzip to display your clothes like a mini-closet. Two basic types, a free form bag known as a sleeve, it’s basically a cloth cover around a clothes hanger that fits one or two suits comfortably. The other type is a rolling garment bag which is the bigger, badder version of the sleeve. They usually fit three to five suits and offer a little more protection on account of being soft-sided.
Backpacks - With these I tend to trust High Sierra, I’ve had really good luck with a big ass High Sierra bag I picked up and has held up against camping for weeks in the Boundary Waters, getting rifled through by customs officials in Asia, Latin America, and the TSA here in the US. I also have a smaller duffel that’s out of production these days but I can only imagine they designed it to survive the fucking apocalypse, it’s heavy as hell but it as best as I can determine is invulnerable.
Larger backpacks are good for traveling to places where there won’t be taxis or sidewalks, where wheeled luggage may not be the the best option.
I wouldn’t recommend buying a backpack where you buy your other luggage, instead buy them from camping stores - these are built to take a beating and are designed to be relatively lightweight.
My personal favorite is the Kitchen Sink. This is the backpack to end all backpacks. I imagine it’s heavy as hell, but it looks sweet and I’ve heard nothing but good about it. I’ll probably pick it up as a Kwanzaa present to myself later this year, in fact.
Duffel Bags: When you positively, absolutely, have to pack damn near everything with no concern about the condition it arrives in, this is the bag for you. Keep in mind that the really large ones are more prone to tearing, and being over the weight limit because people tend to pack them full of every goddamn thing they can think of.
If nothing else, always remember that ballistic nylon is tougher than a nylon-polyester weave, and a nylon-polyester weave is tougher than polyester.
Questions? Want help purchasing the right luggage? Want to know if yours sucks? I'll try to help out.
If you are going to impose your will on the world, you must have control over what you believe.
Data Sheet Minneapolis / Data Sheet St. Paul / Data Sheet Northern MN/BWCA / Data Sheet Duluth
![[Image: 1005_night_sky_stratus_l.jpg]](http://shop.eaglecreek.com/store/productimages/regular/1005_night_sky_stratus_l.jpg)
![[Image: KGr_Hq_N_l_MFHmev_IMEv_BS_E3gru_UQ_60_1_large.jpg]](https://s22.postimg.cc/bbwgv5lrh/KGr_Hq_N_l_MFHmev_IMEv_BS_E3gru_UQ_60_1_large.jpg)
![[Image: 61tuhfzb3_CL._SL1050.jpg]](https://s22.postimg.cc/a9maclnil/61tuhfzb3_CL._SL1050.jpg)
![[Image: angel.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/angel.gif)
. Zippers are usually the first thing to break. High end stuff tends to have better zippers and sewing. I've had a bag from ![[Image: 41R0MG3C0RL.jpg]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41R0MG3C0RL.jpg)
![[Image: gVWJdHg.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/gVWJdHg.jpg)