Recommend some travel luggage

Borzak

Borzak

Silver Baron of the Realm
26,646
35,474
I have to travel for business now, not often but every few months. Normally in the past when I fly I am there for weeks at a time and that was personal. Now it's just 2-3 days tops on business.

Recommend a good carry on bag I can pack just 2-3 days tops of stuff in. No need to carry suits or any of that. Jeans and a polo shirt are my normal attire.

Any features I should look for in particular or any to stay away from? I know you guys probably have a lot more experience in this area.

There is a samsonite outlet store near here, is that a decent place to start?
 
Khane

Khane

Got something right about marriage
20,924
14,748
Something about Dumar recommending international travel luggage makes me really uncomfortable.
 
S

Seventh

Golden Squire
892
15
I travel for business a ton as well.

My 2c: Do not go with nondescript looking black or neutral colored luggage. Don't go all out with something zebra print that was attacked with a bedazzler or anything, but if you can find something tolerable that's still obnoxious enough not to be mistaken for someone else's luggage, it'll save you a headache more than once.
 
Borzak

Borzak

Silver Baron of the Realm
26,646
35,474
Did some looking around yesterday. Pros and cons of a hard side carry on?

I have a very nice set of full size luggage I just normally only take a very small carry on so now I just need a carry on.
 
Palum

Palum

what Suineg set it to
29,215
48,950
I really prefer Samsonite. I've had a variety of random trash over the years (some of it not priced that way) and I think Samsonite is the only stuff that's really held up in a useable way. Of course with any soft side it won't look 'pretty' after 10 trips to the airport but, I don't like hardside because incompressible just means 'take it out and shove it even more again in the other way' and all the things break off of it (handles/snaps/buttons/rollers). Plus they're typically heavier unless they are thin enough to crack under pressure. I mean maybe they have $1K CF hardside luggage now?

For carryons though I can't imagine why you'd go hardside unless you love getting screwed because the seat you're in has a tiny fire extinguisher underneath it in a CRJ or something dumb. But I always only travel with carryons that will fit even in the puddle jumpers, I just check everything else.
 
Borzak

Borzak

Silver Baron of the Realm
26,646
35,474
None of the samsonite carry ons I looked at had dimensions on them that met any of the airlines posted dimensions I fly and then I saw they don't include the wheels and handles etc...so I'm not sure they would fit in the box they have. We have a samsonite outlet store not far from here which was going to be next stop. Just not sure on the dimensions.

That was the big downside of hard side I first thought of. Most flights I fly on I see a fair number of people struggling to get their shit stored.
 
Xarpolis

Xarpolis

Life's a Dream
15,444
17,741
The best piece of carry on luggage I've ever had is from a company called 511 Tactical. They have an incredible carry on that has room for expansion if you know the flight has larger carry space.
5.11 Tactical DC FLT Line Roller Luggage | Official 5.11 Site
It's a little expensive. I think I bought mine for around $165, but it's a really good piece of luggage. Not heavy at all, great wheels, very well built, and strong fabric too.

EDIT: If you're looking for good checked luggage, I suggest taking a glance at some of the SCUBA diving bags.
This is a newer version of the bag that I use for my luggage. Empty, the bag weighs maybe 2 lbs tops. I haven't had any complaints at all about it... VERY large. I can stuff this well over 70 lbs without issue, unfortunately the airlines don't like you to carry that much.
SCUBAPRO - DIVE'N ROLL
Whew, amazon has it up for $350. This was a gift so I had no idea how much it cost.
Amazon.com : Scubapro Dive Outdoors

Keep in mind that both of these bags are crushable, but I've never had an incident where that was detrimental. And I've flown all around the world with both bags.
 
Borzak

Borzak

Silver Baron of the Realm
26,646
35,474
My travel companion on business (president of the company) would probably steal it. We're already trying to decide if we should buy guns and keep them at our phoenix office to go shoot or check them on each flight we make out there. He's a competitive IDPA shooter and I'm a huge gun nut as well.

Adding anything from 5.11 tactical would probably mean he would go home with it.

Non related but people already think I'm the biggest suck up on the plant in my new job because I go out shooting every other weekend with the president and vice president of the company. But we've also had an influ of Californians so that explains why nobody else does.

But seriously I may start looking at more "travel" type carry-ons like the one above since it would be multi use for me and I only fly every few months.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.