Bbnewbie

Searched for best bags, best luggage, and best suiters and couldn't find much of a consensus.

So my question:

Is there a BEST bag out there for my needs?

2-3 Casual Outfitts (Tshirt, jeans,chinos, polos)
1 Dressy Casual
2 Suits
Toilettires
1 Packed pair of shoes.

Which article, that I don't have to check in, meets on board requirements, and will not make me spend an hour steaming/ironing my clothes in the morning.^

Thankfully I am small (6feet 130lbs) so I can get more in there, but still I really don't want to fly all night and then get up for ironing in the morning.

Money is no object (within reason).($100-$700)

What you use and works is great, just point me in the right direction so I know I am getting the best thing I can. Will be doing this packing for 15 times in the next year, so anything that makes it easier is great...


Cy

idealflyer

If you are concerned about ironing then you should look more to what goes in the pack rather than the suitcase. I generally travel with wrinkle free shirts and although they claim to be that, I generally find that packing suits/shirts with the plastic bags and hangers from dry cleaners work wonders. I have even rolled them up and had no more than enough wrinkles a quick hang in the bathroom with some steam couldn't take care of.

But if you are looking for suitcases, then I am biased and would have to go with Tumi. But they are expensive, so TravelPro is also pretty good. I got one of these after I noticed all the flight crews had them and afterwards realized why, they are lighter than my Samsonite roll on and less expensive. They are more classical, no fancy designs or color schemes so will last through any fads too.

redbeard911

I am a huge fan of the Kirkland (Costco) 21" bag. I can pack for up to a week, and it's very well-built. IIRC, they are about $140 and come in three colors.

FatManInNYC

I use the Red Oxx "Air Boss" bag and could not be happier with it.

http://www.onebag.com/business-bags.html

DenverBrian

^ ^ ^ Lifetime warranty. If a zipper breaks, take it back to Costco and get a new replacement.

As I've done twice in 10 years.

Jimmie76

If you are looking at a suiter (garment bag) then I have a cautionary tale about Samsonite, their shoulder strap clasps aren't up to much. I have a suiter from them that looks a lot like this, and the shoulder strap has come away from the bag at one end, almost every occasion I have used the bag. The clasps are not a normal type, or one that I have come across before, and to my mind it sucks as a design. The clasp is on the bag not the strap, and is a circular disc that has two inner locking pieces that act like pincers on the strap ends.

__________
|.........|
|.........|
|.........|
|.........|
|_......._|
._|.....|_
|.........|
|_________|

The above ASCII art is supposed to represent the strap ends and the indent is a groove cut into the rod where the pincers are supposed to grip it. To release the strap, you just twist the outside of the circular clasp and it opens both pincers at the same time, letting the strap go free.

The problem occurs when the rod pushes against one of the pincers which are connected together, so pushing one pincer opens the other one the same amount. It is all too easy for the strap to allow the rod to push against one of the pincers, and the other opens as a result and the bag falls.

dtsm

Tumi and most other brands are very heavy bags....btwn 6-11 lbs and to me a total waste. I've been traveling to Asia for last 20 yrs, 3-4X a year, doing anything from 10 days to 30+ days with one carry-on bag, a tumi computer bag and small backpack.

The carry-on bag, equal to about 21" is a italy brand "Bric's". Nothing fancy, just a square box but no wasted weight or space and I can pack one suit, two extra slacks, 3 dress shirts, one sweater, two golf shirts, undies, ties and belts and sometimes squeeze something else...toilet kit and sneakers go in backpack.

Do search to see where you can buy Bric's, not cheap. My wife got two sets of luggage years back in Italy but know it's sold in states.

jcherney

And I love the Tumi that I use as a 4-5 day carry-on. It handles everything, including all of my electronics (and there is quite a bit there) with ease and simplicity.. And it fits in the overhead with no problem.

And it's almost bulletproof.

mstraveler

I have a Hartmann I like a lot. Good design, decent weight (i.e. not as light as I would like), rugged, nice appearance. Expands although I rarely use that since getting it into the overhead would be hard.

bdesmond

I'm a briggs & riley fan myself. I have an earlier model of 20" Carry-On Expandable Upright #U420NX. The no questions asked lifetime warranty is quite handy and works well. Mine is in to the shop atm to have new wheels (all the ball bearings fell out), a new clip for my carryon, and a new pull handle. They won't ask any questions and they sometimes find things you don't even notice.

I can stuff 7 - 10 days of clothes in that thing without expanding it. If you expand it you generally need to check it, but it's nice to convert the rollaboard to a checked piece easily. If you don't want the expandability the non expandable ones are lighter and cheaper.

SaigonCyclo

Definitely pick up a couple of Pack-It Folders and Cubes. Great for organizing and keeping wrinkles to a minimum.

www.eaglecreek.com

Emma65

Agree! One of my clients got me hooked on those. I have a couple of small cubes. One big, a shoe bag and a couple of folders. It is amazing how much you can squeeze in to your bag using them.

I've also started using ziplock bags and squeeze the air out when closing them. Great for shoes, socks and underwear and doubles for bringing laundry back home. (Mind you, I've started buying underwear and socks at inexpensive places and throw away as they get used on a trip. No need to carry the soiled stuff home.)

/E

Lurker1999

One more plug for this bag. I use this bag for most of my domestic business travel. The center compartment fits even a large laptop in a sleeve quite well. I had Red Oxx retrofit a rain flap that covers the top of the zippers so I don't have to worry about any water getting into the bag. They only charged me about $20 for the retrofit too.

Robbiedeluxe

Link or name, please?

kanebear

Not really Travel Technology related, so I'm moving this thread to TravelBuzz. Please follow it there.