Friday
Feb292008
February 29, 2008 New poll feature added
OBOW now has reader polls. Vote in the panel on the right-hand column on the question: What type of carry-on luggage do you use?
February 29, 2008
Reader Comments (9)
Here's a thought. I like wheeled luggage, and online there seems to be a HUGE bias against it.
While I understand that you can carry more stuff using a shoulder bag under the 10kg carry-on limit...how much stuff do you have to carry anyway.
As for the argument of having to carry a wheeled cased down stairs etc. Who cares? 10kg is 10kg whether you care carrying it sometimes as a wheeled bag or ALL the time as a shoulder bag.
I certainly believe that light travelers can use wheeled luggage profitably, it's jut that it is heavier and it's not as versatile. If you're traveling airport-to-airport and airport-to-hotel in modern urban environments (and you always have a firm itinerary and reservations) - no problem. Wheels aren't so good if you must deal with cobblestones and the cheaper forms of transport and lodging. I'd shoot for one of the few wheeled bags that weigh around seven pounds and make sure it really is of legal size - including wheels and handle.
Brad's previous post explains the reason why the poll doesn't reflect my preference. When on business travel, I fly directly to metropolitan airports with long taxi queues, and take taxis everywhere. I always stay in a nice hotel with roomy elevators. I never traverse cobbles. Thus, I fly with a Tumi briefcase and 20" roller and never lift the roller off the ground (except onto the luggage stand in the hotel room). This is 60-70% of my travel. A shoulder bag in this situation is a burden.
When I'm not on business travel, I always carry a single shoulder bag (or backpack), and nothing else!!
That's why we say, "Horses for courses."
Well said, Rob. Horses for courses, of course! :-)
What I'm saying is that the online travel community seems to completely put down rolled bags for ANY type of travel. I agree as a single piece of luggage, a shoulder bag is more versatile and can be used in situations such as carried on lap on crowded public transit etc. But who only has one piece of luggage anyways?
My point is that when you don't absolutely need to carry a shoulder bag, choosing to carry one can be a huge burden. I don't know if people have noticed, but some airports have a LONG walk between check-in and the gate!
Even when I'm in cities where there is a lot of cobblestone, I don't seem to have any trouble traversing the streets with a rolling case as various websites would lead you to believe.
So, for me, it is a 20" roller and a secondary bag for various electronic devices and snacks (don't leave home without them!)
Our poll results demonstrate that most of our readers do not "roll" with the crowd. Another reason for our focus is that you can get a rolling case anywhere, but a good shoulder bag or lightweight convertible is harder to come by: hence our advice and reviews on that segment.
I had planned to buy my wife a really nice Eagle Creek Tarmac roller, but on our most recent trip she went with a shoulder bag and swore off wheels - much to my surprise. I have no doubt that as we age the wheels will become absolutely necessary.
Brad,
Hmm...that could be it too. I must just be getting old (ssshhhh....don't tell anyone...hmm...where's that hair dye?) :-)
For rolling cases to work well as carry-ons, you do need a bit of technology. It has to be light! This actually isn't something that is so easy to come by.
My faves are Rimowa Classic Flight 20" and the Briggs and Riely 20" Ultralight (which isn't that light).
Love the Andiamo stuff overall. It is super well built, but too heavy for my liking esp when the airline is enforcing the 10kg limit.
I just love voting in polls. I voted twelve times in this one.
(I think the poll setup is flawed.)
I sometimes find the attack on rolling bags a bit annoying too.
Sites pertaining to one bag travel seem to be populated by folks with a tendency away from wheeled luggage. From what I can gather, the majority of those voicing opinions on these sites are men, in reasonably good health, who travel regularly, who travel without children, in mostly casual to semi-formal environments. Thus the majority seem to have different travel requirements than I do.
A quick glance around any US airport shows that the one bag, shoulder bag group is the minority, and wheeled bags are very popular. The reason for this popularity? Are we all gluttons for punishment, or just too stupid to read a blog or two. No. For many travelers, a wheeled bag is actually a better solution.
My favorite argument against the wheeled bag is the cobblestone argument, I would like to see someone post a pic of a stretch of cobblestones inside an airport, or in a hotel, or a cobblestone sidewalk in a business area in the US. If the majority of your travel involves walking in the street in Europe, then maybe a shoulder bag would be the better choice.
In the past 15 years, I can only recall lifting my bag to carry it across a 2 lane cobblestone road once. Is that what the fuss is about? Believe it or not, my bag wheels reasonably well along most cobblestone streets, only those with a very harsh surface are truly prohibitive.
It is certainly possible to travel well with one bag with a roller. Even the godfather of it all, over at onebag.com reports using an external cart when his bag is heavy.
If your bag is regularly heavy due to business or personal requirements, go with the roller. The downsides to a roller are that the inclusion of the rolling apparatus causes a decrease in the capacity of the bag and an increase in weight, and that the presence of the wheels externally can make it a bit more difficult and a bit more messy to handle when getting it into or out of luggage bins. The huge upside is that you don't have to carry it everywhere, and in the majority of travel situations you can roll.
All of the other proposed downsides to rolling bags: damage to hotel stairs, noisy wheels, injuring other people in the airport, inability to roll up a ladder, or over cobblestones, are pretty weak arguments.
A well chosen rolling bag can weigh about 3-4lbs more than a comparable bag without wheels, and will hold about one pair of shoes less (actually about 1.5 shoes, but bringing half a shoe has yet to prove useful for me-- maybe it would help me find more cobblestones...).
Consider that if your bag is heavy, the alternatives are: 1) a carried bag without an external cart (i.e. lug it around), 2) a carried bag with an external cart (the onebag.com solution), and 3) a rolling bag. I'm not going to suffer carrying a bag too heavy to handle, so my options are 2 and 3. Taking an external cart negates the weight and capacity advantages of a carried bag. So if your bag is rarely heavy, perhaps 2 is the option for you. If your bag is regularly heavy-- perhaps due to medical supplies or a company issued laptop & projector setup, or other heavy burden (try stuffing a 8lb, 17 inch laptop and 4lb projector in your Air Boss), then the roller is the way to go.
My rule of thumb is that if the bag weighs much more than 10% of the bodyweight of the carrier, then the extra 3-4lbs for a well chosen roller will probably be worth the tradeoff.
Knowing that a rolling bag is my better option, I try to use the information on these sites to maximize my own solution-- and do my best not to be annoyed by those who are not seeking a solution, but seeking rather to criticize others for using a wheeled bag.
Thanks High Roller - such good points I made post out of it. See the main page.
I hate to carry a bag that's much over 15 pounds - that comports with your 10% rule. I have found one way that using a shoulder bag helps my family (my wife anyway). She's a teacher who leads trips to Europe. Going with one shoulder bag means I can carry (or roll) her bag, freeing her up completely to shepherd 40 kids and chaperones through Heathrow. Chivalry is not dead, and sometimes it carries a shoulder bag :)