March 29, 2008 In defense of wheels
The aptly named poster High Roller has left the following comment on a couple of older posts where it probably won’t be widely noticed. He makes such well-reasoned points that I thought they deserved wider airing. His position on wheels (obviously the majority position) is only in the minority in a forum like this one. OBOW is for all sorts of light travelers and we’re going wrong if we can’t offer some helpful advice to the wheeling masses, so here goes:
(I had expressed my surprise at the tiny minority of our site’s poll respondents who expressed a preference for wheeled bags)
“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.”
The 10% weight rule is a good one. I hate to carry a bag that’s much over 15 pounds - that comports with your 10% rule. And my sympathies to anyone who travels with a mega-laptop and projector. 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 :)
Reader Comments (14)
I confess that although I'm willing to try a convertible shoulder bag like the Aeronaut, I have been traveling with a roller carry on suitcase for the better part of the last 10 years and I have never found my bag to be inconvenient. Depending on the quality of the wheels, it can negotiate European sidewalks without much of a problem.
The only reason I'm willing to switch to a soft bag is the promise of more volume. As I mentioned in a previous post, I'll try the soft bag approach on a month-long trip to Europe this summer. My husband will use the roller and we will compare the two. I'll let you know when we get back...
A couple trading out time with a shoulder/convertible bag and a roller might make for a good division of labor. Our winter trip to London sold my wife on the idea of going one-bag once and for all. She saw how much time it saved. And to my surprise she was OK with a shoulder bag all the way. I had planned to buy her a nice Eagle Creek Tarmac roller, but that idea is on hold.
A big difference is that a shoulder bag can automatically become your around-town bag at your destination, without either having to carry another daybag or wheel your roller around to the breakfast shop. I prefer to choose my around-town bag as the bulkier one with all of the features that make carrying it around town convenient, while any other bag that might get carried with me is just a basic sack.
Some of us are also guaranteed cobblestones and roller-unfriendly surfaces on EVERY trip. I have a walk to the subway that takes me to the airport/train/bus that makes Europe look like a cakewalk.
Meh, his argument boils down to "my bag is too heavy to wear." Uh, pack lighter?
As for "a cobblestone sidewalk in a business area in the US" I offer him this: Philadelphia.
Roller bags also take up a lot of room on crowded streets. People wheeling their bags behind them invariably are oblivious to how much space they're taking up. Not to mention that every time they zig, they risk tripping the person walking behind them.
Personally, if I had to carry a laptop, I wouldn't want it trailing behind me -- I'd want it against my body where I know that no-one can steal or damage it.
smw - The "footprint" of the person + roller is an excellent thing to consider. Travelers would probably be less resented in crowded cities if they didn't take up half the sidewalk with their baggage train. Of course it's possible to cut a wide swath with a bulging shoulder bag as well.
I have both an Aeronaut, and a Samsonite rollaboard. I travel for business and for pleasure. Quite simply, I take the one that is better for my trip. Frequently I can take the roller for business, because I'm going from my car to the airport to another car, to a hotel, and back again. But when there is any chance of needing flexibility, the Aeronaut is my clear choice.
I also agree with smw regarding packing lighter, but only when it comes to pleasure travel. Business travelers almost always have to carry the laptop and often accessories.
I agree with Kit that an advantage to a shoulder bag is that it makes a better around town bag at the destination. T
SMW presents the standard "pack lighter" argument.
The logic seems to be that anyone using a rolling case must be a loathsome heavy packer: dragging a heavy rolling case filled with unnecessary, seldom-used, heavy junk. My standard packing list must include my hair-dryer, a terry cloth robe, and a goose-down comforter. If only I left the hair-dryer behind, bought some exofficio underwear, and worn the robe on the flight, I'd be lighter in no time, and happy with a shoulder bag.
Since I've already mentioned I have to bring an 8lb laptop and a 4lb projector, and that these are not negotiable items-- in fact the purpose of my trip is to take these items to a location and use them-- how exactly do I pack lighter?
For personal use I own a 3lb notebook, but for work, it isn't acceptable-- company products only.
I weigh every item I take with an electronic postal scale, accurate to 0.1 ounces. I know how much each suit, shirt,and shoe weighs. I even know the difference in weight between different pairs of underwear. Though at home I am a runner, on trips I try to swim when possible because my swimsuit weighs far less than running shorts and shoes. My toiletry list is a plastic brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, 0.5 oz stick of deodorant, and 16 advil tablets.
For comfotable carrying, I find I can carry a shoulder bag weighing no more than 16 lbs. Since 12 lbs is laptop and projector, I welcome your suggested bag and packing list itemized with brand and weight, under 4 lbs, for a 3 night, 4 day business trip, including at least 2 suits and a cell phone charger. Help me out, give it your best shot.
HR - Stick with your wheels - you need 'em.
HR - how about getting into the weight room? With the help of some iron and steroids, I'm sure you can bulk up to the point where that 25lb shoulder bag feels like a feather. :)
Why not get the best of both worlds by using a bag like the AirBoss and a cart like the Micro Mover cart? (http://www.amazon.com/Samsonite-Micro-Mover-Fold-Luggage/dp/B000A8MGFO)
When the roads are nice, use it, stow it when not, and enjoy all the extra room in the bag. Just hold the cart in your hand when checking in (placing on scale for weight as one needs to do in FRA & LHR.
what we really need are folding carts which are both solid and light.
I have considered using a shoulder bag and a cart. It's a good idea. What I have found is that I prefer to use the cart most of the time. The cart offers the advantage of being taken only when needed, and if I use the smallest of carts I could perhaps save a small amount of space and weight. The disadvantage though is the inconvenience of pulling it out and setting it up. I haven't used the samsonite-micro-mover, but a number of user reviews on the web have suggested it can be hard to fold or unfold.
Having considered it closely many times, I find that a well chosen wheeled bag integrates the cart functions better than a separate cart. I lose the ability to leave the cart out when my bag is light, and I lose a small amount of luggage space (though for me space isn't as much a problem as weight), and I gain a small amount of weight. More importantly I gain a durable, easy to deploy, useful cart that's always ready and never has to be taken off and stuffed in a bag.
I don't fly through LHR or FRA often, and my overseas travel is sometimes first class, and they seem to be a little more flexible with weight-- I've never had a weight issue with a carryon. I suspect my luck will run out soon enough though, with the current changes occuring. I hope to benefit though from some of the newer lighter, smaller laptops, and am considering the idea of finding someone to customize a TB Western Flyer for me for leisure travel. I really like sling bags.
High roller makes excellent points and thank you for the intelligent (and humorous) posting. I totally find anti-roller snobbery amusing. There are so many travel light forums that treat people who use wheeled luggage like irresponsible whimps who can't carry their bag and/or can't pack light. For the glib replies, there are some of us that have physical issues and who just can't comfortably carry a shoulder bag or backpack. A pinched nerve in my shoulder that I've had since age 15 has resulted in my 18" roller suitcase (that does fab on cobblestones) being my carry-on luggage salvation. I can pack light and compact with the best of them and also try to stick to the 10% rule although 11 lbs is tough to stick to when I have to bring my work labtop with which weighs a ton. The design of my roller bag allows me to easily grab it and carry it up and down stairs in subways and train stations and I cause no problems to those around me. This notion of taking up too much space and causing bodily harm is also very amusing. I take up less of a "foot print" than a lot of these "wide loads" carrying nothing. I am careful to keep my suitcase very close to me reducing any tripping hazard. Not so amusing are the injuries that I have experienced traveling which have been from people carrying backpacks. Big heavy ones that they can't hoist off their shoulders without losing control. I've been smacked in the head on more than one occasion - one time I got nabbed in the arm in the boarding line resulting in a 3" nasty painful bruise. I now have a habit of giving people with backpacks a very large berth. There are many ways to travel light and still be considerate of others whether you carry a shoulder bag, backpack or, yes, even an evil roller bag!
Anyone every tried this product?
dTube Folding Luggage Cart - Folds Into Its Own Tube!
http://www.amazon.com/dTube-Folding-Luggage-Cart-Folds/dp/B0019F8GLU/ref=pd_sbs_a_9