Wednesday
Feb162011
February 16, 2011 Wheels vs no wheels
I know what you’re thinking, we’ve discussed this before……but…..let’s face it, it’s a hot topic amongst one-baggers.
Tom Bihn, yes there really is a Tom Bihn, wrote a blog entry on his own blog on why he believes going sans wheels is the better choice.
Thoughts?
(Frank II)
Reader Comments (15)
The other day, I was in Toronto with a colleague on a business trip. We had taken the train so having only one bag was not critical. But Ontario had been hit with heavy snow recently. Even though there was not so much snow that the city was unnavigable, having wheeled luggage proved to be very awkward for my colleague as he struggled over snow banks when crossing roads, up and down the subway, sliding through snow covered sidewalks, etc. It was actually kind of painful to watch. Me? I just threw my Aeronaut onto my shoulder and away I went. Doug Dyment was absolutely right - YOU will carry YOUR luggage more than anybody else.
Unless you have a bad back or shoulder, or other medical reason to limit your weight carrying ability, I really suggest you stay away from wheeled luggage. And if it's so heavy that you think you need wheels, it's time to pack better and lighter, or maybe hit the gym! ;-)
Leisure trips, places where there is snow, bad roads, public transportation involved I enjoy the advantages of no wheels. Cobble stones are not a problem if you have a quality wheeled bag like the Eagle Creek or higher Travelpro lines.
The cut comes when it's about walking long distances. 10 kg wheeled, no problem. 10kg on back, easy. But 10kg on shoulder for more than a mile (a distance that is easily reached in many big airports with no frickin' carts behind the checkpoint, a pet peeve of mine) are no fun. It's only slightly preferable having the weight on your shoulder than hand carrying it.
So when there is snow for example, one could just hand carry the wheeled bag. The difference between wheeled and unwheeled bags is often not huge, IF one chooses wisely.
If one uses for example the Bihn Tristar it weighs 3.4lb. The new Antler FOUR-wheeler Frank kindly posted (thanks!) weighs 4.4lb and it offers more volume and more protection plus the possibility to stack another bag on top of it. It's also in the same price range around $250. Sure, one can use the Aeronaut, it weighs 2.71lbs. In any case we are talking about a difference of not even 1kg here.
I've even done 14kg+ on my shoulder. Not again!!! 10kg is just about doable.
So weight has to be a consideration. Professionally required items and bag all together let's say 4kg. That's LOW. You're left with 6kg (13lbs) for bag and clothing. Not impossible but not easy. You can only cut weight for clothing so much without either looking outright crumply or looking like a nerd. And if you have to travel for business there is often not much choice left to you in the weight of items you must carry and in the fact that this means you are usually forced to also carry a briefcase. Then you look like Zapata with shoulder straps crossing your torso like gun belts. Not very practical to walk either, not even for public transport or airplanes because the doors and aisles are narrow and you will be large with your two bags.
Go backpack and hand-carried briefcase, OK, that might work, even if weight distribution isn't really good. But the backpack doesn't really jive with the business thing. Even if it seems superficial or unnecessary to some, but things like reputation and prestige or image are not totally unimportant for most professionals.
So you have to consider where you go, for what purpose, what conditions in terms of weather and transport and what kind of image you want to portray, last but not least it has to be a fitting solution for the kind of contents and their weight that you are taking along.
Even TB outlines the situations when wheelless is better. His arguments for wheelless are the usual ones and they are sound besides the 25% more space means your trip can last 25% longer. That's really embarrassing from a logical and travel experience point of view. ;)
That's why I say, there's a tool for every job. Wanting to do everything with wheels would be stupid but wanting to do everything without wheels isn't better.
AGREED. Relative to the overall cost of travel, or value of what gets packed for any given trip, the cost of a carefully chose set of bags, one with wheels, one unwheeled with backpack straps, and one small enough to be handled by a shoulder strap, supplemented by a similar trio of personal carry bags with differing capabilities, likely is less than the cost of many weekend trips.
"So when there is snow for example, one could just hand carry the wheeled bag. The difference between wheeled and unwheeled bags is often not huge, IF one chooses wisely."
Even though the bag was relatively compact, it was still a struggle. Personally, I will use a wheeled bag if I need to check it in. And if I'm walking a long distance, I will break out the backpack straps.
I've often wondered about backpacks and business attire. I try to avoid them, but practically, a backpack is superior. They just don't look all that great. Those that look better tend to be trendier, but limited in capacity, so that doesn't really help much. So, for me, convertible bags that have decent backpack straps are a reasonable solution.
convertible bag. This bag has best of both worlds. Wheels
when you need them and backpack straps for certain situations.
For casual travel or car trips I tend to go for the LL Bean Quickload
pack.And for expedition type travel , I will never carry a wheeled bag.
There are new designs of bags evolving -- for example the LL Bean
expedition all- terrain wheeled bag that would easily navigate cobbled
streets and rough terrain.
Till brings up some valid points.I can't imagine myself carrying a pack
on my back entering a 5 star hotel in business suit. There is a bag for
every occasion. The key is to pack light and whatever bag I choose;
I should have complete mobility.
Quite true... and yet I'm surprised by the number of CEO/executive types that DO haul around a backpack. I think the trick is to get one that makes a statement, like those offered by Saddleback Leather or BooqBags.
I can - and have. Was it a top-loading mountaineering rucksack? No - one time it was a Tough Traveler Tri-Zip. Many times it was a Trager Cross-Country Laptop Brief (you didn't say what size...). Regardless - nobody gave me a second look despite my shlepping something on my back. And this was when I worked for a large insurance brokerage.
I've taken my backpack into several nice hotels, but I've never been in business dress
If arriving by automobile/taxi, the bag is already off of you, just put it over your shoulder and it's a shoulder bag (not a backpack.)
If arriving by foot, stop about a block from the hotel, take the bag off your bag and use the shoulder strap.
Both very professional. And to be honest, the hotel really doesn't care.
And now, backpack laptop bags are very popular so almost anywhere you go, you'll see business people with backpacks.
That's one of the nice things about the Tri-star. It can double as a large laptop bags. I pack everything in cubes. So, if I haven't been able to take a separate laptop bag, I'll take everything out of the Tri-Star--packing cubes & toiletry kit--leave it at the hotel, and only take with me in the Tri-Star that I need for my meeting.
We don't use wheelies, and never have after doing it once. As I said before, I'll use a wheelie when I need a trailer behind my wheel chair.
A backpack forces you to pack light and that is the real advantage. Remote islands, countryside, outback..backpack all the way.