I have been an avid watcher of the Amazing Race since Season 1... I am 'amazed' at how some of the backpacks the contestants carry make it as a "Carry On" bag.

My desire to find a single backpack for carry-on that meets the legal limitations was how I stumbled onto this site. I have a Gregory Z-35 (old style) 38L pack and have gotten my camping gear, and clothes, all but expendables (food and water) down to 12 pounds, but my first and last attempt to use on a flight, the airline made me check it, and no, I did not have any restricted items inside, and it was 18 pounds for the flight.

I wonder if the airlines make exceptions because "The Amazing Race" is a TV show, or do the contestants need to check their bags and that part just gets edited out... or a combination of both???

I felt I was discriminated against by the domestic airline for a cross country trip.

So now, I got the Osprey Porter 46 as it is a fixed size and even though it is a 46L bag I must admit it 'appears' smaller than the Z-35 38L bag.

I am an Amazing Race fan too.......probably because some of my trips are not unlike AR with all the dashing around on transport with one bag!
I have often scrutinized the bags being used, some look horrendously heavy and/or large. I know they are racing for six weeks but considering what they wear to race in, a week's worth of lightweight, casual, quick-dry clothing is all each of them needs. Pit stops are overnight with several rest days thrown in, used as laundry time for most racers I would think.
If I were a contestant, I would pack tops I could ditch towards the end. Actually having seen the state of some of them after completion of road blocks, I'd probably ditch everything in the final few days. I think it was in the last series that a couple were through to the final three, they did throw away their bags. Now THAT is travelling ultralight! :-)
Interesting (maybe only to me), backpacks are the bags used by racers, I've never seen a duffle bag on the show but did see, if I remember correctly, a female couple use small roller bags....I also seem to recall they didn't last long!
Love that show.

hey guys, i love this show too but i have a theory that there is nothing in their bags at all, it's just for show. what clothing they need is handed to them for whatever weather conditions.

I watched tonight's show, and the Army Officer and his wife were wearing Osprey Porter... I could not tell if is the 46 or 65.

I have always wondered WHAT they pack. I would just bring a toothbruch and a change of underwear - for a chance at a million bucks. I tend to agree with the above post that they are given clothes as needed. On the current sho, the Monster truckers are using rolling bags.

<<Airlines don't care about how much it holds in liters. They care about dimensions.>>

Beyond that the most commonly critical dimension is DEPTH. On many "regional," i.e., smaller airliners, the top to bottom aperture can be as little as 8 inches, so a bag that can at least be squeezed through that is critical. I'm looking at a new Guru Gear carry-on bag, Bataflae 32 for optics, i.e., telescopes, cameras, lenses, binoculars and the like, my only concern being that it's spec'd at 21 x 14 x 9, with the 9 inches being the issue. As tempting as a rolling bag might be for this indication, the more rigid construction those require make them prime candidates for a required "gate-check," a major issue for my airport, which only has two departures a day in "full-sized" jets, i.e., 2+3 or 3+3 seating.

Beyond that traveling with that sort of camera bag borders on being "off-topic" for this forum, since one then has to check the bag with clothing (and a tripod), but for cabin entry and stowage, the issues are parallel.