The title may indicate a packing list not in the spirit of this site BUT as I point out below it probably is equivalent to one American MLC and personal item.

My packing list is tailored to the specific travel arrangements that I have, and it may be of interest to some readers.

Firstly let’s set the scene on the travel arrangements.

I invariably fly Qantas from Australia as I’m a member of their FF program.

Qantas have unusual baggage limits (unusual from an American perspective) in that they allow two carry on bags of either 41 or 45 linear inches depending on class of travel. The actual dimension is arbitrary in that if it looks like a normal carryon bag they don’t seem to worry. What they do worry about is the weight. Qantas allow only 15lbs or 7kgs for each item no matter what size it is. Therefore smaller size bags are usually an advantage as it will limit the amount of baggage that you can pack.

For leisure travel I have settled on a small lightweight wheeled hard cell case (Antler Laser 2.7 kg ) and a medium size tote bag that can conveniently ride on top of the case. This system in size is probably equal to the normal American carry on bag that could be 45 to 47 linear inches and a “personnel” item. I also find this combination easier to manoeuvre thru airports and train stations and when I do have to hoist the bag up stairs 15lbs is pretty easy to carry.

For Business (and a bit of Leisure) travel I have two options in addition to the wheeled case. A Victornox tri-fold garment bag or a Blackwolf Skedaddle bag ( a copy of the Patagonia MLC). I use the garment bag if I need a formal suit or two and I use the Blackwolf if sports jacket and normal pants are all that’s required.

But for the packing list I will concentrate only on the leisure travel. Due to the arrangements above this means two items of baggage, one that will reside in the overhead locker and one that will either fit there if room is available or under the seat.
The trick is to evenly distribute the weight so that each item does not exceed the 15lb limit. And remember once in Europe if using the cheap carriers I may need to check one item so therefore a change of clothing in each item is prudent.

In the wheeled bag goes

2 pair of pants (one casual and one more formal)
1 long sleeve shirt
2 lightweight polo shirts
1 tee shirt (white)
All above goes into an 18inch eagle creek folder
1 Columbia Rain Jacket (very light weight)
1 fleece jacket
1 Belt
3 pairs of underpants
1 pr of dark socks
2 pair of light socks
3 handkerchiefs
2 pair of shorts (one doubles as swim wear or gym togs)
Money belt (if going to a dubious place)
Copies of travel info (usually squirreled away behind the bag lining)
A couple of ziplok bags

That normally rounds out at 6 kgs (13lbs) i.e. kg below the limit.

In the medium tote bag goes

1 pr of casual pants
1 polo shirt
1 pr of underwear
1 pr of socks
1 tee shirt
All above in an eagle creek 15inch folder
1 Pr of leather boat shoes
1 hat (a tilley like thing)
Sunglasses
1 camera (point and shoot Sony)
1 notebook
1 pen
1 umbrella (travel)
Small day bag (and I mean small the Rick Steves day pack looks like a ruck sack to me)

And equipment bag goes into the tote bag as well and contains

1 phone charger
1 camera charger
2 adaptors (1 uk and I euro)

Toiletries and 311 bag also goes into the tote bag and contains a minimum amount of gear,

Toothbrush
Small tube tooth paste
2 disposable shavers
Shaving oil
Deodorant
Q tips
Nasal hair trimmer (at my age hair grows every but on the head!)
Nail clipper
Sun screen SPF 30+ (although Australian I burn easily!)
plus a small medial kit containing band aids, aspirin, antiseptic cream

I also keep a document bag (freebie from a travel agency) with

Passport
Travel document
A debit and credit card
Business cards

The tote bag normally is about 10-11 lbs

On my person

One pr pants
One shirt
Belt
Underwear
Socks
Walking shoes
Good casual jacket
Nokia E71 phone (doubles as an MP3 player, backup camera and email system)
small wallet with money for the first port of call and a credit card ( I don't usually walk around European cities with much else passport, additional credit cards and extra money I leave in the security safe at the hotel.)

Packed this does not look a lot but I could travel indefinitely with this list as long as I kept washing and replenishing the consumables like toothpaste etc

The mix doesn’t change much for business travel except for substituting more formal gear for some of the casual gear and the inclusion of a lightweight laptop and sundry files.

And for 2 to 3 days travel within Australia I only use the Blackwolf skedaddle bag ie the patagonia copy.

I hope you have found this interesting and I look forward to comments and suggestions on how to improve this list.

cheers
Bob

Bob, thanks for posting the list. That is a pretty tricked out list already and there is not much you can or even need to do since you fulfill the requirements handily.

There are a couple of things you might be able to change but it's not really necessary.

You say the roller is 2.7kg. That's not heavy but it isn't among the lightest, either.
There are several lighter options and all are quite affordable, too. Check out this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-products/895927-lightest-carry-bag-4.html#post12183152.
Any of these would shave a full 500g off your weight. That's really good.

The Eagle Creek folders are good and I use them myself. However, they are also quite heavy and for what you pack they are not really needed. The t-shirts and polos will do just as well rolled in a packing cube or ziploc. You can then wrap the pants around them. This will be even better for the pants then being in the folder. The only thing that will profit from the folder is the shirt. But to take a heavy 18" folder for just one shirt is not efficient. So, I'd definitely downscale the 18" to a 15" folder in the main bag and drop the folder in the tote entirely. This will save another 400g and cost nothing. Wrap the pants around the 15" folder that contains the t's and the shirt. You'll see that works great.

What do you pack the toiletries in? I use only ziplocs now. For my 311 bag but also for my brush, comb and razor. Saves a ton of weight. Those toiletry kids are a drag.

While we are at it. Let's split some hairs. Do you need two disposable razors? How long is one blade good for? Is it perhaps lighter to take something like a Gillette Sensor with two blades instead of two disposables. We are talking grams here, so this is just for the sake of being perfectionist.

Depending on how long you travel, could you do with out the nasal trimmer if you give it a good buzz before you leave? I actually pull mine out with little tweezers. Not recommended but it works so far. Is good for several weeks.

Do you need the second belt? Could the money belt be your main belt?

How heavy is the tote bag itself. Any possibility of shaving something off there?

If you were super hard pressed for reducing weight in the bags, which you aren't, you could always put the camera, chargers and sunglasses in the jacket you are wearing.

It also sounds like the main bag, the Antler, has room to spare. If you got a smaller bag you could bring the pure bag weight down even further. This one is 700g lighter:
http://www.luggagedirect.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=30&products_id=127

That said, do you think that, if you were using the famous A. Saks 21" bag at a weight of 545 gram (!) and you followed the really strict regimen, you could do with a SINGLE bag for all contents? Did you ever weigh just the contents. I think you might be able to stay just under the limit.

I would also think - having heard that the mates in Australia are friendly folks - that no one would give you any grief if your carry-on was 1kg or maybe even 2kg overweight, if you only take a single carry-on instead of two allowed and you don't even check anything. I mean that would be really unreasonable. And if ever they did give you trouble you could whip out that little extra bag and put some stuff in there just to pass the screening. Shoulder carrying 7-8kg is do-able in my experience. So, if I were that close, as you are, I'd definitely go for consolidation and onebag it all the way. :)

Till

Hi Till thanks for the reply, all great suggestions a usual.
Saw that post on lightweight travel bags but actually needed a wheeled variety (my wife “needed” wheels and I had to have the same!!! Cannot travel without matching sets so I’m told!!!). Did like the Travelite bag but cannot get those here in Oz.
Great idea with the cube, as for the 15inch folder idea I’m not sure. I did weigh the 18 inch version and 15 inch version and found they weighed 0.4 and 0.3 kg respectively not a great saving especially as I have found that the 18 inch version is a lot better for packing shirts. I use the 15inch one in the tote bag so that there is some structure in the packing of this bag. But as you say 300 g can be saved just in the tote bag if I dispense with it. What I could use is a Mont XL packing cube I have, as these are very light weight (0.15 kg).
So what I will probably do is use the cube idea in the Antler bag for the tees and polos with the pants wrapped around them and just fold the shirt. (0.25 kg saving). For the tote bag I will also go the cube route providing another 0.15kg saving for an overall saving of 0.4kg. Good result thanks.
Agree the normal eagle creek or whatever toiletry kits are enormous and some of them look as though they weigh more than my carry on allowance. I use a ziplok bag for the
311 stuff and a very small Qantas business class bag (I do get to travel up the pointy end sometimes) for the other stuff. This is approx 7 X 2 X 2 inches and weighs nothing
Yeah two disposables are overkill but I like the Shick ones I use, they are small, light and have a fairly small head that’s easily manoeuvrable around the face and two usually last me 2 to 3 weeks on vacation and they are discarded as I go.

Pulling nasal hairs out with tweezers???? Nup not for me sounds too much like torture for me …gad my eyes are watering just thinking about it!! The trimmer I have is a manual type, batteries not required. For short trips yes I could leave it home but we are usually gone for anything up to 8 weeks when we travel to Europe.

Belts? Yep could possibly get by with one belt. I pack a good wide leather belt and wear a eagle creek webbing money belt. The other money belt I indicated is a Rick Steves money belt. I’m not sure about others but I find these things of little practical use, as I said in the original post I usually carry a minimal amount around with me e.g. some cash and maybe one or two credit cards these are normally in a zipped pocket in my trousers. Everything else I leave in the hotel safe.
Yes the tote bag is reasonable heavy itself about 1.5kg but I got it for next to nothing and didn’t want to spend any more money on bags.
Yes If I am getting close to the maximum allowance for various reasons I put a lot of the weighty stuff in pockets then after screening put them back in the tote bag.
The Antler bag itself is only 2 or 3 centimetres larger than the bag you have suggested but it is 700g heavier so the other bag would be a good option if I needed to reduce weight further, I just wonder what Dianne will say if I suggest getting new bags!!! . I do like the hard shell bags though.
The weight of all the clothes and equipment is approx 8kgs (17lbs) so it is over the limit and particularly if put in any bag even a SAKs bag. But that said with the reductions suggested I could shave 1 kg easily by doing without the folders and carrying the camera etc in a “personal” item bag.

One bag would be great but I like having the versatility of two bags especially for the travel I do. I tend to pick up a number of things on the way so need a little space and weight allowance. The two bags each with 7kg limits allows this. So when I pick up a number of slide rules (which I collect) on my travels I can put them in my carryon luggage and not let the precious little things out of my sight!

Actually going out of Australia I have not had any trouble with slightly over weight bags, the check in clerk usually just asks whether the bag is less than 7kgs (of course you reply yes and just move thru). Where the problem lies is checking-in in other countries for the flight back using one world partners. They seem to think they have to enforce it rigidly. I have had to check bags for being 8kg. Of course I could have taken enough stuff out but I usually like a smooth journey thru the check in and just say yes check it in.

Again thanks for your insights Till they have given me a number of things to correct and think about.

Cheers
Bob

Thanks for your in-depth reply. Very cool. I like having packing discussions with a fellow from Australia. Love the web! Glad you find some of the ideas useful.

Side note on nasal hair from man to man. It actually doesn't hurt that badly. I use those small tweezers used for eyebrow shaping. If you feel brave, try it. I have one of the electric trimmers but prefer the tweezers, especially the result.

If you can shave 1kg off you are at 7kg. Add the A. Saks you are at 7.6. Should hardly be a problem. If ever they gave me trouble for traveling with a single bag slightly over the permitted 8kg, where I could have 60kg altogether, I'd probably call a manager. But our personalities may be different. In any case, I'd take along something like a foldable Kiva Tote, that weighs around 120g and folds onto itself not much bigger than a pack of cigarettes. This will allow you to escape the baggage dragon and it will allow extra packing space for the slide rules. The A Saks is also expandable but that might bring it over the limit.

I'd totally go for that solution. The extra expenditure will be less than $100.

A propos slide rules, I am sure you are familiar with Marcel Duchamp's (one of the three most important artists of the 20th century) "Three Standard Stoppages". See here:
http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?object_id=78990

Cheers,

Till

Hi Till,

I'm sitting here thinking of arguments to reply with but have finally come to the conclusion all I am trying to do is justify my two bag regime instead of taking on board your suggestions and reducing weight etc and really embrace the one bag philosophy.

Will be travelling to Europe in two weeks time ( for a slide rule meeting) and will still do the two bag thing BUT this time I will really take notice of what I use and why and trim the packing list further.

As you say I am on the cusp of 7 to 8 kgs of "stuff", if I reduce this a little bit I can pack all the clothes etc into the antler 20inch bag and with a personal item ( small shoulder bag) I can carry some of the weightier items such as camera, documents, chargers and adaptors. And with a fabric sling bag packed into the carry on I can transfer "over weight" stuff to this and bring the main bag back into the 7 kg limit.

I really do like the carry on bag with medium tote option though ...... however I am willing to give the one bag a try!!
But if you think I am going to give the tweezers method a go you are in dreamland!!! ;-)

And yes, as is evident, I also like having discussions on packing technology and solutions etc

cheers
Bob

A meeting just for slide rules? Pretty impressive.

I must admit that I do one bag only about half of the time, maybe less. Very often it's a carry-on size bag and a personal item. When I travel to a conference or lecture there is always a laptop involved and also books and documents. Even more so on the way back home. All of that gets simply too heavy for shoulder carry and sometimes also too bulky. I don't like backpacks very much simply for style reasons. And a 10-12kg shoulder bag is something I've done twice. Once out of ignorance and then out of stupidity.

Having some kind of roller in that case is just super convenient, even if it's onebag heresy. The roller, especially yours, is still so small and light that it will hardly be gate checked and you can lift it easily.

Still on leisure trips I mostly do one bag only. As long as it stays under 10kg I am fine.

I wish they made an Iphone where you can really edit documents and that has a video output. That would basically eliminate the need for a laptop.

Till

Hi Bob,

I think your packing list is a good start. I have been moving towards more minimalist packing lately (for pleasure travel). I would get rid of two of the pairs of pants. I probably travel in different circles but I haven't taken more than two pairs in years and am thinking (only thinking) that I can reduce the wight of my bag by using a lightweight pair of gym pants for when I'm doing laundry. I am also a one bad heretic in that I generally only pack levis. I know this will set off a discussion but in my experience I am always comfortable and feel in "style " in all but the fanciest settings. The first time I went to Europe I thought I might feel out of place but ended up looking like every one else! Of course the Levis are not the issue but the number.

Forest