Prior to deciding on the Redoxx Air Boss NON-wheeled carry-on bag, I had been looking, by way of websites, at several of the smaller rolling check-in bags, given my need for something substantially smaller than my Rimowa 29-inch rolling case, but more capacious than the Tumi-Tech non-wheeled tri-fold one-suiter purchased last April. One of the several that fell into the 24-inch class was the Rick Steve's version, supposedly just 8 lbs., and rather reasonably priced.

I did have a chance to inspect one directly at a local store, and would allow it would have been a reasonable choice for me, in terms of size, features and apparent build quality. In fact, my wife will take a look at it for her own use as a "step-down" bag, since there is NO chance she would consider a non-wheeled case. Among other things, her two personal care (cosmetics) bags currently come to about 600 cu. in. and 7 lbs., exclusive of her hair dryer. So, before she starts packing any clothes, for her bag to approximate mine, she needs about another 1000 cu. in. and 8-9 lbs. capacity. C'est la vie...

The RS does look sturdy enough to allow me on trips to nestle my Air Boss atop it, for the common scenario of movement from a parking lot, to a room, checking in or checking out, often several hundred to a thousand or more feet away. Only occasionally do we end up with a room that has its parking directly outside.

True interior dimensions are 8.5" x 15.5" x 23.5", minus the two parallel bottom intrusions for the bag handle, for a net capacity of 3000 cu. in. in the main compartment, then what I'd estimate to be another 350 cu. in. for the variously-sized pockets accessed from the top of the bag. So, its about 1000 cu. in. larger than my RAS. Using its expansion option, one might add another 700 cu.in. to the RS 24-inch. The main compartment clearly would be large enough to hold my RAB inside, for storage either at home, or in a hotel room; we can't do that with the pair of Rimowa cases of course.

By the way, the ACTUAL WEIGHT of the RS 24-inch per some posted informatin, not to mention the local store proprietor, is 9.3 lbs., HEAVIER than the 29-inch Rimowa. Anyway, for a couple, it seems like a reasonable bag to complement an RAS or the like.

I once considered getting a nice $200, 7-pound rolling carryon for my wife which was made by Eagle Creek. It was a pretty impressive bag. But before I could purchase it we made a trip which convertered her to the one shoulder bag approach. It would be nice to find something moderately priced like the RS bag.

My wife has returned from taking a close look at the bag, her one criticism being that its soft top would complicate packing. Of course a U-shaped insert in the lid would get around that issue, made from perhaps aluminum tubing or the like.

I'm also looking at a smaller rolling carry-on bag to replace my old Eagle Creek Switchback 22 because it does not look "Professional" enough for biz use. (I have the ancient version in a bright Pine colour). After much thought and a very objective analysis of the stuff I carry, It was obvious that the weight of my electronics, their accessories and the contents of my purse plus the 3-1-1 bag was close to the total weight of my clothes. Add some work papers and the Business Trolleys and Rolling Briefcases looked like the ideal solution. (Rimowa Business Case, Heys Business Case, etc). Also, adding the wheels onto the smaller bag made carrying it easier without all the bulk :)

However, I soon found out that wheels on your "personal" bag made it not so personal anymore. It posed 2 problems:

1) If the flight is packed enough, or the plane small enough, all wheels get checked. No exceptions :(

2) If the flight is packed enough or the plane small enough, my larger wheel-less carry-on (aka clothes bag) will most likely also get gate checked.

In the scenario above, I would probably end up with no carry-on and 2 gate checked bags! Or at best, holding my laptop and assorted purse contents in my scarf or over-flo tote :p

So although the smaller rolling bag plus larger clothes bag is ideal for my size, for the things I carry and for my size and schlepping abilities, I will probably have to stay with the traditional 20-22" rolling bag and the smaller brief-bag/personal bag combo.

Another solution had been suggested by Till of adding the Samsonite luggage cart but since I use the lightest (and therefore unstructured) bags possible, I have yet to find a solution to prevent the bag dragging on the floor. My aluminium clipboard that doubled both as a lapdesk and trolley-board to help with the dragging, was confiscated by the TSA as a "potentially dangerous weapon".

I have been one-bagging it for a while but because I am petite, the bags look proportionally big on me and always get sized and weighed :( Also, all that weight hurt my back so I started looking at wheels, then wheeled bags, then <gasp> one and a half bagging it!