Best case: 1. Carry-on (22"×14"×9"). Double handle bars. 2. Top open if there is more than one. Two clamshells don't fit on hotel luggage shelves/racks. Every time you open one, the other must move. Top opens can both stay open side-by-side. 3. 4 wheels, spinner type. Each wheel needs to be double wheeled. Single wheels are not as sturdy and will tip over with a backpack on the handles. 4. Hardside or fabric? I've never had a balistic nylon break or tear. They can get dirty. And it is harder to clean. Fabric is usually top open. I do have a Delsey top open hardside that I love. They don't sell them anymore. A narrow wheeled duffle will work, too. You can pull this 2 wheeler down the aisle. I can do endless travel with just a carry-on and a backpack. Learned to travel with less. Even did it with 2 sets of clothes for cold and hot weather locales on the same trip. I'm trying to see if I can travel with a 18" or 20"...Just bragging now.😁 My wife puts yarn balls to ID her case. "Please don't put one of those on my case dear."😂 My wife says I hoard/collect suitcases and backpacks. I'm going to show her this video, "see, I'm not as bad as Chris!"🤣🤣
My choice is a softsided Travelpro and compression packs. 4 wheels. Being top opening, i like the packs so i don't tear everything apart if i need something from the bottom. The quality of wheels make a huge difference. I recently traveled in India. A large portion of the airports were carpeted. A real challenge for lesser wheels, especially with a backpack on top. During that trip I used a hardsided carryon that my wife got from her company. Big mistake!
Great video! I’m in the market to replace ours - Kipling softside but they are too big and have only two wheels, even though they have lasted really well. Am considering hard for the first time.
„Carry on only“, if I can (up to one week). But I started to always pack toiletries and fresh clothes for 1 or 2 days in my carry on, even with checked baggage (due to staff shortage, I was on a connecting flight, that took off without any suitcases, in 2022). Other than that: I think my hard case suitcase from Samsonite Neopulse Spinner (discontinued?) is a good value for money (just can’t bring myself to buy a Rimowa, despite that idea of „buy the best you can afford“ which probably his true for luggage). Speaking of looking my Samsonite: I also like my carry-on (Senora, I think, but model discontinued?) which is pretty roomy form its size. And I also like my soft case Samsonite Paradiver that is like a mini suitcase that comes with shoulder straps (although I didn’t use that feature yet, unfortunately). Granted, only 51L, but as a solo traveler, I can make that work. Regarding colors: my Neopulse is dark turquoise and the Paradiver is yellow, so both a bit easier to spot, especially the yellow one (of if I check it instead of bringing it on board (which might be a close call depending on the airline)) Also „if that was a real LV-bag, you wouldn’t fly southwest“ (or was it spirit? Anyway, you know the joke)
Some great info here Chris, and Topher, thank you! Fairly seasoned traveler here. For domestic I am using a North Face Base Camp S duffel bag / backpack. I am in Australia, the airlines here are fairly strict with carry on size, so in other countries you may be able to fit a M Base Camp in carry on. Anyway, the S has heaps of space for what I need, very light, durable and weatherproof. I can fit a weeks worth of clothes in it no problem, and it does double duty as the daily trekking pack. There are variations that others do, Patagonia Black Hole etc, though I think the extremely tough OG Base Camp is the king for carry on only.
Excellent video ! Wow Chris you have a lot of luggage. We finally got hard sided suitcases, as our clothes got totally wet using the soft sided bags on a trip to Florida. Very useful and knowledgeable information. Looking forward to your packing livestream. Thanks Chris
The best bags are not necessarily the most expensive ones. Fancy gimmicks and features can fail. The best bags are the ones that have the features most important to you. Strong, high-quality wheels are usually the most important, as you cannot easily go anywhere without them; and you will wreck your luggage if wheels fail. Good quality zippers are also important, because you need to get to your stuff. Don't buy cheap luggage. Don't necessarily trust big name brands or designer brands. If you are on a budget, the best option is good quality mid-range priced bags that work well for you.
I love my Level 8 carry ons. I have 3. Just purchased the Monos 26 inch checked with latches. It’s beautiful. I will try it on my trip to South Africa in December
Hi Chris. Thanks for the live stream. Great variety of suitcases and carry on luggage. I need to check in a bag because I always bring back so many stuff from my trip. I use a rolling duffle bag because it best fits my needs and not many use these to travel with.Take care.
Hi Chris. Do you have any tips or tricks on taking care of your luggage and its parts? Do you use wheel protectors and other similar products? How often do your luggage wheels get wrecked even on a quality luggage? I do my best to take care of our luggage but the very rough and uneven concrete surfaces damages the wheels very quickly.
Learned this one the hard way! I’ve had the same soft case for years, and I’ve been lucky and the sun was shining every time I’ve traveled….. until recently. Unzipped the case and all of my clothes were soaking wet. How I managed to travel for years and dodge rain every single time…. I have no idea lol.
Most of the hard sided luggage I’ve seen are clam shell opening. Tell me the difference between the way hard sided luggage opens and which bags are easier to access. I have a 21” hard side to carry on but need a bigger bag for a two week trip. Hard shell 25 or 28”??
@@YellowProductions what’s the price (roughly)? My brother and I stored 3 items at the Osaka train station which not only took a while, because lockers we’re all in use, so we went to a human operated storage, but also cost us around 25$ - plus we brought the suitcase from the airport to the train station and later from the train station to the hotel… that shipping sounds damn appealing when you want to explore a city for a day before heading to your hotel. Plus: busses in Kyoto were always packed and bringing the suitcase on it did not make us very popular …
How are the TravelPro cases with four wheels? I've seen them available on their website, but have yet to see flight crews using them like they do for the two wheel versions. I know they are slightly smaller in case dimensions than the two wheel ones are due to the external wheels (the two wheel models have the wheels slightly imbedded into the case section).
There is a good reason for that. With the J-hook attachment, one can attach 2 or even 3 bags. With the center of gravity low, and two very sturdy embedded wheels, one can traverse many different surface challenges and still have one free hand. I will never go to 4 wheels. If one comes off, they are very difficult/impossible to replace on the road, especially out of country. Travel Pro wheels can be replaced anywhere in the world with inline skate wheels. Ask me how I know.
