dufflebag
 

Our safari bush planes have a strict weightlimit. Has anyone purchased a great duffle on wheels.I looked at Tumi, but did not wish to spend over $300.

I bought mine at khols. It was $139.00 on sale for half price. It was the lightest wheeled canvas duffel that I have found...weighs about 8 lbs.

I saw something the other day - I think in the "Skymall" magazine, for a fold-up wheeled cart.

We had duffle bags on our trip from Red Oxx. They did not have wheels. But they could easily be put on to one of those fold-up carts, because they all had an outer compartment with an upper and lower zipper - if both were open, the compartment was basically a "pass-through" that would fit around the wheeled cart.

The advantage of this is that you could fit 2 or 3 duffel bags on a single cart.

Anyway, this might work well for you. Let me know if my suggestion didn't make any sense.

mistadobalina: I have been looking at Red Oxx. They seem great. Which ones do you have? Also, one small question. Can you lock the locks? It doesn't look like they lock? Otherwise, the quality seems high. Thanks.

I meant to add to my previous post. Please read this board about wheeled luggage. There are numerous posts on this subject. It is highly discouraged not only for weight but also because of their shape and rigidity. Apparently they sometimes do nor fit well in the cargo holds of the bush planes. They can be left behind for the next flight. Do you really want to risk that?

Check out www.ebags.com *where you can find duffle bags at all prices, both with and without wheels. Many are priced at about $30 for a 28-35" bag (mine is 30"). Not surprisingly they hold up quite well and certainly sufficient for the up to 33/lb (15Kg) worth of clothing, shoes, and "stuff" with space to spare for souvenirs. And, at that price if bag only last 1/trip (they do last longer), you're doing well.

*a Google search will bring up other companies that sell similar type bags at reasonable prices.

Once in Africa, except for having to lift the bag off the carousel and placing on a cart to meet your guide/tour operator rep, you'll have no further need to lift the bag again while in-country.

From your home country departing you can place duffle on a cart to check-in; same thing when you return home. And, if not a cart have a Sky Cap take it into/out of the terminal as a small cost of about $2/bag.

Hi yellowpellican,
I'm with Sandi, check e-bags. They have great prices for all sorts of bags. I have both wheeled and non-wheeled, and obviously like them for different reasons. No reason for you to spend $300 on a Tumi. If you want wheels, and want a higher end (priced) bag but not as expensive as Tumi, check Delsey and also Victorinox. I have both and while I like them, I don't recommend them for safari. That extra 5 or so lbs (that the wheels add) is alot to give up. I bought those bags on-line at either e-bags or luggage warehouse, I don't remember.

I also have Cal-Pak duffles without wheels, that I prefer for Africa trips. They are inexpensive and have held up great over the years. They also have good sized, well placed outer pockets. Lastly, I like the "square" shape and large U-top opening because it keeps things from moving around, makes it easy to see everything and get in and out of, eliminating the need to pack and unpack when traveling. In fact, I like them so much that I recently bought some for Christmas presents. I bought them from e-bags. I purchased both the larger wheeled bags with coordinating smaller bags without wheels. I did a fair amount of searching before I purchased these particular bags for presents and found them a great value for the money. They were Christmas presents for my teenage nieces for a trip to Costa Rica this summer. Both nieces loved them.

Uh, oh. here we go again.

This is, I believe, the definitive thread on duffles and the question of wheels vs. no wheels.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=4

As you can see, hardly unanimous that wheels are "evil." Plenty of examples listed of where to buy duffles. Plenty of situations listed where there is no alternative other than shlepping bags long distances without a/p carts or porters.

Also, plenty of examples of taking wheeled duffles on the smallest of planes flying from camp to camp without a problem.

No examples yet that I've seen where anyone has ever been stopped from putting their wheeled duffle on a plane.

And, if still in doubt, a good TA or operator handling camp-to-camp transfers will be able to give the definitive answer for your situation.

As I've stated on that thread, I'm in excellent condition, and I would NEVER leave my wheeled duffle behind.

Jim

Jim is right, there are many threads on wheeled duffles versus not. No reason to go there again :)

To clarify my post, I did not mean that I do not recommend wheeled duffle for safari because of some prohibition. I've used my bag with wheels and have never had a problem. My recommendation for the non-wheeled bag is based solely on the fact that bags without wheels are usually lighter, and I'd like to have the extra weight available for other items.

We bought a 27" Eddie Bauer rolled duffle at Target for about $45. It weighs 7 lb, and fully loaded it weighed 40 lb.

http://tinyurl.com/34nma5

What is your weight limit?

We don't believe in expensive luggage, and like the wheels. ((*))

What is the best size, in inches, for a duffle bag that will fit into the bush planes? If the weight is correct does the size matter?

My bag is 28 inches long, has wheels, and weighs 5 lb. It was very cheap. I've been using it for safaris since before 2000, it is usually my only check-in bag, and twice has contained a light tripod as well as clothing etc.

John

Regarding the question to me on Red Oxx, I purchased the following:

1) PR6
2) PR5
3) Flying Boxcar (same overall dimensions as PR5, but with larger main section, and external sections on the long side as opposed to the short side)
4) Sun Chaser
5) Gator Carry On (my laptop/camera bag)

The stuff is indestructable, and had more than enough compartments to keep clean separate from dirty, fragile away from heavy, etc.

My only reservation was that they had no wheels. Which is why I thought a fold up wheeled cart, that I could put inside the PR6 on a flight, would definitely come in handy. That would be the best of both worlds IMO.

Mistadobalina: Thanks for the info on Red Oxx. One other question. Can you lock the zippers? I can't tell from th epictures on their website.

I would think so. They all have two zippers, so if you locked the two zippers together, you would not be able to open the pouch. We never locked anything, however. For the most part, I thought locking luggage was not allowed any more. Although in JNB, they wrapped our luggage in plastic, which accomplished the same thing.