ekscrunchy

Looked at these in their various styles and prices for carry on. Super costly. Any reason for the inflated price? I already know from browsing in one of their Rome outlets that the only Rimowas worth buying are those in their more $ lines. Otherwise it is the name but not top Quality

Anyone a confirmed Rimowa lover and can you tell me why??

Trophywife007

We just bought a couple of Rimowa for our check through bags -- the metal ones. I can't say what's worth it and what's not but the metal ones have to be more protective than the plastic/fiber/poly-whatever types, and they should be impervious to water seepage unlike the soft-sides we've used in the past. Also, there's no zipper, so that's a plus. They should last a lifetime and they're beautiful... will only improve with scratches and dents. We bought ours in Amsterdam, so we took advantage of a lower price than in the U.S., plus VAT refund.

starrs

I just bought Paravel for my next trip. I'm curious if I'll like it that much more than whatever has been in stock at TJMaxx, etc. I've been lucky with luggage with almost weekly travel for a lot of years. Really expensive luggage seems like a waste of resources to me, but we'll see.

Trophywife007

Those look pretty smart; what color did you choose?

starrs

The green. The weekender set.
I hope to go on a safari in the next year so "safari green" seemed like a sign.
My "work" luggage still has life in it but wanted something new to commemorate my retirement.

Anyone remember the day when business men all seemed to have Hartmann briefcases and luggage? I saw the Paravel randomly and checked it out. I don't know anyone who has it, that I am aware of. I liked their story so placed an order. It's here, but still in the box. For whatever reason, it made me think of my dear first boss that hired me into the business world. That's a good thing.

ekscrunchy

Is Paravel a line of Rimowa?? Where is it made?

Have got check all this out...last luggage I bought was a large Briggs and Riley which is holding up very well. Also bought a piece of junk from a chain luggage store in Rome (on the Corso) that broke before I got to the plane...name began with. "C."

Leaving soon on my much-discussed trip to southern Italy.....just bragging, humbly,(thus last comment related a jab I got on a car rental thread here.......no ill will on my part but that took me for a loop!!)

Trophywife007

I need to go check that thread out. I was looking at car rentals for Italy last year and the prices were crazy!

jacketwatch

I would ask, how often do you travel. If you’re not on the road say every month, then I think something that cost less would be fine. We have some Samsonite bags that we bought at Costco say five or six years ago and they were just fine. They are hard sided.

ta3153

Just saw this thread so may be too late to be helpful. I’ve had Rimowa luggage for over ten years and love how well it survives the rough treatment when checked. But, there’s another reason where the quality matters.

Last year I traveled to Greece with a friend. I was hampered by a bad hip so had trouble keeping up with my friend until the end of our trip when we had long treks through airports. The Rimowa suitcase was smooth and easy to steer—basically gliding as I walked with it. My friend had loved her suitcase that she bought at TJMaxx up until that point. She couldn’t keep up with me and basically had to manhandle through the airport. Her shoulders and arms were very unhappy.

She’s going to get new luggage (but it won’t be Rimowa). But, it will be something that is easy to wheel around.

Trophywife007

Yes, you have to see how the bag rolls and don't assume it will be fine when it's loaded. We bought a bag on the fly and had to keep steering it as it wanted to go some other direction than we were going. Ditched that one quickly!

lrice

We bought Briggs & Riley a couple of years ago before our trip to France and Italy, and love it! It's lightweight, has smooth spinner wheels that glide easily and nice tall handles for my 6'4" husband. We don't anticipate ever having to replace them.

Trophywife007

I think they have a nice warranty IIRC. I did like that the hardware is on the outside so there's a flat packing surface.

suze

My number one question is how much does the suitcase weigh empty? And usually the super expensive ones are also quite heavy.

I agree about how often you travel matters hugely. An every-other-week business flight warrior is different than someone going on a tropical vacation a couple times a year. Or traveling to Europe and going around by train. Different trips, different needs.

mlgb

I've been looking at the Monos hybrid cases. Zipperless spinners seem to get great reviews.Need a waterproof checked bag large enough for my tripod and hiking pole.

No more soft sided bags!

starrs

I used my Paravel suitcase today. Glides and rolls like a dream.
Very pleased with it.

ekscrunchy

RainyCityGirl: Here is the Rimowa recent thread....add to this if you have the time, please!

They are really sharp but since I have to cram in untold new items ranging from hotel shampoos to bags of pasta.....do they expand at all? My normal carry on now is Eagle Creek and for check in, I have a fairly new-ish Briggs and Reilly which is very good although it gets so heavy after I cram in all the (mainly food) items (jars of olives, bags of chicherie from Molise, boxes of good pastas, bottles of colatura from Cetara! Not to mention the big carton of peppers from Senise!! Plus all the extra things that the farmer packed into the box! (I do know I have a problem!!) which are now scattered all over my apartment 2 weeks after returning from Italy.....

It's getting pretty bad here....Manhattan=small apartments not made for lots of extra "stuff!" But I do cook with all of it! I did have to ditch the pork products like n'deja and sausage from Calabria.....so sad!!!

raincitygirl

They don’t expand, that is a drawback to them. Or you could buy the Rimowa Trunk?
Briggs and Riley have a new expansion system which you pull up, then when your bag is packed you collapse it and it compresses everything.
‘I will report back once I have packed my Rimowa carry on. I actually purchased a top of the range Tumi carry on last weekend but it is 12 pounds empty so it is going back to the store despite being a lovely bag in other aspects.

raincitygirl

Just wanted to say I loved your pepper story from your Trip report! Maybe you really do need that Rimowa trunk bag for all these food purchases. I looked at it yesterday when I purchased my Rimowa carry on bag which I absolutely love and it hasn’t even left the house yet. My husband says I am like Gollum from Lord of the Rings with my “preciousssss” Ha! The Trunk is nice and deep for all those food packages.
I learned my lesson about bringing meat products home in 2016 coming home from Florence and the creeps at Customs confiscated my prosciutto and special finochio (sp?) mortadella etc. that I bought at the Sant’Ambrogio market. I was tired and cranky and gave the young officer a real ear bashing about it but he was unmoved by my ranting lol. We were near a carousel from a flight from the Philippines which had several boxes going around on it leaking liquid and reeking of rotten fish- I suggested he should maybe check that out and leave my lovely meat selection alone but he said that was situation normal and someone else would do it. His favourite finds apparently were the many many suitcases loaded with cash being smuggled out of China. By this time we had become so chatty together I’m sure he felt perfectly comfortable eating my prosciutto. Haha.

Trophywife007

Hi rcg: I'm curious... did you declare the meat/cheese products on a form? Did they have food and cash sniffing dogs? How do they find it other than the "tell" of the leaking smelly liquid? I once got lectured over not declaring a chocolate bar as food, but it wasn't confiscated. Thankfully, I'm now beyond the age where I get scrutinized for, ahem, other things.

ekscrunchy

RAINYCITY..Love the idea of those carousels with the stinky balut and goodness knows what else!
I used to sneak in meat all the time. Cheeses are generally fine to bring in and I bring them back from Spain and Italy all the time with no problem. But a few years ago I had taken a lamb sandwich on m'sam (spelling--the Moroccan bread) from Andalusia. I thought I would eat it on the plane in stead of the junky food onboard. But I forgot. So when we landed at JFK my partner told me to "look at that adorable beagle..he has a vest!!' "Must be a service pup!!" But that cute service pup seemed to take an extraordinary interest in my backpack where the sandwich was tucked away. So you can imagine....I never did go home with that sandwich even though, this time, it was an honest mistake. And since then I've been hesitant to sneak in the Jamon Iberico and all the salumi from Italy! I even had to thrown away that donkey salami from Ragusa that we had no chance to eat!!! And folks, don't laugh, donkey is a treat in parts of southern Italy..the meat is sweet and so tasty, and more expensive than most other meats.....Salami di Asino is the name of the salami from donkey..look for it and enjoy its there!!

What makes my bags heavy are the bottles of olive oil, newly pressed, and the cans of conservas from Spain, like ventresca, or tuna belly. And all those packages of unusual pastas, like the ones I just bought which are infused with pepperoni di Senise!@!! And oh, the bottles of colatura from Cetara....I made a garlic and anchovy pasta with the colatura the other night and it was really special....so easy:

https://www.seriouseats.com/spaghett...-with-colatura

One thing I learned on this last trip to the South, was NEVER to use breadcrumbs in a dish with tomatoes because the tomato liquid will make soggy the breadcrumbs. I've been doing that so many years and YES, the breadcrumbs always get soggy. Have to add that tip to my recent Italy thread..