Does 26 IN BAG work W/50# LIMIT?
 

I am planning my Yellowstone trip - the baggage part of the trip. I realize my former style of travel will not work - one giant 30 IN bag and one 20 IN rolling carry on (filled with real size toiletries - not those tiny trial sizes) with the present weight and toiletry restrictions. My 30 IN bag filled with clothes only is over the 50# limit. I do not want to pay $50. for the extra weight. My SO has convinced me that lifting that really big, really heavy bag is too hard anyway. And, I have to agree.

So, I am planning to check two 26 IN bags. Does anyone know if a 26 IN rolling bag will be okay weight wise - not over filled to an extreme degree.

Anyone know of a brand & style that is light weight (for a rolling bag), has large zipper pocket inside (on the inside of the lid) and has two exterior pockets?

I looked for years to find my perfect 30 IN bag. It is a few years old, no longer made and has the above details (except the light weight empty thing). I love it.

When shopping online (my preferred method for this trip) lots of the bags I've seen don't have an inside photo or description.

Any help or ideas appreciated.

Thanks.

Any help from anyone, please?

I have bought all sorts of bags, handbags, backpacks from ebags (website of same name). While there is no photo of inside, there is always a detailed description.

I believe that all travelers are free to use any regulation-conforming luggage and wear/bring/use anything they personally want - as long as they can carry/lift/roll it. So my question is not judgemental, just curious - what toiletries could one person possibly use that would fill a 20 inch bag?

As far as the lack of responses to your first post, it was the middle of the night in most of the US and only chronic insomiacs would likely be on this forum at that time.

Hope you enjoy YNP.

My bag is several years old and seems heavy even when it's empty. It can expand a couple of inches by unzippering the "gusset". It has two outside pockets that I rarely use. Filled with clothes and shoes, it is usually under the weight limit (barely). If it has books, too many magazines, catalogs from a trade show, etc, it goes over the limit. Borrow a scale from someone. I have put very heavy things in my carry-on (i.e. catalogs) which is a pain (literally) if you have a connection.

have you looked at the descriptions and pictures on sites such as 1800luggage.com and ebags.com?

As to the weight issue...who can tell unless you weigh it yourself? We do so much traveling and generally "travel heavy" bags-wise that we finally got a scale to weigh our bags prior to departure.

You can very easily fill a 26" bag with more than 50# of items that's for certain.

I was going to suggest ebags.com as well.

MileKing's luggage guidelines are never take more than you carry up two flights of stairs (in a single trip). Why not jettison the 20 in bag and buy real size toiletries on arrival?

I have the 26" Briggs&Riley Ultralight. Even though it is called ultralight, it is not really as light as some other brands (only light in comparison to other B&R bags). I like it a lot. the inside is pretty much empty which is how I prefer it. If I need compartments, I can make my own by using EagleCreek packing cubes. The hardware is quite sturdy without being heavy. And B&R bags come with a lifetime warantee.

When I fill it up with clothing and toiletries, it weighs about 48#. That would include maybe 1 or 2 books. So it can definitely make the weight limit but not if its seriously overstuffed.

Or you could take less stuff. You are going to Yellowston, not Paris. How much clothes could you possibly need in Yellowstone?

I have a monster Swiss Army suitcase that I use for really long trips.
It's in the attic, so I am not sure how large it is... maybe 28".
It's pretty plain. Black with 2 zipper pockets on the outside, 1 inside and a pretty elaborate garment/pocket insert.
The whole thing weighs much less than my smallest 21" bag. It does not feel as strong as my bulkier bags, but that is the case with all the superlight bags. Supposedly these bags are just as strong.
REI has great lightweight bags that don't break the bank.

Choco
You need to first know the weight of the bag you are using--the 26" measurement is useless unless you know how much the bag weighs before you start to fill it up.
I switched from my monster bag (which allowed me to only check on bag, but my DH also complained about its size) to two smaller but reasonably sized bags this year and they were both full and not over the weight limit.
How did I know before going? I simply plopped them on my bathroom scale. (But, I have also gotten to the point where I can just about tell by lifting them.)
If you are many packing shoes, divide them up between the two bags and/or your SO's bags. Reconsider your toiletry necessities--many hotels now supply shampoo, blow dryers and other goodies.
Mike T, you have me LOL. You obviously haven't traveled with or aren't a typeA overpacker. We still require the same amount of stuff (that we will never use) regardless if it is Yellowstone or Paris! A lot of it comes down to indecisviveness while packing--at least for me....it's just hard to leave all that crap at home just "in case" we might need it.

Oh lordy Chocolate,

I go to Yellowstone all the time and just cannot imagine what you are taking to need 2 large bags. If you can tell us when you are going and for how long, and planned activities - give us a list of what you are taking in the way of clothing - we can help you - a lot!

I managed to make my 24" luggage be over the 50lb limit on my last trip. The bag is not particularly heavy when empty, but not the lightest, either. The things I carried that I think were what made it particularly heavier were a travel iron, alarm clock (small but not one of those tiny travel ones), 2" thick guide book... All the rest were basically clothes and (travel size) toiletries.

Fortunately, they were nice at the gate and let me move stuff to my carry-on so I wouldn't be over the limit. (It weighed in at 55lbs. My friend's was 60lbs and he opted to pay the overlimit fee rather than try to lug more stuff onboard.)

BTW, my BF loves his Victorinox. It's rugged, but significantly less weight when empty than my Samsonite. Mine has a great zippered pocket inside the lid, expandable option, and other pockets; I'm not sure his does.

This tinyurl goes to the US Samsonite page for my Pro-DLX luggage; there's even a picture of the inside, with the removable garment bag that fits inside the larger lid pocket. You can see the smaller pockets that rest on the outside of that larger pocket; the shiny one is waterproof and the others are mesh.
http://tinyurl.com/2hw478

And this tinyurl is for the Victorinox bag my BF owns. He likes that the zip-off daypack can be locked to the larger bag if he decides to check the whole thing. He has the 24" in lime green, as shown (great for finding on the airport luggage carrousel!).
http://tinyurl.com/yubfyc

I use a smaller rolling bag and take a duffle bag to stuff shoes and bulky items. It's easier than packing everything in one big bag.

Thanks for all the replies.

Gail-
It's not all toiletries. However, in the good old days (before the new restrictions) I took two large bottles each of shampoo & conditioner, bottles of hand soap (1 per hotel - I hate the mess trying to reclose it), bar soap (1 per hotel), deoderant, tooth things, face lotion, spf lotion, hand lotion, contact lens travel kits (1 travel kit per week for hard lenses - I know it's extra, however I live in fear of dropping the lens case, bottle top, etc on the bathroom floor - never want to do that, ick, ick, ick), travel & paperback books, magazines, cd/mp3 player(got my first one recently), camera, batteries, chargers for batteries and some normal batteries (if rechargeable ones/charger don't work where I'm going), deoderant, electric razor, drinks (crangrape or apple or Power drink & water - I do not drink caffienated things, I avoid carbonated things when flying and I am not able to drink coffee or OJ which are often the only thing offerred on morning flights), allergy and other pills, notebook and pens/markers, Lysol spray, ziploc bags. It is a lot.

I also take snacks like pretzels, plain potato chips, a few chocolate bars and Haribo twin cherries - there are lots of things I am not able to eat. I know these are not ADA approved. However, they don't make me feel ill on planes (like that horrible nightmare grease soaked airline lasagna or the breakfast which always has green pepper & onion omelettes - are plain omelettes illegal on airplanes?). I do eat some real food on trips. However, starving on long flights or having a connection that forces me to walk past the lovely sandwich place (that has meat and cheese only delights) with no time to wait in line and get something is not a good time.

Thanks for the good wishes for my trip.


dfrostnh -
Thanks for the weight tip - with almost no toiletries in my carry on I will balance the weight that way. By the way, once I was on a trip with my sister. I had a rolling carry on and my sister had a backpack. The gate agent took one look at my barely legal size carry on, lifted it and tried to get me to check it (BA flight). I practically begged him to let me take it on since it had all my necessities for the flight and also, things I was afraid of getting lost or stolen. He did. We walked over to the seating area for the flight. My sister handed me her backpack. It was a lot smaller than my bag and weighed 50% more. I was amazed she was able to lift it. She was so glad he didn't lift her bag.

Dukey -
Thanks, I looked at eBags and will do some more online looking.
I was trying to get an idea if the avg 26 IN bag weighs over 50# when reasonably loaded. I will weight it. I want to avoid ordering a bag, filling it so the contents don't slide into wrinkle nightmare world and still be overweight, then having to send it back. Maybe, I need two 24 IN bags?

Mileking -
I hear the stairs thing. On my last road trip, I stayed at a place where my room was a long stairway and really long hallway away from the parking lot (no elevator). I took a 30 IN rolling bag since the only weight restriction was my back strength. Believe me I regretted that decision. I also thanked myself for stopping and getting that heavy case of my favorite brand of bottled water (at a great price) for my week long stay.

I am allergic/sensitive to lots of things (I don't consider migraine type headaches or rashes nice travel companions). It is not easy or often possible to find the toiletries I am able to tolerate when travelling.

ChinaCat -
Thanks, I will look at B&R. I get attached to "perfect" bags and want them to last a long time.

MikeT,
I'm going for two weeks (also GTNP & Glacier). Washing clothes does not fit into my definition of "vacation" or a good time. No offence to those who wash things in the sink or by other preferred method. I don't want to wear dirty clothes. No offence to those who wear things over & over. It's not something I am comfortable doing. I take clean clothes for every day. It works for me.

TxTravelPro -
Thanks, I will look for the Swiss one and at REI.

Thanks again, everyone.

<b>TWO</b> 26 inch bags for Yellowstone? How on earth are you filling two bags that size? I would think one 24 incher would be more than enough. Or at VERY most, one 26&quot;

I've taken 4 week trips to Paris/London/Scotland and through the Pacific NW w/ a single 22 inch bag and medium sized handbag or small day pack and had way more than enough space for everything from hiking to fancy dinners.

wrinkles? Yellowstone? GTNP &amp; Glacier?
Is this a fashion shoot?

Regardless of where you are going, and why you are packing as much baggage as you feel necessary, you simply have to put it on a scale. A bag of rocks will weigh much more than a bag of undies!!!

None the less, I travel in excess of 100K air miles a year and about every 6 or 7 years I buy a new bag - zippers bust, the bottom cloth gets frayed, new styles come out, whatever.

I go to JCP or Kohls when they have their super-duper 50% off everything + my 15% off coupon and find the bag that I want. I think a less frequent traveler would be able to us the bag much longer than 6-7 years.

I just recently purchased 4 bags - all with the new 360 degree wheels (4 wheels vs 2) for under $50 using coupons and sales! The largest one was 29&quot;, then 26&quot;, then 2 smaller carry-on &quot;rollers&quot;.

I too like the 2 outside zippered compartments and the large zipper compartment located inside of the bag.

Good luck in your travels!

&quot;No offence to those who wear things over &amp; over. It's not something I am comfortable doing. I take clean clothes for every day. It works for me.&quot;

But isn't worth the $50 to pay for the overweight luggage. Odd priorities.

My son packed a giant duffel for a year-long stay in Africa - mostly clothes, but a few books, too (his toiletries were in his &quot;travel&quot; bag, not the duffel). Huge bag and didn't break the 50-lb. mark.

&quot;<i>I don't want to wear dirty clothes. No offence to those who wear things over &amp; over.</i>&quot; ya know - the &quot;heavy packing brigade&quot; tend to pull out this old canard to explain why they need to take everything but the kitchen sink Sorry - pack what you want - but I have never worn anything dirty. Nor do I wear the same things over and over.

W/ sensible packing/coordinating you can get 25 - 35 outfits into a 22 inch carry on. Not 70 garments - but enough bottoms and mix/match tops to work for several weeks.

But as we say - you take it, you carry it. Don't stick it on your SO (I think he was trying to give you a hint)