Wheeled Luggage
 

My son borrowed and wrecked my very nice wheeled 26" upright that had been a great buy (less than $100) at a Samsonite outlet store. Now that I'm shopping for a new one, I see luggage brands I've never noticed before - and they seem as sturdy as Samsonite for about half the price. Some suggestions, please, on the best wheeled uprights for under $150.

check out www.packinglight.com

Check out OTHER TOPICS forum.

Try asking this on the Europe forum. There are always lots of discussions about the best luggage.

I love my Kipling (carry on) and Pathfinder (check in) luggage.
I got 2 pieces of the Pathfinder for 1/3 retail at a big Marshall's at Grapevine Mills and the other at the Marshall's at Pentagon City. The selection seems to be better at the really big Marshall's stores in areas where there is a lot of tourist traffic.
Kipling is moderate in cost and really durable... cute too.
I buy almost all of my extensive collection (20+ pieces) at Empire Luggage on Broadway in NYC. They have the best selection I have ever seen.
I have also bought some great Kipling items on eBay.

At the risk of sounding like an advice columnist, I must ask why you are shopping for the replacement luggage. Shouldn't your son assume the responsibility for replacing it?

The Europe forum discusses this in detail. I am amazed at how well a very cheap ($20) Rome rollon from Wal-Mart has lasted and an inexpensive set from Target. I've used these to roll heavy items in and out of exhibits for work and they are still going strong. My "fancy" roll-on is an expensive one with bells and whistles from LL Bean.

I've found rolling duffles don't roll very well. Next time I shop for wheeled luggage I'd take it for a test drive in the store with some stuff in it to see how well it rolls.

I was told, and I believe it, that the bulk of the less expensive luggage is all made somewhere in Asia and is mainly made by a couple of companies but labeled and marketed under many different names. There will be few differences in the many names of cheaper luggage you find.

The important thing is to check it out. I have seen a lot of rolling luggage that is hard to roll because the wheels are too small or too close together, making it always wanting to tip, particularly on non-level surfaces. Bigger wheels that are placed near the outer edges of the suitcase will work best.

I've also noticed that some luggage, including very expensive stuff like Tumi often has such small wheels so embedded into the suitcase, that if you try to roll it on cobblestones, or unpaved uneven surfaces, the case itself scrapes along. I suppose if you have good luggage you aren't supposed to be taking it off the beaten path?

Whatever you buy, make sure it has a warranty. Five years minimum.

I like ballastic nylon with super heavy zippers and very sold sturdy wheels.

I have found the best place to buy quality luggage at a good price is TJ Maxx or Tuesday Morning.

I just bought my husband a hard sided carryon pullman that was regularly $175 and clearanced at TJMaxx for $58. Can't remember the maker. Devel or something?

My American Tourister died after about 5 years, then I had a cheap WalMart bag that lasted about 3 months.

I bit the bullet and paid the price ($199) for an LLBean 22" roller bag (They've got other sizes). Why? the guarantee:

http://www.llbean.com/customerServic...guarantee.html

Zipper breaks, they replace the bag. Don't like the wheels? They give you your money back. Doesn't last as long as the $50.00 knock off? They'll give you a new one.

It could be the last bag you ever buy.

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/sto...p;guideId=5928

I have mixed feelings about expensive vs. cheap luggage. For $199, mentioned above, you can buy four or five cheaper bags. I tend to get tired of things anyway.

We had two guaranteed Orvis rolling duffles. The repaired them twice, but that didn't help the idea that once the wheels came off the second week of a five month trip in Europe. If it had been cheap, I'd have thrown it away and bought a new one, rather than dragging it all over Europe until I got home to get it repaired. Now they sit in the closet, as I decided I wanted something new anyway.

Now I have a $500 plus Hartman rolling duffle. It's great, but frankly I could be just as happy with some of the very cheap versions instead, and replace it every year or so. Also I'd worry less about it getting broken into at airports or hotels -- it's very recognizable as expensive luggage.

Check your local Costco if you're a member. They sell 2 sizes of wheeled luggage under their Kirkland brand which are very well constructed, rugged and durable. I've had one for years. I carry it side by side with my Tumi and can hardly tell the difference. They aren't super cheap (around $89 for the smaller 22 inch size) but are better quality than a comparably priced piece from a department or luggage store.

Ditto the Tuesday Morning, TJMAxx suggestion. I've been buying luggage at these places and I'm very happy with the results and wear. My kids are growing, so as I needed larger luggage I would pick up pieces at discount. Business travelers will, perhaps, be looking for matching stylish pieces.

If you opt for a rolling duffle, in addition to the wheel suggestions, be sure the bottom is reinforced with metal braces for the length of the bag.

I think the expensive luggage is a target for theives and agree with Patrick. I never disliked luggage as much as I did my Tumi. I had 2 pieces stolen, luggage tags stolen, broken zippers, etc.

I now have the Patagonia Freightliner Weekender and Freightliner Max. Love, love, love. Them. The wheels are roller blade wheels and I carry 2 replacement wheels with me on long trips (just in case). They are really durable and roll nicely. I had a problem with the large one where the leather on one edge was ripping (airport handling) and Patagonia replaced the entire, one year old bag, without question.

I have a wheeled 22" from JC Pennys and a wheeled 24" expandable from Marshalls (discount outlet) both were purchased for >$50 and have lasted years.

Bridging this thread with the duct tape one: I have about a 1' bit of duct tape (Duck tape, ok?) along one seam of a larger 26" checkable bag because it got tossed and some of the trim pulled away from the fabric. Now that's all I ever check (when I check baggage) because it looks so sad and seedy and is very very obvious at the baggage carousel. In fact, the inside works perfectly well and has the best array of straps and pockets -- not too many of either.

Warning re: expensive bags -- they tend to have all kinds of "packing aid" boards and shelves and snaps and folders and nets inside, which just take up weight and room. I liked the dimensions, color, and heaviness of the zipper of one such (American Tourister?) but had to cut out a lot of the interior nonsense to make it functional.

I have many cheap bags from places like target. I like the carry on 22 inch size. The kids roll them all over the airport banging them around. We check the larger sized bags and they get all banged up also. I buy cheap and I buy every so often. Like Patrick says, you get tired of the same bag and if it's cheap in the trash it goes!

On the issue of luggage, when I needed a new 26 or 28 incher, I went to a department store that was having a luggage sale. I bought the cheapest thing available that was big and rolled. It has lasted longer than my Samsonite.

I decided that spending money on a high priced suitcase was not worth it. The airlines are going to tear it up anyhow.
Toughness is not proportional to price.

When this piece of luggage goes, I buy from Bean because they do back their products. I got a Bean Goretex jacket. It started leaking. I got a new one at no extra cost. I still have it and use it.

On the responsibility issue, I well before the end of my teaching career that this is the baby boomer age.

Parents now come to the university with their adult children and fuss at the professor for flunking their little darlings. I had more than one nasty incident with irate parents. In one case the guy went all the way to the associate dean, who told the guy what I had been telling him. The student failed the course. He was one of 5% who did.

Parents also get ticked off because the prof has no idea which one of 300 students their little darling is.

I have had both parents come into my office and demand to know their student's grades. I told them I could not reveal that information. They hit the ceiling. I said "Your child is an adult. The Buckley Amendment protects the right to privacy for adults."

Moreover, I told them, your son has all his old tests and homework papers. What he made on those papers is his business. If he wants to tell you, fine. But I am not revealing that information without his written consent.

Also Boomer Parents take their 18 year old children to school like my mother took me on the first day of the first grade. Some of them even go to class with them!

They even want to decide the child's major for them before the child has taken his or her first major course.

Some universities have provisions for the parents to spend the night in the dorms so they can see what it is like.

Orientation these days at some universities is more for the parents than it is for the kids.

If I had asked my dad to go talk to one of my college professors because I had done poorly in a course, he would have exploded at me! And if he had gone to a class with me, I would have fallen over in a heap.

But today's fashion statement is to cling, hover, and mother. Perhaps guilt comes in because mom worked and did not see her children grow up. Now she wants to sleep in the dorm room with them.

I think the parents should go the whole nine yards. Before fussing at the prof, they should also go out and get drunk with their little darlings on Thursday night or the night before a big test. (The traditional drinking binge night at some schools is Thursday. It serves as a warm-up for Friday and Saturday.)

Then, after drinking, mom and/or dad should go back to the dorm room or apartment in an equally drunken state and have fun watching what goes on after their little darlings "go to bed."

Some of these students get more sex in a semester than their parents probably had in their whole lives!!

I hate to sound cynical, but that is the way it is these days. Mom and Dad come and clean up the mess!

Yikes, Bob! Are these parents the 'soccer moms' who's kids have grown older?
My daughter is a 18yr old (almost 19) junior college freshman, living at home. I do keep close tabs on her but I have had nothing to do with her college selections, grades, etc. She knows she owes it to me to pass and not waste my money or her time. She does not date or even 'go out'. She works 40+ hours a week and takes a full course load every semester.
No time for foolin' around.
As long as she respects me, I will respect her.
Please tell me I am not the only 'traditional' parent...?

We have found that our Kirland bags from Costco have gotten us through Egypt, Africa, Europe many times, Galapagos, Hawaii many times , around the USA and local California trips and no wheels have fallen off and only a couple zipper pulls were lost along with the padlocks, probably due to the automated luggage systems, not thieves because the pull also disappeared and nothing was cut. Our hardsided Samsonite bag was trashed by Alaska Air a few years ago en route to an Alaska cruise...OUCH!! We now secure all our check in bags with those little plastic strip latches like the ones to secure electric wiring to each other...the name??? If security wants to check the bag, go ahead and cut! For longer trips we use both padlocks and the plastic strips and say to security.."go ahead and cut if you want to!" (we carry extras in the bags) (The only hang-up is you can't carry scissors on board, due to the nasty folks who brought us 9/11, so we need to have the porters at hotel check-in cut the little plastic cables. small price to pay for security.)Then the airport security folks mark the bag with their very secret marker pen color and since we are very boring looking folks, nothing is ever cut!And the x-ray confirms our very boring contents!
Our son has used his Ricardo bags for over 10 years and they still hang in there. Cheap is good if it is well built!

I LOVE luggage and purses. I can't seem to stop buying them. My husband absolutely detests our 26"Tumi on wheels, because it topples over. It's about 15 years old with the smaller wheels. It still looks like new though after countless trips.

I have several pieces of Hartmann, both leather and leather and fabric, plus numerous other brands and pieces.

For a long time we used Rick Steves' rucksacks as carryons - no wheels. His new pieces look basically the same as our 17 year old pieces, but I don't know if they are made as well. These things are like that battery bunny - they just go on and on, and look like as good new. Not fancy, but worth looking into for their durability.

The brand that we now use most of the time, is Eagle Creek - carryon wheelies, duffles etc..
I have been very satisfied with them and they wear very very well. Eagle Creek has a great customer service dept. They have repaired a few smaller items with no charge. The damage was caused by normal wear and tear, through no fault of the manufacturer, but they still repaired them free of charge just the same. They also don't send out a 'steal me' signal, as they don't look like expensive luggage.

A few years ago I couldn't resist a $29.95 duffle on wheels at Target. When I brought it home my husband thought that my 'addiction' had reached a new level - rock bottom. (Sorta like drinking cheap gin.) Long story short, that 'cheap' duffle has been to Europe many times, NY, Washington DC and a few other destinations. It looks great and functions beautfully. What a bargain!!!

I think that some of the factories in Asia make the cheap stuff as well as some of the top brands. They contract with anyone who wants their services.
I keep my luggage for years and years. Maybe because I buy so many pieces, they tend to last forever. :-)

When I die I want to be buried in a very expensive luggage store with lots of travel accessories.

Our dtr has a wheeled duffle that we bought at Target that actually wheels well (says it is Eddie Bauer brand - but I suspect that is a label, and no assurance of anything). It has at least 6 pouches/pockets, both inside and out, and zipper opens like a big "U" - so it is not like a big gym bag that everything gets stuffed into.

If I were buying any luggage today, my first thought would actually be color - trying to find a black suitcase on the luggage belt is maddening, and I think one of the prime reasons bags disappear. Hers i bright red.

Bob, Lessons on luggage and parenting!I hope my kids are not the ones that will be drunk and having sex every night! They have a few years left till we are at that stage in their lives...thank god...
On the luggage issue...my target bags do last...and I would like to also find more colorful bags too like Gail. The 15 black suitcases we own are a pain in the a.. to find on the belt.. Nina.. I think the idea of being buried in very expensive luggage with travel accessories was hilarious. The problem is that I always buy cheap stuff. So, in death I would be buried in the good stuff? or heaven forbid ..target specials!

GoTravel states: Whatever you buy, make sure it has a warranty. Five years minimum.

Sorry, but if you read the fine print - the warranty excludes "normal wear" which unfortunately covers just about anything that would happen to a piece of luggage.

Rarely do I check my luggage. I overpack a duffle that I strap on to my pullman as does my husband. My pullman must have 100,000 flying miles on it and the duffle is usually 2-3 times its weight. It should have fallen apart by now but it is a work horse. The five year warranty has long passed but the bag still looks fairly new.

Bob, your 'college tales' reminded me of my daughter's experience during a college visit when she was a senior in HS. Her student host for the weekend had a fax machine in her room which she used to send copies of her papers home so that mommy and daddy could red pencil them and then fax them back. I can only imagine what must go on now with e-mail..... Student sends the paper home via an attachment. Mommy and daddy edit in a different color and send it back. I'm soooo glad that we're both retired!

I have all kinds of luggage and have taken out all the inside compartments of the $199 and above pieces because, just as someone said, they are all too heavy with the inner bags, plastic, slots etc. all in there. My very cheap floral soft-sided K-Mart set I gave to my daughter and it is still going to the lake and back two or three times a month.

We always mark our bags with red yarn or some colored tape and stay away from black, as I get sick of trying to find it on the turnstyles. I think my 4 piece set is American Tourister and it is tough and wheels are great, not small and not sticky. Handles also are very smooth, slide out to expand with just a button. Duffle is duo strapped and you can use either or both. Both is too heavy and I use it with longer one as carry on.

To the profs, drink me a toast tonight, as it's finals week and things are not any better than when you left. And you know what, I actually feel sorry for these students. They've had so much support and so few times that they have had to take any of the world's disappointments that they feel absolutely "entitled" and I believe they will have nowhere to "feel" but down. There are men and women of 20 or 22 that can't pick up ANY of their own pieces. They are basically good kids, people, let them suffer a bit so that they can get stronger and tougher. They aren't. Some of them are emotion wimps and can never be wrong, or take complete responsibility.

girlonthego .... of course you can be buried with the 'good stuff'.

We'll make a much better impression checking into the big first class cabin in the sky. And you know my dear, how important first impressons are. :-)

We've stayed at some nice hotels in Europe and we must look like ragamuffins slepping in our Rick Steves, Eagle Creek and Target cases, with a 'name' brand mixed in here and there. We have raised a few eyebrows at some of the smaller hotels. I used to be conscious of things like that, but then I realized that if we could afford to stay there, who are 'they' to judge us by our luggage.

The majority of my cases are black, love that color - clothes, shoes, purses etc.. We tie brightly colored bandanas tightly around the handles.

Forgot to add, that Go Travel is correct about pricing. My better set was a present from my children one year and they got it at J.C. Penney's during a considerable sale, and yet at T.J. Maxx, I later saw one of the pieces there for about 2/3rds of what my daughter said she paid. But they did not have all the matching pieces to my set, but several others were complete and priced very, very well.

I have been reading this thread with interest as I'd like to replace my luggage. I'd really prefer to get something cheap as I don't travel super often, but I'm concerned about two things. I tend to stuff my suitcase full when I go on trips. This causes two problems 1.) the suitcase tends to topple over when it is upright and I am not supporting it and 2) the telescoping handle can be difficult to pull up when it's that full. I've noted that some of the descriptions listed with the more pricey luggage claim they are built so that you don't have these problems. I don't want to buy a larger size suitcase. These problems are the reason I am replacing my suitcase and I don't want to buy another with same. Is there a way to test luggage for this, or does anyone have any experience with this?

For lisatravels above- What about using two pieces instead of stuffing one suitcase so full? It would be much easier to manage. I'm thinking of a 22-24" rolling bag with a second smaller bag attached (either by a strap provided so it rides in front or by a sleeve that slips over the handle of the 1st bag).

lisatravels: You could go into a department store, pick up a suitcase you like, fill it with stuff in the store(towels,etc), than wheel it around and see how it feels. As long as you don't try to wheel it out, I doubt anyone would care if you try them out!

My sister bought Swiss Army luggage and it flips over when you try to pull it. I buy cheap luggage and just try to make sure it's comfortable to pull as some luggage seems to bump into you while you are pulling it.

I also have found good deals on luggage at Value City Department stores--many times you can find that "extra" piece you need in a particular size in American Tourister, Samsonite. Just last year found a four piece of Oscar de la Renta for $79.00, each piece was small enough to zip inside the next larger piece. This makes it great if you want to pack an extra bag for the trip home. For the price, they are working great and I have a bag of each size for longer trips or shorter conferences! The main thing I look for is noise when pulling--I'm sure people shopping think I'm nuts when I attempt to wheel the luggage somewhere in the store where there is tile floor. I had one particularly noisy piece in the past--admittedly a cheaper piece, so will not make that mistake again.

Bob, I empathize with you but trust me, working in the public education system these parents have gotten a lot of practice "getting their way" waaaay before they ever get to you. It's incredible what parents will defend in their children these days. I had a student who had charged up to $10 on the school cafeteria account, knowingly, and when he was finally refused another charge, he ran out screaming obscenities, found a phone somewhere, called "mommy" at work, who told him that she didn't care what he was told at school, but he was to go in and take a lunch and walk out--which was exactly what he did!! There is more to my story and millions of other stories like this (and yours) to be told, so hang in there!!!

I also agree with the frugal luggage. I however take exception with Bob's notions of the younger than 21 set. Having 7 kids who are now ages 27 to 12 and having had 5 who have gone to college or are now there, I have met many people in the age bracket. Most are hard working, polite, kind, and deserving of our respect. A very few are spoiled, nasty, and lacking in social graces. I really dislike the tendency to downgrade the youth of today. I also work at an elementary school and find that most parents do a pretty good job.

I do agree with your sentiment shaz60, but Bob had a reason to object to this kind of behavior. If you are IN the college, it is quite different that what you see as a parent. I have been both and for many, many years.

I actually think the drugs, alcohol are less and things are somewhat better in that area now than they have been at times in the past. BUT, in the area of moral values- cheating, stealing, not taking any personal responsability for their own true success, work ethic etc.-these things are much more common then they were, even 5 to 10 years ago.

Respect for the professors and teachers as adults/ mentors or the "superiors in charge" is not a "given" as it once was.
Parents feel more now, when you speak to them, that they are buying a "product" and that the student himself/herself is entitled to "get" everything with no exceptions for laziness or behavior problems. Many not yours, but lots of kids today are coddled way beyond the boundary where they can develop their own strength and perseverance. It's scary if you see it once or twice every day, when you used to see it once a week at that.

Retired Teacher, my son is in the Army and currently in Iraq. The luggage was ruined when he came home on leave last summer, and now he's back in Iraq. That's why I have to buy the luggage instead of him.

bob, read with great interest what you wrote.

My stepson's mother would regtularly visit him at college and on a few of those occaissions spend the night in his dorm room. It creeped out his father and me.

As for the luggage I just bought husband and one stepdaughter, it is Delsey.

Postal, I sure wish your son a safe tour in Iraq. God bless him!! And can only imagine how difficult it is for you, especially during the holiday season.

Prayers and wishes to you and your family that your son returns home soon, safe and sound. And hugs to you and all families that have loved ones in Iraq. I do too, and know how difficult it is not to worry and fret.

May 2005 bring joy and peace to you and to all. ((*))

Thank you, LoveItaly (I love Italy too!) Only 43 days till he returns to Germany!