Travel Products - Luggage Challenge: a 25"-27" spinner for complex set of trip needs

I'll summarize the factors involved in my choice:

Things about me relevant to luggage choices:



63 yo retired female solo traveler, not particularly physically fit



so hate plane travel I take one long trip about every 6 years and often lease car for part of it, meandering back country roads for villages, staying in B&Bs; and then rent apartments in larger cities. (Travel is largely photography focused and not traditional tourism.)



dress style casual-comfortable, *this* trip choosing light 'performance' fabrics in tops, bottoms and dresses to minimize weight & luggage space



will have laptop, iPad, couple of cameras, all their attendant cords, batteries, power strips and adapters for 3 countries


About The Trip: (mid-August to mid-November)



SFO-Paris


Driving in leased car throughout Normandy & Brittany for 6 weeks, some apartment stays, some B&B spur of moment stays, schlepping my 2 pieces of luggage in & out, up and down limited stairs


Apartment in Paris (ground level)


Fly to Prague on either EasyJet or Smart Wings (strict carryon & one checked bag weight rules)


Fly Prague to Barcelona on Veuling or Iberia air (other sets of strict carryon & one checked bag weight rules)


Fly Barcelona to Paris on Veuling


Fly Paris-SFO


Luggage Plan for lowest hassle luggage handling on this trip:



Got a 19" Eagle Creek carryon w/laptop sleeve in removable daypack to carry all tech & 'office' stuff (chose the 19" over the 22" to try to avoid crabbiness of luggage folk on intra-Europe airlines)



Get largest capacity but durable spinner available within the 25-27" which has a rectangular flat top so I can lay the 19" carryon on it's side, attached to spinner; is fairly easily pulled along on 2 wheels when needed; is lightest possible within somewhat reasonable price range.


I want a spinner due to: length of trip; number and nature of flights & airports with waits in lines and need to schlepp both as one unit solo; arm survival.

I've compared Eagle Creek Ease--one with 2 wheels and one with 4. Predictably, the 4-wheeler's interior space is 350 cu in less than the 2 wheel one. The spinner version has changes (handles, zippers) which raise my suspicions about quality.

Have read Tiu's scientific comments re: hardsides, but I want a flat surface on top so I'll only be contending with one rolling item wherever I am, and not two. The 2 wheeler, once filled and loaded with the carryon on top, will do warfare on my arm and wrist.

So far, only option I've read about here which fits the bill is Tazzeberry's Victorianox Avolve. You folk seem to know a lot about luggage. Maybe you have other ideas for me to consider.

Thanks,
Karen

I'm not particularly helpful for a spinner in that size, but, my first thought is that you might be happier with two smaller bags - easier for car travel, and if either one is a roller/spinner or you bring a luggage cart and strap you can move as one.

Two lightweight duffel and a cart would probably be lighter than a single hardside too.

This does make for an extra step at the airport when you combine/separate your bags, but it does give you much more flexibility.

Or at the very least, include a super light duffel in your bag so that you can leave the bulk of your items in the car if you are only staying a night or two. Just bring the valuables and the things you need up the stairs.

First and foremost, Welcome to Flyer Talk

Europe is often NOT friendly to wheels (cobble stones, stairs (even on ground level places). You can do laundry, so no need to pack the whole house! Packing is going to be critical on this trip. Since you will be hitting in fall time. so with that in mind.

Wheels = lost packing space and added weight

You didn't specify a price range and 'somewhat reasonable' is pretty broad spread :)
Eagle Creek (http://www.ebags.com/product/eagle-creek/ease-4-wheeled-upright-25/231555?productid=10183030) has a nice one 25" for $315
Heys 24" (http://www.ebags.com/product/heys-usa/sidewinder-24-spinner/145251?productid=10005028) $135
More Here (http://www.ebags.com/category/luggage/z/checked-medium/f/spinner?sort=TopRated)

Thanks to both of you.

Oshelef, it's a good reminder to have a foldable duffle. I'll do that. But as I've already decided on my carryon, which will serve 'office-tech' needs, I really need another to be a 'main suitcase', easy to deal with due to the situations noted above in my OP.

As I described, Flahusky, I have both 2 & 4 wheel Eagle Creeks at home right now. Just wish the 4 wheeler had the same interior space as the 2-wheel does! What I really need is a good 27" spinner to compensate for the lost 2" of interior room! I saw the Heys at a store and like it, but am concerned about durability of the wheels.

As for price, I've considered the comparable Briggs & Riley--mostly out of fear of losing wheels to baggage handlers. To me, that's the upper end of reasonable :)

Fair enough.

I've never had a wheel break anywhere but by baggage handlers. No amount of cobblestones and steps ever broke them for me. You have, by my count 5 (probably direct) flights. I'd take the chance that even pretty cheap luggage lasts that long. Cut your "upper end of reasonable" budget in half or more, and if half way through the trip the luggage isn't surviving, replace it.

For smooth surfaces (airports, malls, hotels) spinners are nice. For rough surfaces (cobblestones, mud, etc...) I think you'll find spinners less handy.

The foldable duffel will come in handy, should you decide to come home with souvenirs. (Even more so if you end up with a hardside bag that is less forgiving about stuffing one more item in.)

How willing are you to pay for extra weight? I think if if you fill an already 10 lb 27" bag you'll end up close to overweight pretty easily. How large are you current bags? I'd try and test packing and weigh it.

I concur with the comments above.

It would sound as though bags would suit your needs better. Patagonia I should think.

As I described, Flahusky, I have both 2 & 4 wheel Eagle Creeks at home right now. Just wish the 4 wheeler had the same interior space as the 2-wheel does! What I really need is a good 27" spinner to compensate for the lost 2" of interior room! I saw the Heys at a store and like it, but am concerned about durability of the wheels.

As for price, I've considered the comparable Briggs & Riley--mostly out of fear of losing wheels to baggage handlers. To me, that's the upper end of reasonable :)

Karen, a warm welcome from me as well. :)

That is a nice trip you are going to take.

I quote you on the lack of space on purpose. I am willing to bet that you will be able to make good on the 2 inches of lost interior room without serious hardship, if you only try. Very seriously. That is nothing to save. You might have to work on packing skills a little. You might have to leave a sweater and a pair of shoes at home but that's about it. Given that you will regularly stay in apartments, you will have the opportunity to do laundry either by hand or maybe they even have a machine. BTW, from what I read, women wash their clothes way more than necessary from a hygiene point of view. I am talking blouses and trousers here.

If you are anywhere close to normal size, you can do such a trip with a 24" suitcase. I know that I can live indefinitely out of a 22 incher and be dressed for all occasions, if only I can do laundry every four days or so. I am 6' and 170lbs, size 40R.

In fact, what I recommend is not a hard case at all. Too much tare weight. After all, there are instances when you will have to lift it. In your case, not having to catch flights all the time and using a car sometimes, I recommend to take an A. Saks bag with a luggage cart. The Samsonite Micromover fits in the front pocket of the 21" expandable A. Saks. I hear you say "He must be crazy. He didn't listen. He is suggesting a 21 incher. I want a 27 inch suitcase with wheels!" Right? :D

The bag I speak of is expandable. It will have as much room as a 24" regular suitcase. The thing is huge (I own one). And it is cheap ($50) and rather well made. The Samsonite cart is a bit of a pain to put back together but if you only have to do it once or twice on a given day, that shouldn't be the matter. The wheels are good. It takes cobble stones in a stride. And it stows away in the front pouch of the A. Saks. So no problem for checking it.

For the tech bag I actually recommend a backpack. This will be easiest to carry your photography gear around with you without undue strain on the back or the wrist or the shoulder. Important.

Carrying two wheeled bags, one of them a hardside, trying to balance the 19" on the 27" is in my humble opinion a recipe for disaster. You will curse yourself.

If you haven't discovered it, go to 1bag1world. The owner is a bit religious about one-bagging and no wheels but you will find good tips on packing lightly. Such as you will find more good tips here in the Sticky on top of this forum.

Cheers,

Till

Karen, a warm welcome from me as well. :)

I quote you on the lack of space on purpose. I am willing to bet that you will be able to make good on the 2 inches of lost interior room without serious hardship, if you only try. If you are anywhere close to normal size, you can do such a trip with a 24" suitcase. I know that I can live indefinitely out of a 22 incher and be dressed for all occasions, if only I can do laundry every four days or so. I am 6' and 170lbs, size 40R.

Thanks for your welcome, Till.

I get your drift and am willing to explore lighter packing more seriously, but I confess to preferring more choice--especially given my metabolic problem with heat. What I *can* do without and what I *want* to live without are very different things.

In your case, not having to catch flights all the time and using a car sometimes, I recommend to take an A. Saks bag with a luggage cart. The Samsonite Micromover fits in the front pocket of the 21" expandable A. Saks. I hear you say "He must be crazy. He didn't listen. He is suggesting a 21 incher. I want a 27 inch suitcase with wheels!" Right? :D

From my perspective, Till, 3 intra-Europe flights with their attendant waits and rushes and hassles, plus the airport navigation for the two main flights, is 'a lot'. I looked at your A. Saks bag, and don't know if I could make it work. Perhaps one a bit larger. I'm still pondering.

Unfortunately, the Micromover is not available anywhere as far as my search provided. Seems 'out of stock' everywhere. AND, from others I've looked at, their weight is as much as it would be to have the rolling piece of luggage itself, so I don't see exactly how I'd be saving in overall weight.

For the tech bag I actually recommend a backpack. This will be easiest to carry your photography gear around with you without undue strain on the back or the wrist or the shoulder. Important.

At this point I'm committed to the 19" rolling tech bag. I strongly considered total backpack, but having tried it before, the weight of the laptop, iPad and etceteras was hard on my back/shoulders.

This bag has a detachable daypack which unzips before you place the main part in the overhead bin, so I can use it as the 'under the seat' bag to hold things I want access to during flight. And I like the flexibility of having the two parts separate if needed for small European airlines with strict depth restrictions.

Carrying two wheeled bags, one of them a hardside, trying to balance the 19" on the 27" is in my humble opinion a recipe for disaster. You will curse yourself.

It has a strap to attach it to a rolling bag, piggy-back style. But my thought was to lay it on its side on top and attach it to the rolling bag snugly with bungees so it would be one solid piece rolling along. Then after check-in I'd only have the small 19" carryon to deal with. Still stupid?

Thanks for the leads (and for taking the time to read what I wrote)--I've looked at 1bag1world and will explore further options. And I'll read the packing light sticky. I appreciate your input and remain open.

Best,
Karen

Thanks for the detailed response, Karen.

Darn it on the Micromover. However, it seems there are other options. This one for example: http://www.amazon.com/Conair-TS38LC-Compact-Cart-75-Pounds/dp/B002CV8UXE/ref=pd_sim_a_1

It will also be easier to fold it back again. The weight is 3.3lbs. That is less than the weight added on most bags to make them rolling.

Also for the 21" A. Saks there is an alternative:
http://www.ebags.com/product/a-saks/expandable-26-expandable-suitcase/86274?productid=1125194

It's basically the same thing in bigger.

We do have a different take on flight quantity then. I think that 3 airport navigations in six weeks are not so much. I'd consider three in one week a lot. If it's three in even more than 6 weeks, not sure from what you are writing, I'd find that a non-issue. But that's just me.

For the backpack I give in. If you have tried it and it doesn't work, no need to try again.

One thing you could do is say that you need assistance with luggage and boarding. This is normally free of charge. You don't need to be in a wheelchair for this. You could have a bad back or a hip problem and you'd not be able to do it on your own. This would also shorten your wait times as the assistants have other things to do than wait, so you will be processed through the system more quickly.

My main concern is that with a big 27" hard case spinner, as soon as you have to lift it, you will hate the idea. It may well get to the allowed 50lbs. Have your tried out recently if you can lift such a load maybe two feet up and lay it on a bed? That's a good test. I know that as a 40 y.o. man (with a recent back problem) lifting a 50lbs/23kg suitcase is possible but, boy, it's not one of my favorite exercises.

So maneuvering with the spinner (possibly even with the other bag on top) might be possible, on flat grounds like airports, but lifting the thing over stairs, curbs and other thresholds when moving around will be a hassle. Because then you are talking probably 70lbs and REALLY unwieldy with the risk of the equipment bag falling down.

Till

Thanks, Till, for the links. I fear I'm in an obsessional twit over this.

Your suggestions (as well as things I've read by luggage cart users) are a good idea: to fill my items and see how it feels to lift them. I do have a luggage scale, so can evaluate. Work to do.

I'd also like to look into other types of soft-sided luggage.

I'll be baaack!

i find all the twirliez have tiny wheels. one can get a 2 wheel with pretty big wheels. they are much better on lumpy surfaces and up steps. if the only reason for which you want a spinner is to ?????. forget it and get a 2 wheel.

Karen, you don't even need a luggage scale. Just put yourself on an ordinary bathroom scale (without suitcase) and establish a reference. Do that twice as to be sure to get the reference number correctly (the same reading twice).

Then do it with the suitcase. I usually do that lifting the suitcase behind my back. That is a bit easier on the lower back because it forces you to bend down using your knees to then push up the weight.

Jeremy, right on regarding the small wheels. I recently had to take my mothers spinner for a trip because there was nothing else of the right size available. Paris. Small wheels. Worthless. The spinner, not the city. And that was a small 20" model. Imagine that with a loaded 50lbs suitcase on small wheels.

Till

You might want to look into this:
http://www.ebags.com/product/travelon/the-bag-bungee/126417
If you do go with a larger roller bag this would likely make it easy to secure your carry on on top. You might even be able to secure a decent sized duffel to your carry on with this (though that would put the weight on your hand when you pull it).

If you want even more volume, there is always this:
http://www.ebags.com/product/samsonite/tote-a-ton-325-duffle/220951?productid=10151612
Lighter than the A. Saks, and more volume. But you'd be crazy to fill it, and would likely have a hard time handling it once you did.

I agree on the two wheels being easier to maneuver, but I'm going to suggest to Karen, now that I understand the plan to put the carry-on roller on the larger suitcase that you don't put the carry-on on top of a two wheeled suitcase. Either get a spinner, or see about daisy chaining the two bags. Putting the carry-on ontop of a two wheeled suitcase will lead to a lot of weight on the hand. But I still don't see the spinner being that useful on anything rougher than a well maintained sidewalk.

Two wheels would be better on a rough surface, but I think the best two wheeled solution is a luggage cart. The cart would be loaded first the carry on, and then with the soft-sided bag/duffel. This would put structure and weight close to the ground.

In the luggage trials, I'd add a walk around the block. Fill the two eagle creek bags you have now and strap/bungee the carry on ontop.

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Some of the low cost intra-Europe carriers you mention (e.g. Easyjet) have a 20kg limit for checked luggage. As a comparison, I have a relatively light B&R BRX 25in case which hits 20kg at between 2/3 to 3/4 full, depending on the contents. A standard weight 27in case will likely be only about half full when it hits the 20kg limit.


Something to bear in mind as the LCC overweight charges can get very expensive quickly when you pay per kg.

Thanks for all your new comments. I'll quote some and add my recent thoughts.

Kgmm:
Some of the low cost intra-Europe carriers you mention (e.g. Easyjet) have a 20kg limit for checked luggage. As a comparison, I have a relatively light B&R BRX 25in case which hits 20kg at between 2/3 to 3/4 full, depending on the contents. A standard weight 27in case will likely be only about half full when it hits the 20kg limit.

Something to bear in mind as the LCC overweight charges can get very expensive quickly when you pay per kg.

Yes. Of the two airline options from Paris to Prague, EasyJet at least offers the option to buy more weight, whereas SmartWings does not. And, if you buy your extra weight online before the flight, it's much less expensive. SW has an 11 lb weight limit for carryon. At least with EasyJet I can buy extra weight & distribute it between the carryon & hold bag as I wish.

Testing my EC Traverse Pro 19" carryon w/detachable daypack loaded with laptop, iPad, camera only came to 18 lbs! [I'm back and forth between rejecting this carryon & wanting the flexibility of removing the daypack portion, both to meet 'depth' measurements of 10" for the overhead and to have under seat in front of me.

[BTW, I don't expect to fill my checked back to 50 lbs by a long shot. Maybe 35 at most if I can manage it.]

oshelef:
I agree on the two wheels being easier to maneuver, but I'm going to suggest to Karen, now that I understand the plan to put the carry-on roller on the larger suitcase that you don't put the carry-on on top of a two wheeled suitcase. Either get a spinner, or see about daisy chaining the two bags. Putting the carry-on ontop of a two wheeled suitcase will lead to a lot of weight on the hand. But I still don't see the spinner being that useful on anything rougher than a well maintained sidewalk.

Thanks for the links--I'm 'onto' the bungee option, but I'd never choose a 33" anything, however, I get your drift.! And your idea of testing is good, too.

I found this option which I like, a compromise of sorts:
http://www.amazon.com/GoLite-TraveLite-25-Wheeled-Upright/dp/B004C0IBIC

But not so friendly to placing carryon on top.

Indeed, both EC 25" (w/2 or 4 wheels) have a built in strap to accommodate a carryon just like the one I have in daisy chain fashion.

An alternative to my EC carryon I'm considering is this, tho it might be too deep:
http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/macroloader-laptop-backpack/59045?productid=669209

Only problem there is, once I check my larger bag I have to carry it for who knows how long--and with the electronics, it won't be light. Sigh.

I just had the idea of using the EC Traverse Pro itself to carry a 25" Saks or other bag.. Tho it wouldn't work vertically, if I centered the bag on top of the EC carryon horizontally with bungees, I think it might work. But it means choosing a bag with some sort of 'bottom' to it instead of just light fabric.

And Till, I already have a luggage scale, and no bathroom scale!

I can only think/research about this luggage problem for so long before my brain starts to rot. Gonna watch the Giants game for the moment :cool:

Karen

Hi Karen,

no bathroom scale? Way to go! What a sweet, unencumbered life! :D

One reasons I said that is that bathroom scales are often more accurate and reliable than the little luggage scale gadgets.

The most important info you gave was that you were only going to pack the main suitcase to 35lbs. In that case a big suitcase like you initially wanted will only be half full. Unless of course you pack very light but bulky items, e.g. down comforter.

Shoot for something in the 24" range then. Less dead weight, easier to handle. Perhaps get something with an expandable option just to give you some leeway. I actually think that even an expanded 22" roller might do the trick.

Till