xerenthar

hey FT! I'm in a dire luggage situation. I've tried to find the best values in that "not total crap, but not the elite stuff people pay a ton for" and I always get burned. Got a Samsonite everyone raved about, two weeks into a three week trip it ....ing broke. Travelpro also ended up dying. People were really hyped about eBags backpacks too - cheap plastic breaks too. I have a $19 bag I got in Chinatown NYC by emergency that technically can be called a suitcase, but that's about it.

Looking for recommendations for a checked, a carry-on, and a big carry-on style backpack. Not going to say "money's no object", but I'm wanting to keep these for years instead of build up an armada of broken $300 suitcases every couple of years. If it matters for recommendation/savings purposes, I'll be taking a trip to London and Paris in March (I know Rimowa for one happens to be cheaper in the UK?)

It's overwhelming looking through B&R, Tumi, Rimowa, etc. -- any lines that are your favorite? Any that are crap/resting on their laurels? I want the checked bag to be the 32" size or close to it (within the max 62" dimensions), like the large spinner B&R. I want the carry-on (and backpack) to be within UA 22x14x9 specs. I want the checked and carry-on to be 4-wheeled/spinners.

.....Thanks!

zebranz

All B&R seem good. Used to use Boyt before Samsonite bought them- was the best for value/use IMO. Tried Travelpro and first 2 trips something went wrong on each. Small TP spinner carry-on is ok.

midu

Red Oxx Skytrain/AirBoss/MiniBoss.

John Isaac

The three best companies to check out...

Tom Bihn
Goruck
Redoxx

TPACjv

The best way to get started is to ask what do you value most in luggage? i.e. lightness, organizing features, durability, travel frequency/style, etc.

Once you tell us what you want out of your bags, we can help you find what's best of breed.

boltjames

I'm going to make this very easy for you:

Tumi
Briggs & Riley

Pick the one of these two brands you prefer, go to a luggage shop, check them all out in person under the advice of the expert sales associate, pick the 3 pieces you want from one of those two brands, make them match if you prefer, done.

My opinion, you don't want Rimowa or any of the hard shell luggage brands, they're just too impractical, you lose a lot of important exterior storage that way. Also, they look pretty on the showroom floor but soon they are dented and scratched and look awful. Stick to ballistic nylon.

Since durability and quality seems to be paramount to you, I'd lean towards Briggs & Riley, they have a lifetime warranty and they are one of the most innovative manufacturers out there. Check out their Baseline series.

And by a "luggage shop" I don't mean a department store. I mean find a true luggage shop, even if you have to drive a bit to find one. They're out there and they match internet prices. The experts in these shops are terrific. It's a lost art, matching the nuances that separate the brands and models to the consumer, quite a shame.

BJ

gobluetwo

I'd say you can already make a few assumptions. Giant checked bag, durable, longer trips so probably based in a single location in each city not having to schlep the bag around frequently. If durability of a checked bag is paramount, I'd avoid rollers.

Climb14er

Red Oxx and Briggs and Riley... real life time warranties and excellent carry on and checked luggage. Tom Bihn does not have life time warranty... but their quality and customer service are excellent.

Have one last Tumi... a briefcase, expandable ballistic. When I got it back in 2008, I noticed no more lifetime warranty. Five years. Tumi changed their policy.

Andiamo Valoroso used to be lifetime warranty. They went out of business, got resurrected but the company I do not trust. Also no life time warranty. The old bags and rollers, simply phenomenal!

So... Red Oxx and B&R. These are my recommendations.

rehken

Don't buy B&R because of the warranty.

I had nothing but issues with the 2 bags I bought, and yes they fixed them each time, but I had to ship them in. I've given up on them now. The warranty doesn't help for the time when the bag is broken. In the first 9 months I had 2 failures on one bag, and 3 on the other. Wheels coming off, bumpers, and zipper issues.

I since purchased 2 similar pieces from Victorinox and have been using them for 3 months with 0 issues. My carry on luggage from Tumi is 9 years old, almost 0 issues. I had a zipper pull come off (which it's designed to do to prevent more damage, common feature on many brands), stopped by the Tumi Tokyo Haneda location they fixed it for no charge in about 2 minutes.

I really like my Vicorinox so much, I bought my father a bag for the holidays this year.

chx1975

I have a Red Oxx bag. I am ordering two customized. That should be testimony to what I think about them. The materials... it's just ridiculous. Overkill, almost.

txflyer77

Another vote for Red Oxx. The Air Boss can take a beating.

xerenthar

pretty close. we try and do two to three locations fairly near each other (typically car/train between them, not plane) in a 2-ish week trip, but we don't typically do the blockbuster 7 segment trips.

prefer the 32 to the 27 for checked - if I'm checking, may as well have a bigger suitcase with more stuff in it, potentially reduce the total number of pieces we have to bring.

syvjeff

I am a Redoxx Skytrain user and it fits my needs perfectly for carry on flying. Because the Skytrain has backpack straps and more of an open layout I can fit a lot into it and not miss wheels. So far in the last two years of being a road warrior, I've experimented with different style bags and brands and now primarily travel with a Redoxx Skytrain. I gave up on wheels and so called "carry on sized" bags picked up from Costco (always 1-2" too big). Because in my travel I have to haul samples and heavy brochures, I do check in a 25" wheeled bag for just products. I found a Rimowa knock off (Haupstadtkoffer) for under $100 on Amazon and so far so good.

If I can get away with smaller sized sample products and less brochures I use the Redoxx Skytrain and a briefcase.

With the Skytrain I've been able to fit:

6 days of clothes (in packing cubes)

toiletries in Ziplock

1 pair of shoes

1 laptop - plus a smaller bag (Redoxx Lil Roy) for power cables and cell phone

1 iPad

1 pair of Bose headphones

1 Water bottle

xerenthar

just checked out some B&R and Tumi stuff. i must have gotten my numbers mixed up because i was NOT thinking of a 31-32. these things are giant. probably more like 27.

thanks for the recommendations (and feel free to continue!)

not sure what for the checked, but really loving the Red Oxx SkyTrain and B&R baseline carry on so far.

boltjames

Are wheels a prerequisite? The SkyTrain looks awful heavy and wheel-less.

BJ