Originally Posted by
tfar
Mike, thanks for sharing your impressions on the Rimowa and Halliburton alu luggage.
I really like my Rimowa. You are right that they dent fairly easily. I had some dents the size of a quarter on my first trip with it and was a bit disappointed. It also attracts scruff marks easily. The marks can be scrubbed away and the dents can be beaten out for the most part. Rimowa offers a service for that in Germany. But I don't know if there are such service centers outside of Germany.
For camera gear I would rather use something like Pelikan cases. It seems to me even sturdier than Rimowa. And the pluck-it foam fits perfectly.
Till
I know what you mean about the pelicans with foam. I have literally dozens of them for various camera and lighting items. They are great for general transport, and hold up great on the plane and provide plenty of protection. But the problem is that they are very heavy, and you can only put one of those flimsy TSA combo locks on it. Unfortunately, you can break one of those locks in one second with a screwdriver, so it is not really like having a lock at all. But I still occasionally use them for flying.
I'm still using the aluminum topas for my clothes, not cameras. It's been great, but one of the latches has begun popping open even when locked. Luckily, it hasn't been torn off yet, but I am expecting one of these days that might happen.
But just for reference, I've probably flown it 75,000 miles at this point, so it's had some wear. More dents and scratches too, but nothing huge. Hinge and seal, handle and wheels still fine.