I just took receipt of the A. Saks 21" tote. First impression: That is a light bag. Second impression: Or is it?
I have seen the weight advertised as between 545 and 595 grams. I put it on my very exact kitchen scale. 920g is more like it. I hate wrong advertising. Still I will not return it. Got it for $40 plus shipping.
One of the questions is if the Opec (Outdoor Products Essential Carry-on by Campmor) really weighs what it does. Can anybody please weigh theirs for me? That would be most helpful in establishing a ranking. If this bag without even a real shoulder strap weighs 900g I wonder how the Opec can pull of backpack straps at less than 800g. So it would be good to verify the Opec claims.
Second disappointment. It has a coil zipper not a tooth/chain zipper. The photo on ebags clearly shows a chain not a coil:
http://www.ebags.com/a_saks/expandab...?modelid=86269
The Lucas Luggage model (same bag, different brand) has coil zippers. I was hoping for the A Saks to have chain as those are regarded as sturdier.
Now the good things.
- The bag actually looks and feels well made. Not too flimsy.
- The shoulder/handle conversion is a nice trick. The shoulder strap is not adjustable but hangs at the right length when I wear it on my slim 6' frame. It is not long enough really for cross-body wearing. The handles stick together with velcro. That is good but if you don't want the velcro to rub against your clothes you have to twist the shoulder strap to turn the velcro side outwards. I have heard people suggest to get a handle wrap. That might be useful but the handle material is really soft, so I don't think I want to complicate it anymore.
- There are tie down straps on one side of the interior. That's great. This will work very well with the way I intend to pack the bag, i.e. EC18 then TB backpack cube with pants rapped around it, then cinch down, then add computer in Incase 13" sleeve. Basically clothes sandwiched between two harder layers.
- There are two outer pockets. One big one with zip. Quite roomy. And a ticket slip pocket on the back between the handle attachments. What you cannot see from the pictures is that there IS a strap to fix it over telescoping handles of any rolling luggage you might have. That is a huge plus!
- It really folds very flat. This will not take much room when you use it as an overflow bag and when both expansions are used it is a huge bag. I would not be afraid to check it, either.
Unfortunately, the TB cube hasn't come in yet although the tracking info said it should be delivered today. So no test packing.
Summary: Very spacious, good attention to detail, practical design, good (not excellent) material and construction BUT not as lightweight as I'd hoped.
Till