Been away with the Family to see Mr. M. Mouse for a couple of weeks.

Travelled with Ebags Mother Lode 29" x 2 and 2 Weekenders (one TLS and one eTech) We took the Weekenders as we were unsure of Checked Baggage allowances on one sector and didn't want to pay a fee, so needed a bag we could carry-on if necessary)

Observations for this thread (as made elsewhere) is that I use the wheeled 21" mother lode TLS as my go-to bag in Europe. I sometimes use a Travel Pro if I have more stuff, or a B&R that I check. Often I also travel with a messenger bag as a personal item and have no issues 95% of the time. Tip: Always check-in online to avoid the weight police.

The TLS weekender is a great bag, with less organisation build in than the Tech version - this suits me fine. As others have said, it's basically the wheel-less version of the Motherlode, the Tech is a very different back to the wheeled version: better if you want to organiser your stuff and have more compartments like a mobile office.