Originally Posted by
TravlnD
This post has really piqued my interest.
I was thinking about taking an Osprey Porter on my next trip but am seriously thinking about this bag now. The lack of a lot of organization is ok for me... I'm sure I'll be taking messenger anyway, and the wheels are sounding more and more appealing. My other wheeled bag is too heavy for vacation travel as I tend to move around a lot and often take smaller jets where the weight and size become an issue, and the wheels aren't as robust as the ones on a more rugged rolling case.
Only other contender now is the Patagonia MLC Wheelie (not quite as light and a tad smaller, but adds backpack straps which could be useful in a lot of cases.
Does anyone have a view of the MLC Wheelie vs the Ozone?
I've been looking at the Ozone for a while now (I have a Porter 46), and I'm just about ready to pick one up for an upcoming trip to China.
I looked at the MLC, and it's a non-starter for me, particularly compared to the Ozone.
1) Slightly smaller. Even though the measurements of my Porter 46 are the same as my tried-and-true standard wheelie and there are no handles taking up space, it doesn't seem to hold quite as much. I've got to figure out what's going on there, but that small amount of space can be a deal-breaker for me.
2) MLC has backpack straps, but they take up space (as do the Porter's) and I find that without a proper hip-belt (and I don't mean a waist belt, I mean a serious weight-supporting hip belt), my shoulders start killing me if I carry the bag any distance at all. A full-on backpacking pack works because it transfers the load to the hips and keeps it largely off the shoulders. I'd rather get a tougher wheeled bag and beat it up on the cobblestones or stairs or curbs or gravel paths.
The Porter is a well-made bag, but I have actually ended up not using it and falling back on my already over-worked rollaboard because it's too heavy to tote around suitcase style or with a shoulder strap, the backpack straps put all the weight on my shoulders, and I've always got a small daypack too.
I've got a couple concerns about the Ozone, but I think I'm just going to have to get the pack and put it to the test.
1) Single handle. I usually attach my daypack to my rollaboard handle and let it rest on top of the rollaboard when I'm walking down the street/through the airport. I'm going to have to figure how to work that. I looked at the Shuttle (looks like a Porter 46 on wheels), but it not only weighs a bit more (that wouldn't have been a show-stopper), it is
smaller than the Ozone. - that's the deal breaker for me. I can't go smaller than the Porter 46.
2) Internal volume. I've actually been happiest with a very simple rollaboard, one external large pocket, a zip mesh panel in the lid. That's it. I don't use packing cubes, just ziplocs and a toiletry kit to organize inside. I'm not quite sure how the Ozone will work for me - the bottom looks kind of sloped and the top has that dip from the outside-access pocket.
One thing that has been mentioned in connection with the Ozone that is not likely to bother me: protection of contents. I often pack a poster tube and a plastic container full of socks/etc that can be emptied out and used to stow anything I buy that doesn't come well-packed. Also, if I do pick up something larger, then I usually check a bag coming home and carry any fragiles on the plane with me.
I'm not really looking at the Ozone for a checked bag, but I do want to know that it is tough enough to get bounced around on third world buses or checked on small planes without completely falling apart.