Originally Posted by
zap7
Hi alpaod,
now after using it for 4 months from your last post, how is the TUMI holding up?
How does the black finish on the aluminium look now?
It would be great if you could share your experience on this after 4 months or even post a picture.
I want to buy the TUMI 19 degree in black alu, it looks so stylish. I think "pure" aluminium with the silver color just sucks and looks cheap. But after reading about the topas stealth, I am afraid I might regret my decision - some claim after a few weeks of use the black coating would be damaged so much it just looks cheap, ugly and broken, that you could repair dents but not scratches to the coating, and that it would happen after cheking it in once or twice and even when using it as carry on for more than 10 trips a year...
I searched for hours but couldn't find a single report on or photo of a used TUMI 19 degree in black alu...
Thanks and best reagrds,
zap!
I thought after half a year [and about 20 trips) with the carry-on and about two and half months [six trips] with "short trip" (26") it's better now to report on how these cases are doing compared to my Rimowa suitcases which are much older now.
International carry-on:
After half a year I would say it's doing pretty well. It's a very stylist suitcase still, but there are definitely many scratches among the ridges of the wavy aluminum surface. It doesn't look cheap at all and in fact it's very nicely worn. I'd say it wears better than the Rimowa since the aluminum seems harder and thicker on the Tumi therefore no dents. Of course this is a two-edged sword as you'll see in the my report of the [26"] short trip Tumi.
Front:
Back:
Chips in the finish up close:
Short trip 26" checked bag:
This case is only two and half months old, but it has seen six flights, three abroad (France, China, and Japan) on various airlines. On one trip the case was heavily scratched, but no dents. I'd say it's held up pretty well. I don't baby my suitcases, I don't wrap them and I drag them on whatever surfaces I go through. I don't do the silly plastic sleeves people do. On the international trip one of the wheels broke off, but the Tumi store fixed it in a few minutes no cost to me, but after it was a bit wobbly, so I reattached it at home and it seemed better after. On my last trip coming back from Japan, I am very sad to say that instead of denting, one of the corner plates cracked. Again I think the thicker Tumi is more brittle in this instance. This was very disheartening to see. However, I got to experience the Tumi replacement guarantee so they replaced the suitcase with a new one in the shop.
Front:
Back:
Cracked corner:
Topas Stealth
In comparison here is my Rimowa Topas Stealth having seen years of use and over a million miles. It was heavily dented over the years, but the local Rimowa shop banged it back together so it's quite good now. Same Japan trip, this case now has a hole in it. So instead of cracking there is a hole, I'm not sure how they fix this... if anything the airline has agreed to cover the cost of the repair or replacement (funny I also bought baggage insurance by accident for this trip).
Scratched finish:
Hole in the suitcase from the last trip but otherwise fine corners:
