Originally Posted by
ellinj
I have pretty much narrowed down my new bag to the Briggs and Riley hard sided sympatico or the the soft side zdx I am wondering what people’s thought are one the CX™ expansion system in the sympatico ? Is it useful or just a gimmick The system doesn’t seem to be as strong when “expanded” I know that the idea is that you fill it and compress it occasionally I need to expand and check the bag will the CX ratcheting mechanism hold or is it meant to be closed after packing
I've not left mine expanded. I have used it for packing a bag with thicker winter stuff and then smooshing it all down and it's worked well.
It's a lot better than having a somewhat overfilled bag and trying to close it without that compression system.
that said, it wasn't the reason I bought my sympaticos. I bought them because I liked the layout, the wheels, and most of all the warranty seems to be the best out there currently. And I loved the 25" one so much I replaced my carryon with the 21" international one as well. They are fantastic bags.