Medium Sized Rolling Luggage to be Checked In
 

I have a couple of international trips coming up that will each be 10 to 14 days long. I need to dress for winter climates and I really don't want to be limited to carry on luggage. I have been out shopping and found two bags of interest. One is the Rimowa Salsa Air. It measures 26.8 x 17.5 x 10 inches and weighs only 6.4 lbs. I have to say that both the zipper and the plastic material look flimsy but the salesman says it will standup. The wheels are also small and light. The weight is amazing for the size of the bag.

The other bag of interest is the Briggs & Riley Medium Expandable Upright in the Baseline CX line. It measures 10.3" x 18" x 25 and weighs 10.2 lbs. I like that it expands. It seems very durable. The weight is a disadvantage.

I am also open to other bags. I would welcome the experience and recommendations of others.

I love my Eagle Creek Switchback 25. It is two bags in one, always handy. It's freakin' indestructible. While I rarely need to convert the suitcase to giga backpack, this summer in London when I got into a hotel, lovely typical English place with a small staircase and no elevator, boy, was I happy to not need to haul 25kgs up two floors in my hands.

Yes. It's not the lightest. Physics apply. :)

Do you really need wheels? For a check in bag, usually you can use an airport cart/trolley to take it up to the counter and from the baggage return to the next mode of transportation.

If you don't, I would highly recommend the Red Oxx aviator bags, either the large (27"x14"x15", 2.1 lbs, $50) or the medium (22"x14"x15", 1.8 lbs, $45.) Both come with top of the line material and no matter what unconditional life time warranty. And for the price you will save enough $ to spend for cubes and folders etc to use for these bags.

You might want to tell us more about your needs:
Almost any 24-2" bag will suffice for a few international trips. Both of the bags you picked out are from very well respected brands, and people quite like their carry-on sized versions. But you've also chosen fairly expensive bags. More detail will probably help.

What's your weight target when packed? 20kg? 23kg/50lbs? 70lbs? Full, the largest bags will exceed the 50lb threshold.

Do you care about aesthetics? Do you require wheels? Spinner? or 2 wheels? What's your budget? How much use will the bags get?

I second oshelef's request for more info, please! :)

In principle, for a checked bag I'd always put a waterproof warranty as the top criterion. Rimowa loses here.

If you want maximum weigh to volume ratio, look at duffles. Eagle Creek Expedition series are great. Almost indestructible and if you do kill them, EC will take care of you.

If you are thinking of a 70lbs fully loaded bag (probably not in the 25" size but it is possible), then a spinner with a hard frame a la Rimowa Topas or Limbo would be good.

Till

Maybe wrong answer for you, but: if you are looking for some solid stuff i can recommend samsonite aeris comfort. I have one, did buy it 6years ago. Not fancy looking, but very strong. Mine have been on many trips in work.

On carry-on i have rimowa :) so it dont get broken.

I have many Red Oxx Aviator bags (both mesh & regular) and have found no problems with their toughness. However, they are only really useful as checked bags for soft items such as clothing unless your hard goods are equally tough.

Have a similar trip next month (15 days in Italy) for my wife and I. Traditionally, we'd pair an Andiamo JG-48 (checked suiter) with a duffel. However, that suiter is pretty heavy and we have one segment (EasyJet repositioning flight) which is 20kg per bag.

So, I just bought my first hard-sided piece (an eBags EXO) which we'll pair with a large RedOxx Aviator Bag. With a 30% discount, the EXO (larger one) came in at $125 or so and it gets great reviews. It's not as light as the Rimowa (the EXO is about 9 lbs) but, at the price, it's a reasonable cost way to experiment with a hard-sided bag. If I like how it works, I'll decide whether to upgrade or not.

I've got a B&R Transcend bag that is about that size and I love it. I normally use a B&R carry-on and this bag is pretty much the same thing scaled up. It rolls really easily even when completely full. If you're looking to save a little bit, getting a Transcend vs. a baseline (especially if you can get last year's) may leave a little bit in your wallet.

I've heard lots of good things from my friends with Eagle Creek, and as others have said, you're looking at two very good/reputable brands (Rimowa and B&R).

The aluminum line of Rimowa models have a good overlapping flange to seal out sand, dirt, dust, and water.

They are not submarines as a Pelikan case is, if that is what you need. I can vouch for Rimowa alu cases keeping our packed contents clean and dry from torrential downpours in Brasil ( Fortaleza, Belem, Manaus (daily), and Salvador). Rome too, which receives as much rain as London. Never a problem.

But the Salsa cases do an equally good job on weather protection. We returned from a good trip to Brasil without problems using Salsa Lite carry-on and Salsa checked baggage. The zippers work very well. Scuffs, and some marks but nothing inside wet, dusty, damaged, or stolen. I have some concerns about the round corner protection longevity on one of our checked cases, but you cannot match how lightweight and easy it is to move in the airport between terminals with the Salsa line. A noticeable ease of movement and exertion, especially enhanced with 4 wheels per case.

Poly cases are quite light in construction to start with, a real plus with building your desired pack items around an airline weight limit. Despite the annual Christmas gift tonnage, we haven't found that we had to leave anything behind: The bills can wait, of course.

I line my Aviator bags with large trash bags (bin liners) put everything I want inside the bag in the bag, close the trash bag, zip up the Aviator & go fly.

The trash bag (bin liner) keeps everything nice and dry while the loading and unloading process is going on.

I use the same technique with many other sorts of luggage for the same reasons.

Thanks for the guy the other day who moved his own bag out of a first class overhead bin to give me room for my Sun Chaser bag. The airplane was overloaded with carry on bags.

A real classy guy!