Deciding between two B&R suiters
 

Any opinions between these two B&R bags for business travel? Which of the two would you select?

The bag would probably be checked half the time. It will be accompanied by a B&R expandable cabin tote for most travel.

http://www.briggs-riley.com/category...174&sec=travel

http://www.briggs-riley.com/category...175&sec=travel

I think this is a personal preference sort of thing.

For me, I would never get the U174 (although I understand why others would). It would be a hassle dragging that thing down the narrow aisles of almost all airplanes.

I own the older model of the U175 - the U475. Loved it until I realized that it broke the new UA bag sizer rules. I replaced it with the B&R U122CX. Fits the sizer, and while it technically doesn't have the large suiter compartment, it does have a compartment that easily accommodates one suit and multiple shirts and slacks.

Since I never need more than one suit, this one suits me better. But if you need two suits packed, I can easily see how the U175 would be a great choice.

I have the first one, the U174 Baseline. It was the main bag I traveled with when I was on the road weekly for business (predominantly international). I will say I love the bag in some ways. I could easily fit 2 suits along with a few shirts and other clothing, a pair of shoes and pretty much everything. I carried a messenger for my laptop and things like that but technically I could fit all of that into the bag as well. Don't be fooled by the size, it can hold a lot. Especially if you're just bringing clothes. If you want to carry boxy shaped things they may not fit.

One thing I didn't like was opening and closing it. It is not made to be the type of bag you can open on a whim to pull something out and close right back up. It takes a bit of time and you need some space (e.g. a bed or large floor area) since it needs to be fully unfolded to get anything out. But I guess that is a function of any garment bag.

If you get it I would suggest getting some really low profile hangers. It comes with some but I lost those, they were good but not ideal. What you want are hangers with minimal "necks" or whatever the area between the hook and the bar is called. With a normal hanger your suit will sit quite low in the bag and waste space at the top.

I never had any issue with it on planes. I didn't roll it down the aisle but just carried it. I have no problem with carrying a bag for those 20 seconds. But if that is a concern for you than you should be aware it is probably too wide to roll down the aisle.

I have the U174.

Love: pack suits and shirts well

Hate: width, always lower handle and walk it down the aisle of a plane.

I have the U175 and chose it over the U174 specifically for rolling down the aisle of an airplane.

In terms of the U175, I find jackets/suits get wrinkled unless I take a couple of precautions. #1 - use dry cleaner/plastic over clothes to reduce wrinkles. #2 is use a Zero Halliburton garment sleeve.

http://zerohalliburton.com/products/...rment-bag.html

The Zero sleeve is a really nice product. If I really want to reduce wrinkles, the sleeve and dry cleaner plastic works quite well.

The U175 has become my go to bag (replacing an Andiamo suiter that got old and was too heavy). On a casual trip with no packed sportcoat, the suiter compartment is quite flexible for holding other items. If the formal clothes get too bulky, I will sometime switch the compartment the suits go in.