Anybody using the new Pelican Luggage
 

Anybody using the new Pelican hardsided luggage?

http://www.pelican.com/case_category_luggage.php

Looks durable and maybe competitive to the aluminum but maybe a tad heavier. The price seems reasonable...

9 pounds? Way too heavy. How much are they?

30" $545/$485
27" $505/$445
22" $465/$395

The weight for these seems to be inline with much of the aluminum market. I don't own aluminum but in looking at them it seems both are within a tolerable range of each other...

The Pelican luggage appears to be rigid unlike what they are calling hardside today. The suitcase doesn't have to be full before it gets support in the middle of the panel similar to aluminum or the "old" hardside luggage. I have a hardside suitcase from about 10 years ago that my wife uses when we go on vacation that we will need to replace sometime. It is still functional (and has taken a beating on many trips) but starting to look around for a replacement.

Does it really keep out water as well as it seems to suggest it does? I'm thinking of cases where it briefly falls off a boat on landing in shallow water or when a place quickly gets flooded and someone may wake up in the middle of the night to find their room flooded with a closed suitcase on the ground.

9lbs puts it right in line with the Tumi Alpha 2, B&R Baseline, Rimowa Salsa, etc.

In my experience, Pelican's cases are watertight. I would have no hesitation putting my laptop into a Pelican case and submerging it underwater.

I had a Pelican 1514 with some serious photo gear fell out of a raft into white water, It was tethered to the raft. After wiping down the outside and releasing the pressure valve everything inside was still DRY!

I have a lot of experience with Pelican road cases; I was a stagehand and handled many, many Pelican products. Those were not the luggage products (as the luggage line is brand new) but could still take serious abuse. Mainly used for projection and computer equipment, the cases were often tossed or bumped around daily. Just imagine a case loaded into a trailer, driven to the next venue, offloaded, used as a step or table, packed up, and thrown back into the trailer all within a day. Rinse and repeat 120 times or as long as the tour lasts.

These cases often contained very expensive equipment. (I once handled a $124,000 projection lens that arrived in a Pelican.) The cases withstood anything thrown at them and were certainly watertight. That said, the cases were heavy and impractical for use as luggage due to weight restrictions.

If Pelican was able to bring the durability over to the Luggage Universe, these will be a front runner in my opinion. I am saving my money to get one but waiting for my TravelPro to bite the dust before I purchase.

I'm curious to hear about real world usage and experience with the Pelican line. I know their road cases are very durable, but also heavy. Since this line is new, it may be a while before we hear about it.

These guys make cases for moving military hardware around the world and in theatre. The mil-spec ones are virtually indestructible.

I have experience with Pelican from working as a stagehand. Those cases are virtually the same as the military cases. They are super tough but also heavy.

The luggage is light but I'm curious about the durability. I can't afford to drop $500 "just to see.":D

Are they waterproof like most other Pelican products?

According to the specs, yes. They claim testing for one hour submerged.

The weights really are pretty high though - 15 lbs for the 30", 12 lbs for the 27", 9 lbs for the 22" (plus around 4 lbs for the suiter).

I am trying to understand something here: What is the point of dropping ~$500 on a Pelican 27" (or a Tumi / Rimowa etc), when you could buy 3 sets (=6 pieces) of similar Samsonite luggage (2 piece sets @ $149 each in Costco) and still have money left over? OK, Pelican may be waterproof, but how many of us really NEED that with luggage being transferred on boats etc? Samsonite has a 10 year warranty and if need by one can buy another one after the initial purchase has reached its end of life.

So why spend so much more - unless one is trying to make a status statement?

Some people like to have nice things. Some people have a genuine fear that their luggage will break and their skivvies will go parading around the carousel. For others it will be longevity, your samsonite luggage won't last 10 years with weekly use - it makes sense to spend more and avoid the aggro of breaking luggage. Especially when you are overseas working.