Carry on duffel for small regional planes
 

Hello All!

I recently got a new job and have found myself doing quite a bit of travel. I fly out of South Bend, Indiana on small CRJ planes and generally catch connections in Atlanta or Detroit. Gate checking my roller is OK sometimes but if I have a tight connection it can get a bit nerve racking. I would like to get a duffel that I can hopefully fit in the overhead bin of the small regional planes. I've learned (by doing some research on this forum) that even if you have a roller that will fit sometimes gate agents make you gate check anything with wheels so I am looking at going the duffel route. I specifically would like to reserve the under seat storage for my back pack. My typical load out for trips is 4-5 days and includes

2 pairs of slacks
1 pair of jeans
5 pairs of underwear
7 pairs of socks
2 pairs of running shorts or 1 pair of light weigh running pants
2 running shirts
1 pair of running shoes
3 button down dress or casual shirts
2 T-shirts
1 Sport coat
Medium size toiletry bag

So first question is - Is there a duffel style bag that will fit all that and still fit in a overhead bin on a CRJ plane? Second question is if so - which one? I would like to stay under 200 dollars but will spend more if I need to. Thanks for any advice you can pro

Welcome to Flyertalk. I"m moving this to the Travel Products forum.

I'm a big fan of Tom Bihn or Red Oxx.

For Bihn, you're talking the Western Flyer or the Aeronaut 30.

I've flown out of SBN with a SkyTrain from Red Oxx. They made me gate check once, ExpressJet/United. Kinda pissed me off, since I was able to fly into SBN on SkyWest without any pushback. Both were CRJ-200's. My Skytrain will fit overhead and under the seat.

For your packing, ditch the jeans, cut down on the tee shirt, socks and underwear. Sink wash the delicates. Buy quick dry, technical fabrics. Go as light as you can.

And get Global Entry/PreCheck.

I was going to suggest the TB Aeronaut as well. The 45 would work also.

Just for the sake of being complete: A duffle bag will not prevent your bag from being gate checked. Chances are considerably lower, but exist never the less.

On my early FR flights, I used to carry an Eastpak duffle without the floor + wheels. It can be folded together for light luggage and go on board, but is tough enough to be filled to the brim and travel around the globe. It can be carried as bag pack. Big disadvantage: It's not waterproof. While the zip is the weak link on plastic/aluminum suitcases, water gets in literally anywhere on the Eastpak duffle.

Another Suggestion
 

The Red Oxx ES Aviator bag might also be an option. 16" X 12" X 8". Unstructured rectangular kit bag. Should accommodate most of your gear, especially if you take the previous advice and reduce it by a fraction. I use an Ebags medium packing cube containing my clothing on either side and then sandwich any more important items in between. A 15" packing folder will also fit to help with structure. It is compliant with "personal item" dimensions. The fact that it is unstructured, it can be "adjusted" to fit into just about any available space. Wear the jacket / blazer onto the flight.

Question on the aeronaut - is there a equivalent with no backpack straps? I already carry a backpack as my personal item and would never use them. Do they take up space?

There's no non-backpack strap version of the Aeronaut 30/45 (or Western Flyer), but they zip away and are completely hidden if you don't use them, and in such a way that there's nothing to ever get snagged if you check them. Some people apparently slide laptops/magazines/small stuff into that area, too.

I'd also highly recommend getting the Absolute Strap-- it's worth the money and lives up to the hype. It's worth it even for non-Bihn bags.

Re the Red Oxx XS Aviator-- it's a great little bag and excellently priced, but there's no strap. (There are various threads on modifying it to add a shoulder strap, but it's not standard.) For that reason, it's not so practical for me unless I'm balancing it on a large bag. But you can fit an incredible amount of stuff into it since it's an open space.

Just ordered the Aeronaut 30 (and Absolute strap on your recommendation). Thanks!

I wear one but need to take a second. I do a navy jacket and a charcoal jacket along with 1 pair of navy pants and one pair of charcoal. I wear charcoal/charcoal, navy/navy, charcoal/navy and navy charcoal. I did mispeak on the 2 pairs of dress pants needing to be packed. I fly out in one so only need to pack one other.

Hope you enjoy your A30, Rollotamassi! Also, check out the forums over on the Tom Bihn site. They've got a wealth of information on packing and organizing, and browsing over there has really helped me use my Bihn bags to the max. I now wish all bags came with o-rings!

I love the Bihn stuff - I've actually switched from a backpack carry-on to a briefcase style carry-on that also doubles as my laptop bag at work - I use the Bihn Pilot which is a much nicer underseat bag for me. I also use the trick of clipping a packing-cube shoulder bag to the back of the seat pocket where I keep all of stuff like headphones, tablet, snacks etc.

This way, I backpack carry the heavier thing (the A30 or 45), and shoulder carry the lighter thing (my underseat bag)

The Absolute Strap really is all it's cracked up to be. Once you use it, you'll want one for any other shoulder bag you own.

I have the small Aviator from RedOxx and for an upcharge the Red Oxx custom shop put the strap on for me. I preferred to have the experts do it, rather than a DIY project or a local shop. Very happy with it so far. I will be traveling with it for a week very shortly. OH! and I got a color of my choice as well.