New search for largest personal item - CRJ-200 friendly
 

I've flown more this year than I have for quite awhile, and look to fly a lot more next year. My most common trip puts me on a CRJ-200 for one leg, and I much prefer to avoid gate checking. It appears I'll be doing more than my fair share of flying with some of the ultra-LCCs, as well - seems like it's time to pick one perfect 'personal item' for my short trips.

Spirit will be changing their personal item size to match Frontier this spring - 18" x 14" x 8". Allegiant limits theirs to 16" x 15" x 7". The resulting max size - 16" x 14" x 7" - should fit even overhead in a CRJ-200.

Boy, that's small. My winter coat will take up more room.

Anyway, I looked at all the 'underseat' bags on the eBags site, and there is exactly one that fits - 16" x 14" x 6.3" - by Bric's, their X-Bag Pilot case. It's... not optimal, but workable. It's $200, or ~$150 elsewhere.

I only saw one other bag even under 8" - the Victorinox Werks Traveler 5.0 WT Wheeled Tote. I couldn't find it on the Victorinox site, my apologies for when that link goes bad. It's 7.5" deep, so a little too big, but Allegiant hasn't been all that picky in my experience, and it seems to still be viable overhead in a CRJ-200.

Which brings me to why I'm here - not only am I looking for something particularly small, but most of the links on the very long CRJ-200 thread are long since dead. Some are unavailable and some are larger in their new line.

In any event, that's my goal - to find something that flies for free with everyone. I do need it to roll and be strong enough to hitch a backpack to for longer flights. Are there any other options? The Bric's seems viable - and looks like something no gate agent will ever try to wrest way from me for gate checking - but the reviews on Amazon are pretty meh. Was hoping for more than one candidate... Many thanks for any additional info.

Take at look at the Red Oxx Mini Boss.

Finding a bag with wheels that fits those dimensions is going to be tough IMO. If you ever decide to revise the criteria, The Red Oxx Extra Small Aviator bag and the Tom Bihn Western Flyer will work. The Red Oxx Mini Boss will officially be a bit too big, but could probably be "adjusted" to comply due to its soft-sided-ness.

Thank you for these responses. I may well have to give up on the wheels, but I'm not yet willing to. I still hope to find something to hitch a backpack to - I'm interested in the Tristar or perhaps a goruck. If I give up on wheels for my personal item, I'll have to go with a larger wheeled carryon, which I'd hoped to avoid. I'm unwilling to carry a bag that can't be rolled or worn as a backpack, just not an option for me.

The Western Flyer is also technically too big (18") but I've found backpacks rarely get sized or pulled at the gate. If I can't find anything that meets my current requirements, I'm pretty sure a Western Flyer and some larger wheeled option would be my backup.

I'm slowly selling myself on the Bric's... The two pockets will make it easy (and less embarrassing!) to pull out my laptop and liquids at airports without precheck. Carried by hand, it will rarely if ever be taken from me at the gate. It is respectable enough looking that it will serve as a briefcase upon my arrival.

Still hoping for more options...

This is a really interesting thread, I've been thinking about a bag in this ballpark as well, but gave up.

Quick question though: you mention being interested in the Tristar but are worried about the Western flyer being too big? I thought the Tristar was bigger? For what it's worth, it also has a backpack carry option.

EDIT: Never mind, read the post more carefully. Please disregard.

No worries, I realize I typed these up fairly stream-of-consciousness style and my intentions aren't clear.

I'm looking for a pair of bags - one that qualifies as a 'personal item' and one that qualifies as a carry-on. One needs to be a backpack and one needs to be a roller. At least one needs to be able to fit overhead on a CRJ-200 - both fitting would be a welcome miracle. I'd prefer that the personal item be the one that rolls, as I'll be traveling with just the personal item a decent portion of the time.

The personal item size I'm looking for appears to be 16" x 14" x 7" - which appears to be nearly impossible to find with wheels. I think something like the Western Flyer or goruck Echo or GR1 would be ideal for my personal item if I have to go with a backpack, despite them all being a bit too long.

How tall are you and how decent should this thing look? It's not hard to find that size in a kid rolling baggage. For adults? It's a lost cause.

You would like your personal item to be the one that rolls? Then what about something like the Rimowa Salsa Business Multiwheel? The file folder thing snaps out, and you're left with an empty shell that fits a surprising amount stuff.

I have an older model with only two wheels, and it is a delight. It's light, it's fits an incredible amount of stuff (recently, 5 pairs of shoes plus 3 days worth of clothes), and has been a joy to use. The drawback: it's not cheap. The other caveat: I don't actually know if it will fit in a CRJ-200. The one I linked to is 16.7 x 8.3 x 15.7 in. Mine is slightly smaller and more square, but I haven't taken it on a small plane.

I've used it to roll a Tom Bihn Aeronaut 45 (stabilizing it with a bag bungee), also without any issues, so a Western Flyer or Tristar would work, too.

Don't try going for the Salsa Air Mini (or however the smallest Salsa Air is marketed these days): it's made for children, and the handle will likely be too short. I'm 5'8, and definitely didn't work for me.

Otherwise, if you want something that will always fit, everywhere (I'm looking at you BA and Loganair), the Tom Bihn Pilot is a great bag. Again, not cheap, but impeccably made and fits a lot. Spring for the Absolute Strap!

You know, if anyone actually makes decent quality kids rollers, that might work - I'm only a little over five foot tall. The ones I've seen in real life look WAY too flimsy to expect to attach another bag to. My apologies if you were kidding - given my lack of options, I'm taking it seriously.

I did discover that ebags has a zillion rolling business products - briefcases, catalog cases, backpacks, and the like. I'm sitting down now to see if there are any suitable options hiding in there.

Tom Bihn Pilot
 

I thought the Pilot would be my end-all, be-all personal item bag. I bought the black halcyon version with the thought that it would provide more versatility and enable me to easily pack it into my carry-on if circumstances warranted. Unfortunately, due to the flexibility of the material, the outer slip pocket on the back of the bag causes an annoying gap that puts items in it (magazines, boarding passes, etc.) in peril of falling out. Epic failure for my needs. I then ordered the ballistic nylon version (also black) thinking that the integrity of the nylon material would avoid "the gap". Not a whole lot better. I now use a Pacsafe bag that seems to be working.

I saw a guy had one of these wheeled ones yesterday and it went up top on an ERJ 145 without any trouble. So I have to think it would work for the CRJ 200 but can't swear. It's cheap so not much lost if it doesn't work.

http://www.costco.com/Ful-Carry-on-U...100305905.html

I'd go get one today to try it but I don't have a Costco membership.

Before I switched over the the TLS Weekend Jr by eBags for my one bag travel. I was using the Maxlite 3 Rolling Tote. It fit inside a CRJ-200 Overhead. I would just carry it by the handle when boarding an RJ, so it never got a second glance at the gate.

I don't have a Costco near me, but for the price, I think I'll pick one up online. It looks pretty close to ideal, and if it fit in the CRJ-200 bins I think I'd sacrifice Allegiant compatibility happily. I wonder if that (very precise) 7.76" depth is actually accurate...

!!! Really? The Maxlite 3 is supposed to be 8.5" deep, I wouldn't have guessed it would fit. I wish there was some standardization in sizing/measurement!

I'll see if I can find one (or the new one, I guess, which is supposed to be marginally narrower) somewhere in person...

That looks pretty cool. I'll have to look for one to see how it is as well. If it really fits under seats, it'd be nice for parents or others that don't like lifting the bags into the overhead compartments.