Looking for a light carry-on: Why is Rimowa all the rage?
 

I'm looking for a carry-on primarily for business trips lasting 2-3 days. It would be nice if I could use it for leisure trips as well. The most important factors for me are weight, durability, and ease getting into overhead bins. I've owned three "premium" brands and found pro/s cons to each:

Briggs: I've been using my Baseline for 15 years. Briggs seems to be the darling of this forum, and I can see why: I once was a dedicated fan-boy. Their lifetime guarantee is real-- The handle has broken twice and they've replaced it. Unfortunately, the love is gone-- They're HEAVY, really heavy. The wheels outside the frame also make them look bulkier than they really are, making them attractive candidates for flight attendants to "gate check." I'm also not a fan of "made in China." And while their lifetime guarantee is nice, I'd rather have something that doesn't break in the first place.

Travelpro Platinum Magna 2-21 Spinner: Worst $200+ I've ever spent on luggage. Less space than you'd think. Ballistic nylon showed wear much faster than Briggs or Tumi. Wheel broke after less than one year. Also heavy-- poor weight-to-capacity ratio.

Tumi: I've loved my Tumi briefcase for 12 years. The design is very clever, the weight is reasonable, and it looks almost new after years of travel around the world. I'm considering the 2-wheeled Alpha 2 carry-on. At 9 lbs, it's a bit heavier than I'd like. I'm also wondering how the ballistic nylon will hold up: My briefcase didn't get shoved in overhead bins or dragged through streets like a carry-on would. But it's a contender.

That brings me to Rimowa. I've never owned that brand before. The weight of the polycarbonate is really appealing and so is the capacity. The marketing as a luxury status symbol gives me pause. I'm sure it will look great and handle well in a Lufthansa first class cabin. But will it meet the needs of a business road warrior who flies Southwest and rides Acela trains in the Northeast? I'm not looking for a fashion accessory.

Opinions on how Rimowa stacks up against Tumi and Briggs for business road warriors would be appreciated!

Not sure how you use your carry ons, but I like having random pockets in mine to stuff things for easy access. Which makes Rimowa a non-starter for me. My Briggs & Riley carry-on has served me faithfully, but then I don't travel weekly, and my airline of choice is SQ, where they really don't care what you carry-on, especially in J.

Rimowa has proven itself over and over for over 100 years, I don't even know why you'd compare it to Tumi. Want a bag that looks like everyone else's with pockets and that it looks no different than a bag from Walmart?

Want a bag that consistently ranks as efficient, light and durable? Then consider the Rimowa.

As somebody unfamiliar with the brand, I'm asking those who know Rimowa well to share how it does (or does not) meet the needs of a business road warrior.

I consider stealth a feature, not a bug. As long as something does the job and holds up better, I'm more than happy to be the only person who knows the price tag. The most important things to me are weight, durability, and functionality. Any insights on how Rimowa fares in each of these three areas would be most appreciated.

I am not the business road-warrior type, but I've travelled a fair bit lately (South America and several times to Europe) with a very small Rimowa, and am extremely happy with my purchase. It's been used as both a checked bag, where it elicited praise from the agent, and stashed away with ease into the overhead.

Primarily, it feels much sturdier than other brands I'd looked at (e.g., Away and Muji), while also being so light. I'm guilty of picking it up sometimes by the extendable handle (which adjusts to any height), and I've never had the feeling it was going to break. It rolls like a dream. Again, it is so insanely, delightfully light, which was a marked contrast from my partner's Briggs & Riley bag that I borrowed for another trip recently. Never again with that one: it was too bulky and too overdesigned. My Rimowa doesn't have useless pockets, either on the outside or the inside (although some of the Rimowa models have outer pockets, so that's an option if you prefer.) My preferred packing style involves my own packing cubes and stuff sacks; what I most want from a bag is an empty shell that I can fill to my own specifications. I neither want nor need built-in compression sacks, suiters, a battery, or other so-called smart features that take up space and add weight.

In short, everything about my Rimowa seems sturdy, well-designed, and durable. I mentioned how light it is, right? It's an excellent rolling complement to my Tom Bihn bags (I won't lie and say I'm not interested in style, but my devotion to Tom Bihn might also suggest that telegraphing 'luxury' or the like is not at the top of my priorities.)

I wish I liked the Away or the Muji cases more, but I don't. Muji in the US is having a sale right now on its hard-sided cases. I've been in the market for a larger checked bag, but I'm going to hold out for a Rimowa instead.

I am not sure, my Samsonite Firelite (also no pockets) was much cheaper and so far it has been proven a survivor. So has its extremely fragile contents :)

i prefer 2-latch closure to full length zipper. i like the internal retention system - flap with ingle velcro. i like the large alloy top and side handles and how easy it is to grab (vs a pull-out rubber handle. the extendable handle are very solid for lugging loaded up and down stairs.

but more than any of this - yeah i just think it looks cool and rolls smooth.

all of my pieces are topas/stealth so theyre less flashy. and around these parts rimowa is common so its not an ostentatious object.

Second this. Look cheap.

My wife and I own 3 Rimowa bags. She has a Classic Flight carry on, I have a Lufthansa 747-8 carry on based on the Silver Integral and we share a large 747-8 based on the Topas. We travel a combined 650,000 miles a year and love the bags. They do stand up, and Rimowa stands behind them with a basically unlimited warranty for 5 years and relatively inexpensive repairs after that. I absolutely love the performance of these bags.

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Isn't TravelPro's warranty a defects warranty, not an unlimited warranty?

I bought the Briggs & Riley @ Baseline Cabin Spinner last year and I absolutely love it. I use Rimowa for my check in bag and I LOVE Rimowa, but for a carry on the deal breaker for me was I didn't want anything that has a half and half type packing. Look at Rimowa's business traveler for example, i have to open it like I would a briefcase - I didn't want that. (This is also why I didn't go with Tumi, which I also love)

With my B&R I have on multiple occasions put a week worth of clothes packed inside plus my bathroom things and the weight isn't that bad at all. The amount that it can fit is great. My wife wanted one until she found out how much I paid...she thinks it was too much $$$ for a carry on. Only thing I could say could be better is the wheels...nothing I have used is as smooth as Rimowa wheels.

I would love to get a Salsa Air for the low weight, but given how little international travel I do, I can't justify it, given that they don't make a rollaboard that is compliant with the typical 14" width of the US carriers. I am very surprised they have not released such a model. If they do, I likely get one, and will definitely do so if they make it in a non-clamshell design. I also wish that they had a 2-wheel model, as I much prefer that to a 4-wheel design.

Yes, I know that many people use them on US carriers regularly and without an issue, but it is clearly not compliant -- so if you encounter a scenario where they are sizing bags (which I see somewhat often, both at the gate and at other checkpoints (e.g., pre-security)) you are unlikely to get any leniency.

As one of those who regularly take my salsa air on USA carriers, I haven't had problems with sizers because they are usually 15 inches. So from a busy GA's perspective, the bag does "fit."

If you want lightweight and you have a real thick wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket then check the SDR D3 Traveller Duffel. I want that bag so badly but I can't possibly justify spending 745 USD on a duffel - backpack even if it's 1.13 lb for full carry on size. However, some Rimowas are even more than that so it's certainly an option even if it's a totally different category :)

According to the website, they're 15.7" so I don't see how they could fit in the sizer. When I've had bags evaluated for size compliance in the past, I've been hassled (read: bag rejected for carryon) for a flexible handle sticking about 1/4 inch past the top of the sizer. So I can't imagine getting any leeway with something over by 1.7".

Rimowa's authorised repair shop in Munich refused to repair my 4 years old suitcase on the warranty as long as they did not have an airline damage report.