KRSW

I know Costco stopped selling them in-store at times, but it was still available online. I just checked their website and can't find it now. It appears they've discontinued all of their house-brand Kirkland Signature luggage. I know Costco didn't make the bag themselves but put it out to contract to a different vendor. I'll see if I can track down who actually made it. Perhaps they might make an equivalent bag. At the very least, I know my bag won't last forever, so I'll need to have something in mind for the eventuality when the bag needs to be replaced. I'm about to jump in the car for a road trip, BUT I will be researching the issue further and will post an update when I find out.

John Isaac

I agree with you, Lord Hamster, completely!!! I have never had, or caused, any problems with my Goruck GR1. But, I have been tripped on board planes by people's roller bags in the aisles.

Climb14er

If my memory is still OK, I believe it was Pathfinder, out of New Jersey that made the roller bags for Costco. They also, and I'm stretching it... bought Andiamo. The latter was my favorite roller of all time. Their Valoroso was bulletproof. I still have their Valoroso garment bag, though heavy, built with indestructible Ballistic and marine hardware. I only use it for car travel as it won't pass carry on specs. Years ago before stringent rules, I carried it on hundreds and hundreds of flights. It still looks like new. Now I buy Tom Bihn and Red Oxx.

freecia

Unfortunately, there's also slightly oblivious onebaggers who choose to carry a MLC which is too large for them to carry. It's about finding the right bag for the travel scenario and making a good game plan to reduce hassle. That person with a neck pillow, flip flops, water bottle, and speaker dangling off a massive wide turtle shell down the confines of an aisle, obliviously staring at their phone checking their seat number and twisting about to check rows? That person who is happily "one bagging" and will decide to stay in the aisle while pulling out a good quarter of their bag for a 2 hour flight, then throwing it in the bin sideways with the sole handle in the most inconvenient place to unload it?

Stowing efficiently does take a little practice in the confines of economy, surrounded by others. Japanese travelers do this extremely well, not only because checked luggage is the norm, but also because of how many people take public transit regularly and have been taught to queue and stow efficiently. Most have a game plan to shift their bag into the least disruptive carry mode before entering the plane, know where they are sitting, and step into the row to store instead of holding up the aisle. They're also good at disembarking. I've observed Japanese travelers who started stowing their things and tidying like folding the blanket neatly when pilot announced we're going to land soon. Nothing was left out in a seat for row mates to trip on and no last minute fumbles to stow items.

OccasionalFlyerPerson

I'm just back from a one-bag trip to Iraqi Kurdistan. I had my Osprey Farpoint 40, and a plastic bag for putting under the seat. I had a wallet, front-mounted bum bag, and a coat with usefully big pockets.

It worked fine, but there is some refinement to do. In particular electronics need to be slimmed down.

As well as making it easier to get on to/off planes, it was useful for the shared taxis that are used for inter-city transport. They are just normal cars, and with typically four passengers boot space was often tight.

Also, on coaches I could keep all my luggage with me, so didn't have the risk of forgetting to collect my main bag from the storage. It also gave me something to hug for comfort when I found that yes, this coach is going to drive 100 kilometres along the Syrian border rather than take the more northern roads I thought it would

Davvidd

I don't know if they are one baggers or not but this month I saw two passengers get almost knocked out by people who were carrying these huge backpacks. I have no problems if they carry those with their hands but to put it on their backs and walk thru the aisles and move about and knock people around with their huge back pack is extremely inconsiderate and rude too.

LiveOak

Did you ever watch YouTube videos on one-bag travel ? Most of them show bags stuffed to the max as you describe. Special Forces soldiers in the Middle East carry thinner packs.

John Isaac

Five shirts, five socks, five underwear, 2 pants, sleepwear, toiletries, and a MacBook Air does NOT stuff my Goruck GR1 to the max!!!! LOL!!!! :-)

LordHamster

One bagging is a form of minimalist travel. Not to be confused by people who take as much possible luggage onboard because they want to maximize what they take. Please don't conflate the two.

John Isaac

Outstanding!! Thank you, Lord Hamster!!!

OccasionalFlyerPerson

My partner has just headed out, going to the local library. She was carrying more in both weight and volume than I did on either of my last two overseas journeys for personal travel.

EDIT: Watching the video, he seems to have way more stuff than me in some respects - e.g. the toiletries, electronics, and medical supplies. But, he has less clothing than me. I prefer to take five days clothing in the bag, including one spare sweater, one pair of spare trousers, and one pair of spare trousers (he only had the last). This takes up the majority of room in my bag, and other stuff fits around it. I haven't used packing cubes or other bags within bags, and wonder if I should. I tend to end up in countries where self-service laundrettes are not a thing, and managing getting clothes washed if I'm moving on occasionally can require some planning. (And paying the lady next door in Isfahan to wash and dry my clothes for me, etc.) He also has an umbrella. In normal life I typically use large umbrellas, and the small ones I've bought in emergencies have been ... cheap and didn't last. If there was a light but strong small umbrella that gave good coverage that would help. I'm guessing it will be like bicycles - strong, light, cheap - you can have any two of those but not all three.

I note he has Bose non-noise cancelling headphones. I usually use over the ear headphones, but they take up space. For my last trip I bought a pair of Sony MDR-XB50AP headphones, and I was impressed with the sound quality for the price, and the extent to which they excluded external sound. These will definitely be my choice of headphones for future trips.

I didn't see him pack a towel. I definitely take one, and don't feel right taking a hotel towel to swimming pools etc. Having recently greatly enjoyed a pool with a poolside jacuzzi , swimming while overseas is going to be something I want to do more. Like the guy in the video, I take shorts and t-shirts in case of exercise, and a very small and fast-drying towel. In a hotel room without a towel recently I washed, shook water off, and then walked backwards and forwards in the room until I was dry enough to dress. I had a personal towel, but I find that for one-bagging, I definitely want to avoid 'damp stuff' in general. My personal washing thing in place of a sponge gets damp, but it fits in an external pocket of my bag.

Sorry if I've gone off on a stream of consciousness thing here.

CO-PLAT

Exactly what I do.

LordHamster

Sorry, I've been too busy to post. I'm headed to Mumbai then southern India tomorrow, but have to take more than my usual loadout (some gifts for my team), so I'll be packing my GR2 40L rather than my usual GR1 26L.

Here are some photos of my original GR2 40L (with compression straps). I've replaced the plastic buckles with red metal g-hooks myself. This was easy to do and required just a 5 min trip to the local shoe repair guy.

The top, side and bottom handles were added by Goruck SCARs... who also gave me a new patch for the front.


Front/side view of my 40L GR2. You can see the side handle mounted above the side MOLLE. You can also see my metal G-hooks.



Close up side view with the new handle. Both sides look identical


Forgive the poor framing here, but this is a view of the bottom of the pack with the new bottom handle.

LiveOak

NICE! What made you choose the G hooks over the plastic buckles?

LordHamster

Not so much with the GR2, but with the GR3, I found the plastic buckles were hard to use. If went outside with them and they got cold, they ended up getting so stiff that I could barely open them. I saw some guy on reddit did a similar mod which inspired me.

SCARS doesn't have the g-hook option, so I modified the bag myself the the g-hooks. I used a thread puller to undo the loop that held the male end of the plastic buckle in place. It then slid off and I was able to slide the G-hook onto the bag. I then went to a local shoe repair guy to re-sew the loop back in place (so my g-hooks can't fall off).

For the female end, I just used tin-snips to cut the plastic buckle off. The g-hook hook just grabs the webbing loop that used to hold the female end of the buckle. I find the g-hooks add a nice flair to the bag, they aren't affected by cold, and can be easily hooked or unhooked one-handed.