AirBoss for Me?
 

I'm a college student who does leisure travel utilizing my benefits as an airline employee and was thinking about pulling the trigger on the AirBoss for a trip later this month. Price is kind of high after shipping at 243 dollars. But it appeals to me with the lifetime warranty and seemingly excellent quality. Only thing I guess keeping me back is whether or not it hurts to carry. I'm no scrawny guy so I think I can handle it but wanted to run it by the folks that had them.

I routinely carry a laptop and several days' worth of clothing in mine and it doesn't "hurt". I find the strap is nice and wide, lays flat on your should pretty well.

You can pack a lot into one, though, so depending upon what and how much you pack will determine your comfort level in carrying it around.

I have one and it has "hurt" some when its really full. I'd recommend picking up a padded strap to replace the one that comes with it if you're going to be doing some heavy duty packing.

I've had my Airboss for about 3 years and have lugged it over 5 continents.

Pros: Amazing amount of space, works very well with packing folders. Doesn't scream "steal me, expensive stuff inside". Great zippers. Never been challenged for size or weight even though I've "bruised" the 7 Kg carry-on weight limits on some airlines.

Cons: Would love to have at least one internal zippered pouch to store little things...jewelry, cash, etc. No "locking hubs" on main zipper for adding a TSA lock; you have to either lock the zipper pulls or the supplied "monkey paw" pulls. Not much bottom padding to protect electronics (laptop & DSLR go in their own sleeves).

That said it's a great investment for 7 day+ trips.

Recommendations: For $30 pick up a Tom Binh Absolute Shoulder Strap to replace the supplied claw strap. The claw is very nice & I'm sure you'll find something else like a laptop bag to attach it to, but I sometimes carry 2 laptops, 2 cameras, 300mm zoom lens, clothes, gifts, toiletries, water, etc in the AirBoss. I'm a small guy and the Binh strap makes it feel about 25% lighter than the claw due to the weight distribution of the shoulder pad.

Also pick up a 15" Eagle Creek packing folder for clothes you don't want to wrinkle. It fits wonderfully under the AirBoss straps. An added bonus of the packing folder is that it has 2 plastic templates - if you're carrying any paperwork that you don't want wrinkled (souvenir programs, birth certificate, photos, etc.) just place them between the rigid internal template and the canvas of the folder.

Happy travels!

Just pulled the trigger on a Midnight AirBoss. Thanks for the tips. Hopefully I'll get it before the 15th.

We have a winner. Get the Tom Bihn Ultimate strap. I have the Red Oxx Sky Train and since getting the Bihn strap I havent even bothered with the backpack straps. Actually the Sky Train has an internal zippered pouch I use for contact lenses and stuff like that. I also use the Eagle Creek folders. ^

And welcome to FT.

I also own a Red Oxx Sky Train with Tom Bihn's Ultimate Strap, and it's been great! I can comfortably fit:

- A suit
- clothing for three days
- a laptop
- toiletries
- shoes + shoe trees

I did try Eagle Creek 15" packing folders inside the bag, but found that while I could use space very efficiently, I developed some pretty awful folds in the clothes, and now have been a bundle packing convert.

I bought the thing... loaded it up, carried it around my house, unloaded it, sent it back.
Everyone on here loves them, but I could tell I was going to hate it!

I am sticking with the 20" rolling suitcase!

I've thought about attempting the bundle packing technique because I want to maximize space. I think the folders are neat but probably not suited to what I need. I'll give the claw strap a go before I drop some money on the another strap.

As a college student - you don't state your age so I'm presuming you're an undergrad in your 20s - if you are in any sort of physical condition whatsoever you shouldn't have any problems carrying the AirBoss with the strap provided.

The bundle packing technique works pretty well if you are packing lots of clothing. Not required, IMO, for shorter trips.

Slightly off topic, but "bundle packing" is suitable for a trip where you get somewhere and unpack everything, then hang items on hangers or put them in drawers. It's time-consuming and inefficient for trips where you need access to only certain items each day, or are moving from place to place and need to pack and unpack often. I prefer using packing cubes, one packing folder, and/or 2-gallon ziplock bags. Much more efficient and I find that using the ziplocks allows me to pack more, since I can squeeze the air out of each bagful.

I'm with the person who said s/he prefers a wheeled bag. By the time I get a maximum-carry-on bag packed, it's far too heavy to carry around airports, train stations, etc. - great shoulder strap or not. Good luck with your decision, the Red Oxx bags seem to get high marks from flyertalkers.

I agree about bundle packing. I have tried it and will probably try again but I really like the convenience of the folders.

In terms of rolling or not I also go back and forth a bit. Right now I am making an active process of cutting down as much as I can when I travel. I have done some mileage runs recently and even though they are one day trips (NY to LAX or SFO and back the same day) I pack as if it were an overnight trip in case I get delayed, a flight is canceled or whatever. Since I was doing those I kept cutting down the amount until I got it down to what would fit in an LL Bean Turbo backpack. I had a business trip last week that was an overnight trip and figured I might as well try it with the backpack and it worked well. An Airboss would have been half empty in comparison.

One reason I got the Sky Train was to force myself to pack lighter. When something is going on my shoulder I am more careful about whether I really want to take it. It has helped me in that regard. The other reason is that I really hate struggling finding a place to put a rolling bag on a crowded flight. It is sometimes tough even in business and first. It is especially tough if you get upgraded (tougher if you dont) at the last minute and cant preboard of if you arrive late for boarding because of a delay. I find that I can about always stuff my Sky Train into a space, and a lot of times its spaces that the roller wouldnt fit.

I'm doing a 32 day trip over 4 continents, 13 countries in March, and only bringing my Air Boss and my Victorinox backpack. Wheeled luggage takes up too much space when wanting to maximize packing.

Yea I'm 22 and in the Navy also through a scholarship program so I'm plenty fit. I'll be taking a 10 day trip. Just got it in the mail today and was checking out and I have to say that I am pretty pleased with it. I'll have to pack some stuff and give it a go but I'm feeling pretty satisfied by the quality of the luggage after messing with it a little bit.

I decided not to go rolling because of their size and weight. Rolling bags fail on stairs in my opinion and are always heavier to carry. I'm glad I didn't pull the trigger on folders because as the poster said above they are for trips where I'm going to be unpacking and packing frequently. I generally will just be on a leisure vacation trip. In the future I may find the need for them but for now I'll be hanging everything up. :-).

Thanks for all the great advice. I feel like I'm going to be happy with this purchase now since I've got the bag. Lifetime warranty is a big draw too.

My other choice would have been an MEI Voyageur but that's a very small company and even though they have a lifetime warranty I worried that the company might not be around for that long. RedOxx seems like it will be around for a very long time so I went with them.

Hi
I am more careful about whether I really want to take it. It has helped me in that regard. The other reason is that I really hate struggling finding a place to put a rolling bag on a crowded flight.