Which is better Hartmann or Tumi carry-on luggage?

Is Hartmann basically for women?

My husband carries Hartmann, but then he also drives what some people consider a sexy chick car. ... He's also a blue-water sailor.



[This message has been edited by letiole (edited Dec 02, 2003).]

When I was checking into luggage a few years ago I found that the thread count, or density of the ballistic nylon in tha bags was considerably better on both Briggs and Riley and Andiamo than on Tumi or Hartmann. At the time both B&R and Andiamo were nearly twice as high in fact. This is a pretty good indication of density and strength of the materials. Overall build and design also seemed superior. Andiamo seemed best overall, but I went with Briggs and Riley because from what I read they had the best warranty of any bag. It is lifetime (as is Tumi and Andiamo) but with B&R it includes repair or replacement even in the case of obvious user damage, not just in the case of defects in the bag. At the time none of the other companies covered this. Basically, if they crush your B&R bag with the cargo hatch door of a 747, B&R will give you a new bag. Not sure about current warranties on the other brands, this was about 3 years ago. B&R is still a lifetime warranty against any damage at all. I would check into B&R and Andiamo. Andiamo is a bit more than Tumi pricewise as I recall, B&R a bit less. The differences arent much however. Personally, between Hartmann and Tumi, I prefer the look of Hartmann. A bit more distinctive in my opinion. Tumi is a bit too 90s East Village for me

[This message has been edited by GadgetFreak (edited Dec 02, 2003).]

Just a reminder, since waranties are coming into the discussion, if you purchase at a factory outlet store, Tumi does not warantee their bags. Not sure about Hartman. Tumi only covers retail priced first quality items.

We went with the leather Hartmann. It lasts for ever and with some basic leather care keeps on looking like new. A lot of the fabric and nylon Hartmann bags I see look awfully worn.

I cant afford the leather so I use the nice tweed fabric 22" wheelies. If needed I them back to Hartmann for their reasonable cost cleaning/renew service about every 6-8 years as I rarely check them.

MisterNice

I also went with Briggs & Riley because of the warranty.

This is an interesting subject. I was doing a search for prior messages but it seems that they have been archived and I don't know how to search to archives.

Anyway, I am not set on a specific brand and I would welcome any suggestions. My main criteria is durability of the bags, and specially, the wheels.

Also, I was cruising ebags (thanks to a prior message) and I seem to like their own brand. Their 22 inch allows a tote carry-on. I assume such a tote still meets the two bags limitation.

Anyway, sorry to hijack this message, but I could not find another one that is related.

I now have 2 Briggs and Riley pieces and I love them. You can't beat the guarantee and the expandable 21" is very cool. It has 2 little buttons that you press and then the bag expands about 3 inches . It's hard to describe. I had to see it to understand but frankly, it gives the bag an " erection" of sorts that makes it deeper.
In any event, I vote B&R - they are way cheaper than Tumi !

Davey612, welcome to flyertalk. As to bags, as is obvious from my post I am a huge Briggs and Riley fan. I have 3 rollaboards and 2 small bags to go on top of them. They have nice features, incredible durability and as good or better warranty than anyone else. I think there are some TravelPro lines that have a similar warranty (but not all of their products). There was a thread with a lot of luggage discussion on briefcases or computer bags a few weeks ago. You might be able to find more on that with some searches.

I've never liked Hartmann. Tumi is much better.

Just a reminder Costco has a really nice Kirkland 22" wheelie that will expand 2"-3" with the tug of a zipper for about $89 (about 1/4 the cost of the Tumi, H'mann, B&R etc). I can confirm their lifetime guarantee gets 100% of your money back (I had a minor cosmetic problem), so I returned it, got my money back and immediately rebought another one from them.

MisterNice

Thanks everyone, I've decided to go with Hartmann tweed.

At first I was worried about keeping it clean, then I read a post about being able to have Hartmann clean them.

I've had good quality (Orvis) carry-on for the last 6 years. Its good and I like it,but I've had problems with it when boarding Qantas(they said it was too big), SAA(they said it was too big) and just last week in Hong Kong. It seems most passengers with carry-ons at Hong Kong must put them in metal sizers, if they don't fit you're directed back to the ticket counter. Fortunately I was given a tag for my carry on and a one time waiver which allowed me to take my very slightly oversized carry on on board.

Be careful what size carry-on you buy. When I bought the Orvis they told me it would meet all airline regulations and for the most part airlines don't give it a second look, but last week was the third strike. I believe Orvis is still selling the same model and still calling it a "carry-on".

Had an Atlantic Eternity 3 and loved, I mean loved it except for the wheels and it was on sale at $94CDN. I bought it at The Bay (Canadian store) and they took it back 3 times. I literally wore the wheels off it all three times. Each time the bag itself was in brand new shape which is why I am so sad about it. Why they put such cheap wheels on it I'll never know. Even cheap no name brands had in-line skate wheels.

I looked into Tumi and they wanted $700CDN for a 20" roller then I looked at the Briggs & Riley 21" expander. It is on sale this Friday and I am going for it at $387 CDN with tax. The expander is way cool. It has rubber wheels that I am a little worried about but a customer in the store over heard me and said she swears by hers and lugs it all over the world and never had problems. She was about to buy a Briggs & Riley carry on hand bag as well but the manager told her to wait until Friday for the customer appreciation day and 25% off. That customer helped sway my decision.

I never dreamed I would spend this type of money on one suitcase but I went through 3 Atlantic's in 50+ flights. Even this Briggs & Riley doesn't have the same storage as the Atlantic but it's the next best thing I could find but I think the expander might win me over

Hope you guys are right about the durability or Mrs Cattle will have my hide so to speak. Hey, designer Cattle luggage...any bids? I'll start at $1

[This message has been edited by cattle (edited Dec 03, 2003).]

I have a few Briggs and Riley rollers so Im not positive how many times I have used each. But I have been doing about 100 segments per year on US Air plus 100K miles for year on UA for the last 6 years. Im estimating my 19 inch roller has done maybe 300-400 segments. The bags are dirty. Oh, and one time I am tired and check one, the TSA dolts rip the metal puller of one of the zippers. Still zips fine, but a little harder to grab. Havent bothered to send it back to get fixed.