Recommend your luggage

[Anal Annie]

How timely, I was just going to ask a very similar question! I have been looking at rolling duffels. I have it down to two: the Travelpro TPro Bold 26" Duffel and the eBags Mother Load TLS Jr.

I have been able to find plenty of great reviews for the eBags TLS. My only concerns being that I don't like the look as much as the Travelpro, I can get the Travelpro for 3/4 the price, and the lack of duffel handles makes me a little worried about how baggage handlers will handle it (may be more tempted to do the two handed grab and throw than a pick up and set). The Travelpro bag is new and there is only one review I could find (single reviews tend to be hit and miss).

Does anyone have any experience with either bag? Also, I am wondering about what the clearance is under the beds on the Magic/Wonder for storing the bag.

The eBags collapses down to about 5 inches, but i have received conflicting reports on whether the Travelpro bag can collapse down. As you can tell I WANT the Travelpro bag, but if it doesn't collapse at all it is a show stopper and I will get the eBags one (which is also very nice: stands up, collapses for storage, lifetime warranty, etc)

P.S. Had a spinner before. Wheel broke off after one trip. YMMV

I do not have experience with either bag but I would probably buy the TravelPro because it weighs less and is just ever so slightly larger. My entire goal these days is to waste as little weight as possible on the bag itself and 2 Lbs is 2 Lbs!! It does not look like it collapses to me BUT you could always stand it up on its end in a corner or in the closet floor.

RE: spinners...I think they're best for schleping thru the airport with your carry-on luggage and thru the aisle of the plane to your seat. I don't think I'd expect the wheels to stay on for long on checked luggage with the way it is handled. I think recessed wheels are best for checked luggage. I know for US we load the luggage into the back of the car. We take it out at the airport parking lot & we put it onto the parking shuttle...we get dropped off in front of the skycap for our airline & we dump it. If we have to schelp with a BUNCH of bags for very long thru the airport then we pay the $2 or whatever it is to get a cart.

 

[jennypenny]

We have the Eddie Bauer Rolling duffle bags and LOVE them. They are easily adjusted to fit whatever you're packing. And the larger sizes have a zipper compartment along the black bottom that's perfect for shoes. All of my kids wheel their own through the airport with no problem (even my 8yo). We have the extra large size and it has not been a problem flying.

 

[engle]

I posted this on another thread as well and have gotten many responses that others were pleased with this as well...

Ebags

Mother Lode Mini

Mother Lode Original

Wow...simply wow. Perfect in every way.

 

[tvguy]

best of all....LLBean's 100% lifetime guarantee. If the bags gets ripped, or damaged you just send it back and they send you brand new one. We have done this over the years and it really is a great guarantee.

Ah, so that was YOUR underwear on the baggage carousel at the airport.
I just wouldn't be comfortable with softsided luggage because it does tear and spill it's contents. A guarantee does me no good after my stuff is lost.
I know my Delsey hard sided bags weigh more, but in the 28 years I've had them, I've never had a problem. If they last another 28 years, I'll be 81, so they likely will out last me.

 

[Mom323]

I also love the spinner wheel bags....but....I really find a rolling duffle so much more travel friendly as it folds down flat for storage and is lighter right off the bat (allowing for more packing weight).

Our family each has one of the following from LLBean, in different colors of course:

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/63916?feat=506804-GN2

They come in solid colors or the tropical print. I recently saw plaid prints but I don't see them now at the site.

Anyway, what we love about them is that they fold flat, are easy to wheel (although they do fall over when on their end...hopefully a design flaw that will be fixed), very easy to identify at the luggage carousel and best of all....LLBean's 100% lifetime guarantee. If the bags gets ripped, or damaged you just send it back and they send you brand new one. We have done this over the years and it really is a great guarantee.

DO NOT BUY THE XLARGE SIZE for air travel....you will have overweight fees all the time. We find the large size is perfect for our cruise vacations. I am taking mine for our two week vacy this time.

The site has free shipping for orders over $75.00 now.

MJ

We love LL Bean Luggage. No questions asked warranty!!!

 

[mmouse37]

Ah, so that was YOUR underwear on the baggage carousel at the airport.
I just wouldn't be comfortable with softsided luggage because it does tear and spill it's contents. A guarantee does me no good after my stuff is lost.
I know my Delsey hard sided bags weigh more, but in the 28 years I've had them, I've never had a problem. If they last another 28 years, I'll be 81, so they likely will out last me.

I hear ya....but we have been using these bags for the last 10 years or so and never had anything fall out....the damage we experienced were small slits or rips...never anything big enough to have stuff fall out.

MJ

 

[Mjasp]

I also love the spinner wheel bags....but....I really find a rolling duffle so much more travel friendly as it folds down flat for storage and is lighter right off the bat (allowing for more packing weight).

Our family each has one of the following from LLBean, in different colors of course:

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/63916?feat=506804-GN2

They come in solid colors or the tropical print. I recently saw plaid prints but I don't see them now at the site.

Anyway, what we love about them is that they fold flat, are easy to wheel (although they do fall over when on their end...hopefully a design flaw that will be fixed), very easy to identify at the luggage carousel and best of all....LLBean's 100% lifetime guarantee. If the bags gets ripped, or damaged you just send it back and they send you brand new one. We have done this over the years and it really is a great guarantee.

DO NOT BUY THE XLARGE SIZE for air travel....you will have overweight fees all the time. We find the large size is perfect for our cruise vacations. I am taking mine for our two week vacy this time.

The site has free shipping for orders over $75.00 now.

MJ

How do you put dresses and dress shirts in the duffel bags?
Can you put your carry on on top of it and wheel it like regular luggage?

 

[Anal Annie]

How do you put dresses and dress shirts in the duffel bags?
Can you put your carry on on top of it and wheel it like regular luggage?

While we primarily use duffles too for most of our trips we will use a rolling garment bag for DH's suit, DS's jacket and my dresses for our Med / Europe trip this summer. The garment bag we have is pretty well organized with lots of extra pockets & compartments in addition to slots for 8 hangers. For everything else that is "nice" I will use packing folders and stick them in the duffles. I will put dress slacks and button down shirts & blouses in the folders and use packing cubes for everything else (and will roll the stuff in the cubes). We each have a folder plus several cubes. They are both WONDERFUL.

http://www.ebags.com/product/eagle-creek/pack-it-folder-15/147918?productid=10011768

(Watch the video!!)

 

[Bareacuda]

I also love the spinner wheel bags....but....I really find a rolling duffle so much more travel friendly as it folds down flat for storage and is lighter right off the bat (allowing for more packing weight).

Our family each has one of the following from LLBean, in different colors of course:

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/63916?feat=506804-GN2

They come in solid colors or the tropical print. I recently saw plaid prints but I don't see them now at the site.

Anyway, what we love about them is that they fold flat, are easy to wheel (although they do fall over when on their end...hopefully a design flaw that will be fixed), very easy to identify at the luggage carousel and best of all....LLBean's 100% lifetime guarantee. If the bags gets ripped, or damaged you just send it back and they send you brand new one. We have done this over the years and it really is a great guarantee.

DO NOT BUY THE XLARGE SIZE for air travel....you will have overweight fees all the time. We find the large size is perfect for our cruise vacations. I am taking mine for our two week vacy this time.

The site has free shipping for orders over $75.00 now.

MJ

We bought ours for last years TA.. and love them. I bought the tropical print in pink( no longer avail.) and HD bought the lime(Dis Board Green), and that color is not avail now. They dont look like every other persons luggage... it different!
Now all my luggage fits under my bed and not takes up the entire closet.

Annie

 

[CandyMandy]

The trend watcher in me says spinners are a fad.

They evolved because a lot of people don't like the weight on the extended pull handle of a "traditional" two wheel bag, so they perceive a spinner as a way to move luggage more easily. And they are a little more manuverable in tight quarters (such as when inching up through a long check in line).

That's the good news. The bad news is:

- spinners don't handle so well once they get larger and heavier (I increasingly see them crawling through airports while the two wheel crowd goes zipping by).

- the two extra wheels require more structure = more base bag weight. I recently shopped luggage and ended up with a two wheel Victorinox because it weighed close to four pounds less than the four wheel version. And in a day and age when checked baggage allowances keep dropping, those 3-4 pounds are increasingly valuable.


- Wheels are usually the first thing to fail on a suitcase, followed by zippers and then handles. Get ready for lots of frustrated spinners owners who suddenly find the spin doesn't work so well once one or more wheels are broken.

 

[lucyem]

My mother and I have Sherpani suitcases we love. She especially loves her blue one as many times the bright color has helped her find it at the airport. Mine is the smaller of the two and can be used as a carryon. They both can be unzipped around the middle to be made larger. They both have long handles which is great since I am tall.

My DH has a samsonite carryon with wheels we bought 16 years ago. It is not light but says something for the brand dourability.

We bought our boys the LLBean rolling duffles last year. We love the colors and how durable they are. The kids love them as they are light and easy to wheel around. My DH would not buy one for himself. As previously mentioned they do fall over if you try and stand them on end. The other problem is that when you are pulling them, they can bounce and flip sideways which is a pain. My DH took one to Hawaii last winter and said he saw this happen to other people in airports as well. This might not be an issue is a larger one with more weight in it. Ours are the ones that are considered carryon size.

 

[junglejoy]

Probably a dumb question...

I looked at the link for folder and cubes. How do you use them? Inside of a suitcase?

 

[mbb]

We bought two of these Coleman rolling duffles at Ross while on one trip to WDW, because I had *already* bought too much stuff from Ross, TJ's, Marshalls, and all my other favourite friends

http://www.ebags.com/product/colema...&rlid=detail&rcode=res11062311555714261976869

I think we paid $30 for each at Ross..??

Never had a problem with overweight, love the drop bottom for dresses, slacks, shirts, or shoes, roll great, and yes, will flip over if you stand them up.

We pair them with 2 hardside Heys for carryons, not the spinners, and have been fine for sizes, even on charters.

I like the hard side carry ons in case we have to gate check them. Feel safer with the kids electronic stuff inside the hard shell.

So happy with the rolling duffles...that we gave away our American Tourister suitcases that weighed so much to begin with, and took up too much room in a hotel room all on their own.

HTH!!

 

[wheelerkidz3]

We love LL Bean Luggage. No questions asked warranty!!!

we have one of the duffels and the handle snapped right off. we got it for a christmas gift a few years ago. i didn't realize that they had a warranty. are they easy to replace them? anyone had to do this? i'm glad i just read thru this thread, cuz i was cleaning out the attic last week, and looked at that duffel, and almost threw it away!!!

 

[Anal Annie]

Probably a dumb question...

I looked at the link for folder and cubes. How do you use them? Inside of a suitcase?

Yes. You pack the cubes in an organized fashion (ie one for tops, one for bottoms, one for undergarments etc.) than put the cubes into your suitcase or duffle. Did you watch the video? It shows them putting the cubes & folders into a suitcase.

This is a carry-on with 2 larges (one with tops & one with bottoms stacked on top of each other) & 1 small on it's side (on the left side of the picture). There is a full weeks worth of clothes in this carry-on.

 

[Minniemiss]

we have one of the duffels and the handle snapped right off. we got it for a christmas gift a few years ago. i didn't realize that they had a warranty. are they easy to replace them? anyone had to do this? i'm glad i just read thru this thread, cuz i was cleaning out the attic last week, and looked at that duffel, and almost threw it away!!!

If you have an LL Bean store close by, bring it in and they will take care of sending it back for you. You can also go on line and follow the directions on the website.

 

[NewCrew42]

Recently bought new luggage at TJMaxx. Samsonite. I bought it last year and used on a cruise in March, flew to WDW in July, various SEC football games in the fall, and cruise this month. Still looks brand new. Awesome!

Such a better deal than buying the exact same thing at Dillards!

 

[AmandaRG]

How do you put dresses and dress shirts in the duffel bags?
Can you put your carry on on top of it and wheel it like regular luggage?

For our trip, we had rented DH a tux, I had a couple of cocktail dresses, and our dds took their Tiana costumes. I put my dresses and their costumes in the plastic dry-cleaning bags and had no wrinkle issues. I had packed them on top, basically folding into thirds to fit inside. It was great for us!

 

[EEs*Mommy]

For our trip, we had rented DH a tux, I had a couple of cocktail dresses, and our dds took their Tiana costumes. I put my dresses and their costumes in the plastic dry-cleaning bags and had no wrinkle issues. I had packed them on top, basically folding into thirds to fit inside. It was great for us!

That is good to know. I know I need to purchase some serious luggage. What we have now will never last even through a flight. I am trying to wrap my head around how many garment bags we need for a 7 day cruise with 6 of us plus an extra prissy princess.

 

[Mjasp]

That is good to know. I know I need to purchase some serious luggage. What we have now will never last even through a flight. I am trying to wrap my head around how many garment bags we need for a 7 day cruise with 6 of us plus an extra prissy princess.

Just an FYI, I don't know if you know this or not, but my DH has a piece of luggage that has a suitor right in the top.