[Anonymous]

[Sunshine]

I’m in need of help. I am trying to find a bag that I can use for short trips (one or 2 nights) and cannot find anything suitable. I’ve tried Samsung, Tumi (who’ve come the closest to meeting my requirements), Madarina Duck, Antler and a load more besides.

My requirements are (I think) simple. I want a bag that has a number of pockets/sections that will enable me to carry:

Laptop (about 17 inch screen)
A small range of documents (lfight details, writing pad, few printed emails etc.)
Some electronic gadgets – iPod, DS Lite etc.
A novel or 2
clothing & toiletries for 2 days (couple of shirts, change of undergarments and maybe a pair of jeans) and hopefully enough room to squeeze in a pair of trainers and some gym clothes.

I don’t think this is unreasonable, but for some reason I cannot find anything to meet this requirement. Tumi have a great bag that almost works – it’s got great space for clothing, some nice pockets for documents etc. but the laptop space appears only big enough for a netbook.

Mandarina Duck also come close but the main compartment of their bag (which would be ideal to house clothes has a couple of ‘separaters’ across the space, turning into something better suited to hold documents.

And others that come close to the mark annoyingly use up much of the main comparment space with the wheel and handle mechanism.

Will I be searching forever? Or do any of you have any recommendations

thanks

[VintageKrug]

I travel weekly for work, and so the choice of carry-on and checked luggage is important to me.

For longhaul trips of over one week, where I am checking luggage, I am a big fan of the last iteration of the Tumi T3 range – sadly discontinued – which was extremely lightweight and sturdy without the massive expense of the anti-ballistic nylon regular Tumi range. I use a medium sized wheeled suiter, with a small zipped bag for carry-on items which fits neatly over the carry handle of the larger case:

Zipped Bag:

http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/pict/400036591933_0.jpg

Checked Roller Luggage:

http://www.motivators.com/resize.asp?path=products/25242.jpg&v=1

Importantly, the larger luggage is expandable as laundry is always more bulky than pressed clothes!

You can still obtain this range in Macy’s/eBay and other dedicated luggage shops in many malls, though I would caution buying this in the UK as prices are daft; US prices are the same price in dollars as would be the case in GBP and you get the usual out of state 10% discount from Macy’s if you show your UK Driving Licence at Customer Services.

The Tumi T-tech range is too flimsy for serious travellers.

For shorthaul week long trips, which sounds more what you are after, carry-on size is key to saving time through the airport, but durability, capacity and style is also important.

One big disadvantage of Tumi in this range is that the gubbins inside the smaller carry ons (retractable handle etc.) is highly engineered and therefore take up a disproportionately large percentage of the interior volume of the case. The cost is also a consideration here, too, often in the £200-£300 range.

Having needed to replace my carry-on at short notice I spent a day trawling Oxford Street and eventually settled on a MUJI bag from the excellent Selfridges luggage store in the basement. It was inexpensive, lightweight, spacious and stylish and a total bargain at £65, and no need to shop in the US.

I have the medium size MUJI rollaboard suitcase which lasts me a week, but the small version would be perfect for overnight, and they also do an XL one for longer trips. With prices as they are (£55-£75/bag), you can easily afford the whole set for the same price as one TUMI bag. I have used this non-stop for the past four months and been seriously impressed by the product, with a very comfortable and size-adjustable handle, and a very smooth running wheels (often the Achilles heel of cheaper luggage).

Selfridges is great as they sell Tumi, MUJI and Mandarin Duck in the same department so you can compare directly, but you can also purchase MUJI online:

http://www.muji.eu/pages/online.asp?V=1&Sec=5&Sub=28&PID=968

You can slide your laptop and a copy of The Economist into the external pocket in the front of the MUJI bag, for easy access.

One essential piece of kit is a protective neoprene sleeve for your laptop; especially necessary with all the stresses of X-Ray scanning, and in the US and most UK airports they let you keep your laptop in this sleeve during scanning:

http://uk.tumi.com/alpha/compact-neoprene-sleeve/

Again, purchase in the US for better prices.

Hope that helps!

[Sunshine]

Vintage,

Many thanks for the pointers; very helpful.

After reading our post I stumbled across a brand called airTech which seems to be a pretty good fit for my needs. Anyone used their products? Annoyingly, they only appear to be available by mail order, so cant really see the range properly and make a decent decision 🙁

[TheDarkKnight]

Yes I think i have used Tech-Air – they have good zip pockets you can take out for laptops / washbags etc. Good practical and quite smart looking.

[JohnRodriguez]

I’ve got one of these
http://www.shopeezee.co.uk/proddetail.php?prod=SE-A-1010-47
not sure if it’s still current. It opens in two halves so is really easy to pack (small bags can be like a letterbox), I stick my laptop in the centre space between the two halves which is handy at security. A bit short on compartments though. No wheels so it doesn’t weigh much.

[KENSMITH]

Can I suggest that you look at http://www.americantourister.com. They have a great range of bags of the type that you need, covering many different options. I bought a couple of them several years ago in the US, and they are still going strong. I think you can buy online but not sure of the shipping implications.
However, if you do visit the US then they are in many luggage shops. If you go into any outlet mall you’re sure to find them.
As they are priced in $US, they are very good value in £sterling.

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