Author: Kim du Toit

This silly article in the Daily Mail  (is there any other kind?) prompted a thought or two from me.  But first, an excerpt:

Despite years of obsessive searching, I’m yet to find the perfect suitcase. It’s as elusive as a desert mirage.  My attic is filled with discarded luggage experiments, lurking in the dark as memories of a different life and far too impractical for my current one.

I used to have that same problem, back when I traveled a lot (50+ flights per annum, on United — mostly — out of O’Hare).  A simple overnighter?  No problem, a decent garment bag generally sufficed.  Anything more than a couple/three nights, however, and things started getting a little more problematic.

And back when I was constantly flying to Yurp and Britishland, the problems increased exponentially.

I remember once giving in to the nylon/canvas “duffle bag” trend, and oy…never again, even with wheels.  (Without wheels?  Nope, never again in this lifetime.  No wheels — on any luggage choice, no buy.)

The only good thing to say about duffle bags is that they start off light, whereas suitcases start off being heavier.  And of course, if you’re carrying anything that’s not an anvil, the soft duffles afford no protection for your stuff whatsoever.  But if you’re going to use the wheeled duffle bag, just remember that the extendable handles need a structure to hold them when not in use, and that structure means that the bags will end up being about the same weight as a soft-sided suitcase.

Now add to all that the journey through the tender ministrations of baggage “handlers” at any airport…

(thanks,Kenny)

…and you’ll see my point.

Then there’s this little temptation:

I would love to indulge myself with really expensive, luxury suitcases such as the Globe-Trotter Safari:

…but at around $3,000 per piece, and remembering Kenny’s pic above, you’d be better off — maybe — just shipping your luggage via FedEx or something.  (Don’t laugh;  I knew a guy of considerable wealth who used to do just that:  ship his heavy luggage from one destination to the next, leaving the hotel’s concierge to handle the details.)

Or you can do what I used to do, when doing expense-account / client-funded travel:  buy cheap-ish luggage, use it once and then toss it in the trash after you get home.  Repeat as necessary.  (It actually adds to the pre-trip excitement, by the way;  buying luggage for your trip is an event all by itself.)

One last option is to see your luggage as a challenge to baggage handlers of the Delta/American/United ilk, and go with aluminum suitcases:

Just be aware that this stuff can cost a lot more than the hotel bill from your trip to Amsterdam or Tokyo.  And baggage thieves know how much this stuff costs, so the chances increase greatly of having your luggage simply stolen for its container rather than its contents.

Lastly, you can always just go with a steamer truck (or as they’re sometimes called, footlockers):

Just remember that unless you’re going to a place that has porters on call, you’ll want to make sure to get that thing with wheels.  (Another of my buddies uses one for travels with his wife;  they pack all their clothes and such into the one trunk, and he just pays the weight penalty on his air ticket, saying that the reduction of hassle is worth the extra cost.  I don’t believe him, by the way;  if you’ve ever seen Planes Trains And Automobiles,  and watched John Candy struggling with his trunk, you’ll understand my skepticism.)

Trunks, by the way, are pretty much indestructible, even for airlines.  I once used one to get a large and expensive crockery set back from Britishland, just checking it in at Heathrow or Gatwick (don’t recall which one).  I expected to lose a couple of pieces to breakage, but nary as much as a chip, let alone a breakage.  Trunks are also less likely to be stolen because they’re just too heavy to carry easily, and too bulky to be hidden away somewhere.

And unlike Alexandra Shulman, I don’t care about features like “compartments”;  just a sufficient volume will do just fine.

---

Afterthought:  one of the besetting problems with airline luggage is that most options (like Ford’s Model T) come only in black, which makes it a chore to distinguish your luggage from all the others on the baggage carousel.  One option is to go with something like this camping trunk:

…which should be strong enough to survive the trip, and it generally costs (and weighs) much less than the average suitcase — $50 compared to $200-$300 for ordinary suitcases.  And it’ll stand out like a dog turd on the black tablecloth of carousel luggage.