<p>I am going out of the country next week (Israel and Rome!) and I think our suitcases have kind of had it. I want to buy something new off of Amazon. The prices are good, there are reviews and I am really busy this week. I saw a couple that caught my eye. One is a traditional piece of luggage – Skyway Sigma 29" Expandable Overseas Case and the reviews are pretty good and the price is great. But the High Sierra 32" duffle also caught my eye. The reviews are great on that one. It’s pricier. And I just don’t know if after a lifetime of regular suitcases, I’ll like this type of thing. My husband and I each need one – he suggested one of each maybe – and I need to decide very fast if I want it to get here in time. I’m not married to either brand. Any suggestions are welcome. I want something light so I’m not using all my weight on the suitcase, something portable (would prefer the handle that is by the side which I don’t think either of these do) and spacious. Also, it’s worth noting that DS will probably go away for college and the duffle might be the best choice to use during those college years. Any feedback would be great. (I did check out Costco’s inventory and wasn’t overly thrilled and didn’t find the prices to be as good as Amazon’s.)</p>
<p>For Christmas, my SIL gave ds1 her rolling duffle, and he LOVES it. I couldn’t believe how much it held. I don’t know the brand or size, but, seriously, it was like a bottomless pit. We live in the South, and he goes to college in the North, so he had a lot of heavy bulky stuff.</p>
<p>wheels—good working wheels. Not to big because you do always have to pick the thing up and throw it in a trunk or shuttle bus shelf…
And don’t spend too much money…they all break eventually.</p>
<p>Yes, if you can, try to trot over to Macy’s or similar & try out the different pieces you are considering buying to be sure the wheels work as smoothly as you expect BEFORE you purchase. One thing about duffles, it may take a while to get used to how to pack & unpack while minimizing wrinkling, but they DO hold a ton (you may need luggage digital scale to be sure you stay within limits to avoid hefty surcharge).</p>
<p>Consider an ebags.com brand motherlode rolling duffle. My family owns about 10 of them and we’re all big travelers. The original motherlode is huge and if you fill it, your luggage will be overweight. The motherlode junior is our favorite and when very full it weighs just about exactly 50 lbs. I cannot tell you how much we love these bags. After 30 plus years of extensive travel and living abroad for many years, these are by far the best “suitcases” we’ve found. And they are guaranteed for life. The one my husband uses most was wearing out around the zipper on the corners and they sent us a new one, no questions asked. Check it out.</p>
<p>As HImom says, a luggage scale is a handy thing. Each of my kids has a Balanzza and they are always being borrowed by their friends because overweight charges are so high these days. That said, my D who lives abroad has become a human Balanzza - when she checked in to go home in January, her bag was 50 lbs. on the dot.</p>
<p>just understand that duffles for the most part will not stand up…we own the high sierras and LOVE them, but often want a “real” suitcase because we get tired of not being able to stand them up in the airport…</p>
<p>going to check out with Balanzza; we have a luggage weight thingy that stinks…and is not accurate</p>
<p>The motherlode stands up even when fully loaded. (They really should be paying me for this!)</p>
<p>Glad I checked out this thread! I’m the only female in the family and hence the only one with a piece of luggage with wheels. (Is it only my DH or all men who think there’s something unmanly about wheeling your luggage around the airport?) Anyway, DS is going out of the country for three weeks this summer and I’ve been thinking he really could use something easy to push/pull that’s a little newer than my bag (which is, like, 10-15 years old). Puzzled–I’m looking at the motherlodes. Do you know if the junior would hold a shirt from the dry cleaners folded in half? DS will be working some in an office on his trip and so will be bringing big boy clothes.</p>
<p>Anybody know how some other brands stack up? I’m seeing a lot of High Sierra, Victorinox (have had <em>great</em> experience with their backpacks), and Marker (if related to the ski jacket, we’ve had great experience with those too).</p>
<p>Just bought a 25" Delsey Helium Shadow hard sided suitcase at Macys. It only weighs about 8 lbs and has plenty of capacity for our impending 19 day trip to Paris and Istanbul.
We shopped Costco, but the bags were HEAVY. Also shopped Ebags, but the best prices were at our local Macys. My lightweight duffel was just too cumbersome and I like the four wheels on this model.[Delsey</a> Luggage - Helium Shadow 25in. Trolley 01847 - Luggage Online](<a href=“http://www.luggageonline.com/product.cfm?product_ID=16165]Delsey”>http://www.luggageonline.com/product.cfm?product_ID=16165)</p>
<p>If there’s a T.J. Maxx near you, they have good prices on a variety of name-brand luggage. Duffles are nice but be aware that if they have wheels, they might not be permitted in the cabin. </p>
<p>Don’t forget to mark your bag in some way if you buy the standard black bag. I made tassels out of fluorescent plastic gimp (the stuff you used to make friendship bracelets out of at summer camp!) and it has held up for thousands of miles. </p>
<p>Re: Human Scales. My D’s last bag from here weighed in at 49.9! Dang, she’s good.</p>
<p>I live near a Travelpro outlet. They have major sales 4x/year. For son, I got China blue set that is light weight. For neice, got a teal blue spinner set. For people who travel a lot, good luggage pays off. Obviously, for the younger set I wouldn’t invest in Tumi or Victrinex–there are too many advancements to this field, so I wouldn’t spend 3x as much for something that can be outdated fairly quickly.</p>
<p>Anyway, I am fan of travelPro.</p>
<p>make sure it has wheels. D and I went away for a weekend, after the boys had already left and were midair did I realize I had no idea where husband stored the wheeled luggage. I had to make due with luggage I had to carry. It was miserable. I second the idea of going to a B&M store and trying out the stuff you are thinking of buying online.</p>
<p>have a good trip</p>
<p>Isn’t 32" too long? I thought the max on most airlines was 28".</p>
<p>I agree that the 32" duffle is going to be big. We travel with 25" Eagle Creek duffles and they can get pretty heavy. We take one each for a 2 week trip plus a small carryon. It is quite a chore handling even these sometimes. Good wheels are a must. You should have a look at the different sizes in a store before ordering.</p>
<p>MyLB - My H also resisted duffels, he was one of the last people carrying a hard suitcase - but he is a total convert and loves his motherlodes. He has all three sizes but uses the Junior most of the time. He travels internationally for business about every other month and carries suits and dress shirts with him. He folds the shirts in half with the two sides of the back together and stacks them on top of one another then pulls all the arms on top and folds the stack in half with the tails up to the collars. It works great. Your son can also get the cleaners to give him some shirts folded instead of on hangers just before the trip but my H’s system works better for him.</p>
<p>The motherlode duffels are not the lightest or the cheapest but they, or their free replacements, will literally last forever.</p>
<p>I will never leave the parent cafe. I think it’s taken the place of going and consulting with the village elders. So…I trotted over to Macys as advised and had the unusual experience of encountering a wonderful young salesman in the luggage department who was happy to help me. He told me I could either buy and come back Friday when the sale begins with my receipt, or just return Friday where he expects things to be reduced by anywhere from 30-50% (MusicaMusica, I bet you can go back and get the discount.) Anyhow, they didn’t have a lot of duffels to view and I’m convinced that if I want a duffel I should go with MotherLode, but the thing is, I’m just kind of feeling that I might be a suitcase kind of gal. And I found one that I did like a lot – 28 inches, 9.5 pounds and spinning wheels. Also a really great outside pocket that stores a lot, good garment section and it expands. It’s the Ricardo Sausalito. If it ends up 40-50% off, I think I might get it. The problem is they won’t know the sale price until Friday and by then it will be too late to order anything online. I just noted that Puzzled says the Motherlodes are not the lightest…I really want light so I can get more stuff in. Thanks for all the good input. (Oh my gosh – look to the left! Luggage sponsors on this page! I wonder if one is the MotherLode!)</p>
<p>Yes, it IS the Motherlode that is pictured to the left. That is kind of creepy. I do like the way it looks compared to other duffels. Torn. But I have to pack dresses and my husband might need a suit. A suitcase with a garment section might be best.</p>
<p>mimk6—we got a 50% discount (10 days ago) and an additional 10% for re-activating my defunct Macy’s card. wooohooo</p>
<p>DD has two High Sierra suitcases…very lightweight ones. She considered the Duffle but it would have been MUCH too easy to over pack it (in weight). Plus it was a little more difficult to manage than the two suitcases. She traveled with two suitcases (wheeled) and a camping backpack (she is gone for two years) and was easily able to handle her bags herself in the airport. Her friends who had a duffle and a carryon had more trouble.</p>