<p>What’s a good overnight bag or ‘home for Thanksgiving vacation’ bag for a guy?
We have lots of big roller bags that will be fine for moving him to school, and S has a small red roller bag he’s had since elementary school. I think he’s ready for something new.</p>
<p>Duffel bag? Other? What brands do you like?</p>
<p>Duffel w/wheels at one end and hidden handle.</p>
<p>L L Bean makes greats duffels in several sizes.</p>
<p>Ebags.com has the greatest duffel line called the" Mother Lode." They come in three sizes. The smallest one (Mini) is a carry-on, the middle one (Junior) is just about perfect, and your son could probably fit inside the biggest one. My family has lived abroad and traveled extensively for the past 30 years and these duffels are our all-time favorite luggage.</p>
<p>Flying or driving? If flying, watch the size on the duffel so it can still be a carry on. We all use the Ricardo. It lasts well for me. The 21" 2 compartment wheelaboard if need to carry hanging clothes. If not, just the 22" expandable. They fit in the overheads pretty good. There is a small duffel but I have never used it.</p>
<p>May I attach my question to this thread? It seems to coordinate well.</p>
<p>Son is heading to London for fall term. I understand that there has recently been some tightening regarding luggage policies.</p>
<p>Any suggestions for lightweight luggage into which a student can cram 3 month’s worth of “stuff?” His enormous shoes would seem to take up half of any piece of luggage! (I’m only sort of joking about that; the kid does have big feet.))</p>
<p>mafool: my sons size 13’s are miserable to pack. I make hime wear the biggest heaviest shoes and pack the sneaks which can be crushed down a bit. Otherwise I have no answers for the darn shoes except to stuff them with whatever fits in them (socks mostly)</p>
<p>Dufflebags are a good idea for school because they can squish flat and take up less room in the dorm during the year.</p>
<p>
I researched a lot for lightweight luggage when we were going on a girl scout trip to Europe that involved a lot of trains. I had never realized before how heavy some of my bags were before I even put anything in them! I ended up buying a travelpro suitcase for myself. It is lightweight but also expandable. I finally learned to travel light on that trip (only took 50+ years) and managed 5 weeks with a 20" suitcase - I was really glad I was not schlepping round a big case. I have used the case several times since and it seems pretty sturdy. My daughter did the same trip with a small rolling duffel - Athalon is the brand. She loves that bag and still uses it a lot.</p>
<p>We did get into the habit of mailing stuff back to the US at various points during the trip if we found we did not need it and did not want to cart it around. (mailed items from London, Amsterdam and Switzerland)British post offices sell really sturdy plastic packaging that is lightweight for mailing and perfect for unbreakable things such as clothing. Not real cheap to mail stuff but we sent it surface and it helped us keep ‘stuff’ under control.</p>
<p>Traveling light is a good suggestion but I’m reminded of a young friend who is spending this year in Ireland and had his mom send lots of extra underwear since everything, even doing the laundry, is so expensive now.<br>
My own D is also overseas now and she wore her big heavy cowboy boots onto the plane but also took flip flops in her carry-on to actually wear. She also used those funny plastic bags that you can vacuum the air out of to pack sweaters and other bulky things. It doesn’t help on the weight of course but makes the stuff much smaller.</p>
<p>
That made me laugh. Have they never heard of handwashing? You know - a sink, some soap, hands - free except for the soap. That was part of our ‘traveling light’ plan.</p>
<p>Another age-old solution is to take the ratty underwear and then toss it rather than bring it home, thereby making more room in the bag. Of course, few of us have enough for a semester, but it could still be the plan after using and washing it through the stay. Generally it is a good idea to not take favorite clothes…that way everything is tossable and/or losable, in case the airlines misplace the luggage.</p>
<p>hard to lose the luggage if it is overhead.
I have a Eagle creek wheeled duffle I use as a carryon- don’t need anything else.
My D used an Eagle creek internal frame pack with a zip off backpack when she was traveling recently, held everything she needed for three weeks.</p>
<p>ek – another vote for Eagle Creek. We got D a wheeled bag, carry on size for trips home from school. I also have a larger EC wheeled bag. They’re very well made.</p>
<p>I love wheeled bags, but my S wouldn’t be caught dead with one. Much more macho to struggle with huge duffle bag + ski bag + backpack. If he’s going somewhere where a daypack won’t fit everything he uses a soft sided bag that turns into a backpack with hidden shoulder straps. On overstuffed flights, you can actually get it under the airplane seat (not possible with rolled bags) and it works much better on 3rd world bus trips when you have to sleep on your bags (but that’s another post). Patagonia makes a high-end one called MLC.</p>
<p>Eagle Creek has a good 22 inch expandable, wheeled bag with an attachable overnight bag. These look right for a young man -they aren’t fussy or generic- and they hold up really well. Both pieces can be carried on, or gate-checked. Add a big duffel for the beginning and end of semesters, and he’ll be set.</p>
<p>mother lode junior is the favorite in our house. son took it to Europe twice now…we love the way it has a shelf (removable) so you can do hiking-sporting shoes/multiple shoes or dirty clothes in one compartment. Also, trivial thing we like…the bright interior colors…makes it easy to see everything. It packs up fat or smaller. It is a sort-of duffle bag in looks…rolls well—oh yeah BEST feature…it doesn’t topple over when you stand it up when in line places and you need to use your hands for other things.</p>
<p>DS has a couple of huge duffels he has used for multiple cross country trips. Nothing with wheels (not for boys)…at least not this boy 
</p>
<p>The fact that they don’t have wheels means they can live under the dorm bed with the numerous dust bunnies…Also I find the ones without wheels have less chance of getting damaged by the airlines if you check it…They are just these big soft duffels with nothing to break. </p>
<p>For short trips he has a big duffel from sports with his name embroidered on it. It’s a high school holdover but has lots of pockets and lots of space and it isn’t likely someone will pick up the wrong one since it’s black with huge orange letters on it…</p>
<p>Tumi luggage (comes in all sizes and shapes) is made of some type of ballistic nylon material that holds up for years. I’ve got bags that are 10 years old and look almost new. It’s pricey luggage and rarely goes on sale, but it’s worth every penny. There are several sizes of roll-on duffels.</p>
<p>My graduated, working S bought a Mountainsmith rolling carry-on. He loves their products and decided that if he had to have a “working guys carry-on” at least it wouldn’t look like every other black 20" rolling carry-on. He’s managed to pack a week’s worth of clothes for business in that bag and its held up really well.</p>
<p>we have three canvas duffles that we bought at GAP so long ago that Banana Republic still had a Jeep in their display window.
They were bought on sale for $5 ea. ( wow , we only bought three and that must have been before D2… so it is over 18 years ago) anyway- holding up great- we use them for car camping- duffles are good for the rooftop box because they are soft sided and can shape to other stuff if you don’t overfill them.
( but I would hate to haul them through an airport.- still with a duffle you can always upgrade the shoulder strap, they are sold seperately in place like REI)</p>