<p>The scoop on rolling vs. back packs is that when people buy them they never use the back pack feature. (This is from the travel forums.)</p>
<p>Let’s face it - people need more than one size bag. Personally I never ever travel with anything larger than a 22" roller. I take the same amount stuff on all trips - either for a few days or a month. I hate being weighed down with luggage. My kids have finally learned to travel the same way.</p>
<p>BUT for a kid going back and forth to school maybe they’d feel the need for one large piece. So, perhaps one large piece for move in and move out and one duffle (soft so it can squish up in the dorm room) for breaks.</p>
<p>I also like the one way valve packing bags. You put your stuff in the see through bag, zip it closed like a ziplock sandwich bag, then squeeze the air out. It reduces the size significantly, and you can pack more into the luggage. Strangely enough, it doesn’t seem to make the clothes more wrinkled. We got ours off the Rick Steves website.</p>
<p>Best thing I have ever done was to get a 4 piece set of luggage that all fits within itself and is hot pink (!!!). Easy to identify in airports and easy to store at home.</p>
<p>Thanks to all for speedy replies. On advice so far I’m leaning toward a wheeled duffel that’s bigger than carry-on size but still manageable–like a 26 or 30 incher at most; something that could accomodate a sleeping bag if need be. Excellent suggestions.</p>
<p>For pre-arrival shipping, we got a super strong 32" trunk and used door-to-door air DHL delivery (expensive). It will stay in the UK until he graduates, then he’ll fill it with non-valuable items (like clothes and non-critical books) and it will return inexpensively by boat (takes about 6 weeks).</p>
<p>I’m in favor of ballistic nylon (thick) 36" rolling duffels with numerous outside pockets. Two medium weight ones are better than one heavy one, for balance and those occasions when you have to pick them up. Make sure the hand grip pads on the telescoping handle are thick (for comfort) and that the metal pieces are very strong. </p>
<p>S uses a medium size backpack as a carryon to hold water bottles, books, camera, wallet, passport, glasses, and snacks. If your D has a backpack, she doesn’t need a purse on the plane. </p>
<p>When I visit S, I also take two large rolling duffels, one with my stuff, the other packed with food. When I return, I take unneeded clothing and books back in the second suitcase. </p>
<p>Packmate compression sacks are a wonderful invention and do give you at least 25% more space in the suitcase. You can get sets at a discount, and then use them for clean, dust-free extra storage in the dorm room.</p>
<p>I also sent a twin air mattress with its own pump - this has proved to be very useful for singing group tours in several cases where only floor space was available. If the college allows visitors to stay in the student’s room, it will be a handy item.</p>
<p>The large space bags/packmates are good storage options for the room. D received a nice blanket as a gift in a zipped plastic bag, we saved it and bought another large zip storage bag from Target - they have come in very handy for storing out of season linens. I would wait though, until you see the configuration of the room before buying any storage things, esp, big ones. She had a perfect dead space way back under the bed to fit the zipped bags.</p>
<p>We found this 16x30x14.5 to be a good size. Stuffed full, it still met the airline weight limit, is not unwieldy. S just stores it collapsed under his bed during the school year.</p>
<p>We also own a non-rolling 26" one that holds a ton, but I wouldn’t buy a non-rolling again. It came with a set and we use it more on road trips than plane trips.</p>
<p>As a family of serious travelling skiers and divers, we have found our large ski duffles (sturdier than Lands End/LL Bean varieties) on wheels to be ideal for auto or air travel as they easily withstand weather, dirt, and airline abuse and carry tons of stuff. They tend to be around 30" x 16 x14. They are probably more expensive than the typical ballistic nylon variety, but have multiple storage compartments and will hold up to very heavy loads for years of travel. If your kids have ski or other travel in their futures, I highly recommend these bags by ski companies Rosingnol, Volkl, Fischer, Atomic. Bags can be found on line or at ski shops for you northeastern or western folks.</p>
<p>I’ve also bought each of my kids a small wheeled bag at Marshalls or TJ Maxx. They carry standard travel brands Samsonite and American Tourister as well as the more fashion oriented brands. I prefer the traditional luggage companies as I believe they know more about building luggage than Nine West and Liz Claiborne)do. A 20" wheeled soft sided bag (I always buy the expandable version) can be bought for about $50. My husband, who travels a lot and wanted a checkable suiter, has bought Travelpro, a better line of luggage available discounted online. Now, if there was only any money left for travel!</p>
<p>I also second the recommendation to buy from LLBean, based on their reasonable quality products and exceptional customer service. I had bought a cooler years ago that was used regularly. A zipper broke and I sent it back for a full refund. Very few companies will stand by their merchandise as well as bean. I think I’ll get d a small duffle for her weekend travel from college.</p>
<p>My D has the medium and large rolling LL Bean duffel. She uses the medium to come home for spring break and Christmas - she has had to change out some clothes on those trips, so she needed more space than just hold the things she was wearing at home.</p>
<p>We actually looked at some of those heavy duty ski bags. D is very petite, and we just couldn’t see her managing the bigger bags. She is far away, and in a totally different climate, we thought about when she would be coming home, and whether or not she would need to change seasons - we made some mistakes, but the medium and large duffel bags seem to be working well.</p>
<p>Bluebayou - she is sharing rental of a controlled storage room somewhere, so she has as much storage space as she needs over the summer - I think it will be about $80 for the summer. We brought home 3 LARGE suitcases worth of stuff on Parent’s Weekend - and she has already said she isn’t taking all that stuff back (see the bed linens thread for her comments).</p>
<p>This is a helpful thread but one question: LLBean has about 3 different kinds of rolling duffels. The adventure duffle, the one linked above, and a widemouth duffel. What are people’s preferences?</p>
<p>bandit:
Thanks for that link. We’re thinking of getting a large rolling duffle for our D. She currently has standard luggage, but for her 6 mo. study abroad, this seems like the best option. I can also attest to travelpro quality. However, we’ve had equally good luck with LLBean.</p>
<p>This is a great price for this bag. Although she’d probably prefer it came in red!</p>
<p>Medium Meets airline carry-on requirements. 2,000 cu. in. 11"H x 23"W x 11"D. 6 lb. 7 oz. ----------$79</p>
<p>Large 5,700 cu. in. 15"H x 30"W x 13"D. 8 lb. 2 oz. ---------$89</p>
<p>Extra-Large 8,350 cu. in. 17"H x 34"W x 15"D. 9 lb. 3 oz.-------$99</p>
<p>The “Large” is closest to the airline’s 62" limit, so that’s what we are getting. Of course you have to watch the weight too. As the empty duffle weighs 8 lbs. it leaves you 42 lbs. of stuffing.</p>
<p>patient - the LL Bean Sportsman’s duffel has features we didn’t need and cost almost twice one of the other styles. As to choosing between the Adventure and the Wide Mouth, it was more or less guess work for us.</p>
<p>Thanks–I think that the adventure duffel is a bit less sturdy material–so now I just ordered the rolling gear bag linked above. A suitcase/travel bag junkie here…The advantage of the non-rolling adventure duffel is that it can be collapsed and rolled up as opposed to the rolling one which has the stiff bottom. The large adventure duffel is great for transporting all the lightweight but bulky bedding, by the way.</p>
<p>EBags and Luggage Guru are two other exc sources w/comparable prices to Luggagepros if you are looking for bags other than Bean or Land’s End. I have a Travelpro roll-a-board for myself and think it’s fabulous in every way, but Travelpro luggage tends to weigh a bit more than some others. For the 30" size whelled duffel I agree that the Luggagepro price is a deal (Travelpro, however, does not make a variety of sizes in the wheeled duffel.) REI tends to sell brands that are durable but also light weight and some of those brands like High Sierra are better priced at eBags and Luggagepros. It’s worth looking at REI Outlet online too, where they deep-discount last year’s models. Not a big selection but they just might have what you are looking for. Since this was Grandma’s gift (and my D’s first and only real piece of luggage) we finally opted for a High Sierra AT Gear Access 26" wheeled duffel–sort of an in-between size w/3854 cu in capacity that was on special Memorial Day sale at eBags. Useful thread, this!</p>
<p>so dufusmom, do you mean that you can’t take the extra-large duffle on airlines? Was thinking about purchasing this one but if it is too big for airlines, it wouldn’t be beneficial.</p>