Good, inexpensive luggage?

[markcic]

Brigs and Riley. I have about 1.5 million miles and several hundred flights on one of my bags. I've had to replace 1 set of wheels and some zipper pulls. I need to take it to the shop to get the pull handle fixed under warranty. It looks like the United dropped it off the jet bridge when it was gate checked. I hut it has ave a larger checked bag with fewer miles but it has been packed to 70 pounds many times. Briggs and Riley bags are expensive but are not overpriced.

 

[Manatee Diver]

I have an old hard sided Samsonite large spinner that I bought a decade ago from Sam's Club for $99, looks like complete garbage with all the scuffs, but it still works. A number of international trips, and lots of domestic trips.

 

[Streydog]

Look at the Samsonite Freeform series. It is inexpensive and lightweight.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Oh my, I like this and it's lighter than the Freeform
"Samsonite Neopulse 28" Spinner Large Luggage"

 

[Diving Dubai]

I'll second (and third) @outofofficebrb recommendations for North Face

I've been using a base camp duffel for 13 years, not only for dive gear, but sometime test equipment and tools for work (as well as clothes occasionally) It gets checked, and it on an aircraft 15+ times per year. I've never had anything damaged and the bag itself has had no failures

Even scuff marks wash off. I also like that it has grab handles on ends as well as top, so easy and quick to haul off a conveyor.

I've never had gear damaged in 10 years being in soft bags

I have a room full of bags, which haven't made the grade for whatever reason. My go to travel set is as follows:

North Face 30" rolling thunder - take all my dive gear except PDC
North Face Base Camp duffel for clothes
And North Face backpack which holds all my electronics etc and goes in the cabin

I find this combo works because if I'm having to haul my bags down a street or a dock (often the case in Asia) I drag the roller with the back pack attached and wear the duffel on my back.

Also having multiple smaller bags, rather than one large is easier to pack them in a cab, especially small size vehicles in Indo etc And of course at the destination, one goes to the dive centre or deck, the other to the room or cabin (On some live aboard's I do take a mesh bag, decant all my gear into it at teh Dive shop and leave my rolling thunder there to save space

Some of my previous bags (dedicated dive or not) were great inside the airport with smooth floors or where you have trolleys, but a nightmare outside. My North Face choice has been driven by practical experience of other bags, and not because I'm a Brand Fan boy other than their gear works for me

 

[Kimela]

I pulled the trigger on the Eagle Creek 28" No Matter What Rolling Duffel at Sierra.com. It was on sale for $99, with free shipping, and it looks like returns are easy if I don't like it when I get it. I think we'll be using our broken hard side luggage for off-season clothes.

 

[Eyegore]

Checked the airline website and found size restrictions for checked baggage, so I settled on a hard-side suitcase and have fingers crossed it'll accommodate all the dive gear.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074WN48Y3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Kimela]

@Speck - maybe we should do a side-by-side comparison over the next few years. We can compare our travels with how the bags hold up. We can compare airport baggage handlers too!

Here's to hoping we both have nothing but great success with our latest purchases.

 

[Eyegore]

First round of abuse will be Dec. 9th, the second on Dec. 16th!

 

[DrMack]

I have a Stahlsac 34 that I check. It fits a Rogue BC, wetsuit, fins, mask, snorkel, save-a-dive kit and accessories. With dive gear only it weighs 34.7 lbs (14.9 kg). That leaves me with 15.3 lbs (8.1 kg) for non-diving material. We carry our regulators, computers and Nautilus Lifelines. It works perfectly for me, especially for live aboards. My wife, however, prefers a spinner (4 wheels). We have a cheap hard case spinner but I'm concerned about how robust it is, or rather, is not.

So I went on a hunt for a spinner gear bag and the only one that I have found so far is the Akona Terrapin. It appears to have about the same capacity as the Stahlsac 34 and is considerably less expensive. Does anyone have any experience with it?