Which Luggage is Right For You?

PRACTICAL TRAVELER; PICKING OUT THE RIGHT BAG TO PACK - New York Times:

Great article from the NY Times on what type of bag is best suited for you/your trip. These days there are so many options, but no one best choice. Different styles work for different types of trips, so when choosing, keep in mind the length of the trip, amount of hauling you will have to do yourself, type of terrain and transportation (cobblestones and stairways vs limo to luxury hotel).

"Type of Construction. As outlined by Mr. Meek, there are three basic categories of luggage today. One is the hard box, such as the molded luggage of Samsonite or American Tourister and the aluminum alloy cases of Zero Halliburton (which usually retail from about $325 to $550). These are especially durable, watertight and can usually be handled roughly without disturbing the contents. But they are relatively heavy (the 29-inch four-suiter Halliburton, probably the heaviest, weighs 19 pounds).

A second category is semistructured, which means that there is a basic frame but soft or semisoft sides, usually with zippers, allowing room for expansion. ''If you put an extra sweater in, it's going to bulge a bit,'' Mr. Meek said, ''but you won't wrinkle anything.'' Most of the people interviewed agreed that among the better brands are French, Ventura, Skyway and Hartmann. For the traveler who simply must travel heavily laden, such as a professional entertainer, several retailers spoke admiringly of the French jumbo garment bag, which can carry up to eight men's suits or 15 to 18 lightweight dresses and has suggested retail prices from $505 up, depending on length and type of covering.

The third category is totally unstructured, soft, casual luggage - the most prevalent on the market today. It can be in the form of a duffel bag, a backpack or a suit or dress bag to carry aboard a plane and hang up or fold over and stow beneath a seat. It usually lies perfectly flat for storage, will carry as much as anything on the market and weighs practically nothing. If the material used is of superior quality, such as Cordura or ballistic nylon, it is virtually indestructible. Those interviewed mentioned that among the leading brand names are Bill Bayley, Pegasus and Andiamo. "

I definitely live in the third category mindset. To me, the lighter the luggage, the better, since I already have to haul the weight of all the clothes/shoes/electronic equipment inside. Can you imagine starting out with a suitcase that weighs 19 lbs. (Halliburton 4-suiter), and then adding your 20-30 pounds of stuff to it? Where is that bellman?!

In addition, those of us that live in tiny NYC apartments don't have room to store anything but the soft-sided bags that lay flat when empty, and take up relatively little room. Happy Packing!