More than I expected
I was searching to replace my old duffel style bag. Went to stores, shopped online for a month for an upcoming 10 day trip to Europe. This bag seemed great but my big concern with the brand was the size up from this was to big and this one seemed a little small. I don't do a lot of 10 day trips so didn't want a massive bag to drag around on week long trips. When it arrived it still looked a little small so I set out to pack it with everything I needed. Turns out it has ample room for me to take a ton of clothes. I did use compression bags for dirty clothes to keep the size down and to keep them separated from clean clothes. I even packed a dinner jacket in this that I had to bring for one night along with two additional pairs of shoes along with all the clothes, toiletries and power converters. I dragged this through the cobble stone streets with no problem. The wheels are large enough to handle that and partly built into the bag to protect them from the baggage handlers. I wasn't sure if the internal compartments was something I was going to like. Turned out to be a nice blessing when I had to change clothes in a parking lot. I knew right where everything was located and grabbed it quick. This kept everything from getting rolled into each other and difficult to find. The external front pockets are pretty narrow though. You can't fit allot in them. I was able to squeeze a pair of flip flops in the larger bottom compartment. The top compartment I used for loose change and receipts. Not much else I found I could use them for. The build quality is excellent. Great stitching on the handles which got grabbed and pulled from every angle. Granted it has only been on one 10 day trip but Europe can be hard on luggage if you are dragging it around. I didn't have any problems with the bag rolling over while pulling it. Not sure why it never rolled over given that this is a narrow bag. But didn't happen once. The weight on this is awesome. It weighs as much as my weekend bag with three times the room. I never came close to the 50lb limit for airlines. I wasn't sure it would stand on it's own as most duffle style bags don't but wasn't worried about it. To my surprise packed or empty it stands on its own. One of my travel companions is a very seasoned domestic and international traveler. He took a look at it and said this is his next bag. The only problem he and I had was we had to rent the largest car we could get to fit our bags in the trunk since the cars in this region were pretty tiny. The only down side I found to this bag is in the hotel room. When you put it on the luggage stand it can be hard to fit when it is completely open and you are trying to work out of both sides of it. I propped the luggage stand out a little from the wall and laid the top of the bag on the wall. A minor annoyance when trying to dig through the bag. The identity card in the side, I never used. I still used the handle one since I figured who is going to know that is there if my bag gets lost. It's pretty hidden and kind of a gimmick in my opinion. I would purchase again and recommend to friends. Read more
