Luggage... Hard shell vs Soft Sided... your thoughts...

[McWeeOne]

I used to have such horrible old luggage... one day a few years ago I bought myself some beautiful new hard sided luggage... I was so in love... four wheels made me so happy... the ease of transport was simply wonderful... then I took a trip to Costa Rica... and the airline (who will remain nameless) beat the crapolla out of it... cracked all around the wheel on two Pieces! Woe is me... so now I'must back to soft sided luggage... got a beautiful purple paisley set at Winners :) I hope I dont regret it!!! Whats your Preference? Any luggage stories out there?

[slidergirl]

This is one of those questions that will get you tons of answers. There is no right answer other than "what you like."

 

I'll give my preference: soft-sided convertible, with 2 wheels AND backpack straps. I can get those anywhere I need to. I can wheel most of the time, but if I must, I can put it on my back. Everywhere I go is not smooth, level, surface. 4 wheels do great on that, but not much else. I work at a hotel and I have to drag bags at times - the 4 wheelers are horrible on carpet. I can't move as fast with a 4 wheeler than I can with my 2 wheels.

 

Some will say you can overpack a softie. It's a myth. You can only pack any bag to it's spatial limits, hard or soft. If a softie is 22x19x14, I can't pack it to 23x20x14...

[McWeeOne]

I dont mind lots of different answers slidergirl, I make up my own mind in the end anyways :) I never thought about that four wheel problem before... I just remember being a youngling in the airport, lugging my no wheeled case and seeing someone glide along past me, four wheels rolling... graceful as a ballerina... and I thought that will be me one day! I still dress up for the plane! Travel is romantic to me lol There is no way I could lift it on my back... I'm always teetering on the edge of weight limits...

Edited September 1, 2016 by McWeeOne

[57redbird]

We've had both hard & soft -- the most disliked thing about hard-sided is that there aren't any outside pockets. It's nice to be able to either put a jacket or sweater in if it's warm where you landed or grab one out if it's not. We seem to fly from/to cool Seattle to warm port locations & vice versa on the return.

[mongo59r]

I used to have such horrible old luggage... one day a few years ago I bought myself some beautiful new hard sided luggage... I was so in love... four wheels made me so happy... the ease of transport was simply wonderful... then I took a trip to Costa Rica... and the airline (who will remain nameless) beat the crapolla out of it... cracked all around the wheel on two Pieces! Woe is me... so now I'must back to soft sided luggage... got a beautiful purple paisley set at Winners :) I hope I dont regret it!!! Whats your Preference? Any luggage stories out there?

 

We have replaced our primary bags with eagle creek rolling duffle bags. They have an outstanding warranty and after a number of trips by air and sea have shown no real damage or wear. When our carry on bags need replacing they will likely also be the same.

[Crew News]

I have watched my luggage stacked on its side in the luggage transporting carts used by the cruise lines with six bags on top of it.

 

 

When you purchase luggage, you need to take into consideration what you will have inside and how much protection is needed.

[CapeCodCruiser]

We prefer soft. We travel with carry on only - air - cruise - train whatever my bag is always with me. Two roller blade type wheels are best for us as we travel where there are a lot of cobblestones. It must have the expansion zipper - I like the extra room when traveling by car, ship or train.

 

Contrary to Slidergirl I can overpack a carry on! Packed normally it will fit right in the sizers at the airport - but I can stuff it (without opening the expansion zipper) so it will not fit in the sizer!

 

I am getting ready to downsize to fit European airline carry on size - will likely go with a Rick Steves bag

Edited September 1, 2016 by CapeCodCruiser

[Been There, Planning That]

For land travel where we often stay in 'quaint' hotels or basic three star ones, we prefer soft sided ones as one fits easily on a luggage rack when space is limited. It is a nuisance digging around but since we've started using packing cubes it's easier.

 

For cruising when we simply unpack -- pre cruise stuff is at the top of one piece -- we prefer the protection of firm sided. We just alternately open them completely on the bed and unpack.

 

We decorated liberally with duck tape which doesn't adhere as well to the soft sided ones. It needs frequent replacing.

 

Ruth

[Capt_BJ]

1. QUALITY COUNTS. Inexpensive luggage simply does not hold up. Well if all you do is carry on you're fine but as soon as you check on a flight or cruise ship the potential for trouble goes up fast. I carry dive gear in a 40 year old military duffle - it is ugly but indestructible!

 

2. SIZE MATTERS. Again if you just carry on you are well aware of the limits but if checking one gets tempted to get much BIGGER. Bigger means heavier and the handlers may have trouble. Again quality matters cuz heavier means you need GOOD HANDLES.

 

3. SPINNER WHEELS are great for carry ons but a bad choice if you check. One hard toss or bounce and as you've seen the wheels are broken. You need STRONG wheels and the more recessed the better.

 

4. FANCY COLORS OR PATTERNS OR FABRICS - one trip with "checking" and that fancy stuff IS gonna get all marked up so be ready .....

 

I've got a pretty old Samsonite BRIGHT YELLOW hard shell "2 suiter" with wheels that is beat up as heck .... BUT the handle is strong, the locks work and you can SEE where it has absorbed some gouges that would have cut thru anything fabric.

 

It's made a lot of trips and keeps on going. Here waiting for the train in Nuremberg

 

[zqvol]

I used to have such horrible old luggage... one day a few years ago I bought myself some beautiful new hard sided luggage... I was so in love... four wheels made me so happy... the ease of transport was simply wonderful... then I took a trip to Costa Rica... and the airline (who will remain nameless) beat the crapolla out of it... cracked all around the wheel on two Pieces! Woe is me... so now I'must back to soft sided luggage... got a beautiful purple paisley set at Winners :) I hope I dont regret it!!! Whats your Preference? Any luggage stories out there?

 

If you fly, then don't buy anything that is expensive because it will get beaten up. Doesn't matter the airline or destination, it will happen. It will also happen if you give it to the porters to get on the ship. Best buy I ever made was a $59 rolling full size duffle at Costco about 10 years ago. Thing is huge and indestructible. It's been to Europe twice AK three times and countless domestic trips and is still going strong.

Edited September 1, 2016 by zqvol

[preschool teacher]

I have both and really like either, but I do like the outside pockets of the soft side.

[Floridiana]

We have two 4-wheel hard sides, on the expensive side and lightweight, have held up well around the world. 2 cheap ones have cracked on their first trips.

 

We kept one older sturdy soft side with 2 wheels, very practical but a bit too heavy. The last time we used it was in the Galapagos and on the Napo River. In the Galapagos, the luggage was transferred to the cruise ship on an open launch. The handlers were standing on the suitcases. On the Napo, the luggage was in canoes. A 2-wheel soft-side is a good suitcase in expedition like conditions.

 

Our carry-ons are very lightweight cheap soft sides with 4 wheels.

They are easier than 2 wheelers to roll along in airports, no strain on our aging arms.

[MCC retired]

We have had both hard and soft side over many years .

Gave up on hard side years ago due to being unable to squeeze in those extra items and broken hinges/latches on the Samonsonite hard sides .

Since our softsides contain mostly clothes , we can pack delicate items among the clothing , and the soft sides can take abuse without

breaking .

 

 

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[GUT2407]

It's one of those "No right answer" questions, we like hard shell simply because we have had our luggage left out in a sudden downpour and our clothes got soaked in a soft sided.

[WupperAV]

Just Another Opinion, That's my blue bag closest to ya in your pic. Funny! I'm from Veguita NM now in Va. We use Atlantic softside luggage. Last's as well as any and if the wheels break off they will replace them for free. We hate the spinners and in Italy and Europe theya are most likely stolen because thieves walk away with them. People seem to guard them less. If you and to handle 5000 suitcases a day, packed in a MD 80 while crawling on your knees @115 degrees, would you gently throw it underhand? Not me. I'd throw it as hard as I could.

 

Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel.” Yogi Berra

[Scrapnana]

My main gripe against hard-sided is that it opens in the middle. If you don't have a lot of space (I live in a small house), it is hard to pack and unpack.

 

I prefer spinners because dragging a two wheeled suitcase causes a lot of pain in my bad hip.

[ger_77]

We gave up hard shelled luggage a few years ago - finally had enough of wheels snapping off, gouges from airlines, and having them look like garbage after only a few trips. We switched over to rolling duffels and really like using them. I can pack as much as ever, and there is still room in the outside pockets to put extras like sandals, etc. I personalize ours with our initial "large P" in sparkly paint and nobody grabs it except us. You do what's necessary to prevent theft, and to make sure your clothing arrives in good shape.

 

Just a side note, we recently flew to Japan and needed to bring many breakable gifts for our hosts - among them, Canadian liquers and of course, maple syrup. I was concerned about our rolling duffels providing the necessary protection, so I used Rubbermaid (or sort of Rubbermaid) containers and wrapped our gifts with socks and undies for protection during the flight. Every one of our gifts arrived intact.

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[cb at sea]

It's a "whatever works" thing....I like soft side, as you can stuff it. Hard side, it's a finite space. ALL luggage gets the crap beat out of it. The more awful it looks, the better it is!

[SadieN]

Prefer soft, two wheel, one sided (not a clam shell) cases.

 

Unfortunately two wheeled cases are going the way of the Dodo bird.

 

We'll mark them with lots of small duct tape stars, nail polish or fabric paint.

 

Favorite case was an extremely basic two-wheeled bright yellow carryon that I picked up at JC Penny Outlet for $15. After many travels the wheel board broke. Now the comparable case has cartoon characters and is three times the price.

 

 

 

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[LuckyLoon]

I've been buying Travelpro. It's pretty sturdy and has large wheels that are inset and can be replaced if damaged. Though I'm not sure if my 28/29" light weight bag wheels are replaceable. The light weight Travelpro bag is lighter than my 24" Travelpro bags. Thought maybe it would be more destructible but it's lasted the last few years with no damage yet.

[Guest maddycat]

I've got a pretty old Samsonite BRIGHT YELLOW hard shell "2 suiter" with wheels that is beat up as heck .... BUT the handle is strong, the locks work and you can SEE where it has absorbed some gouges that would have cut thru anything fabric.

 

It's made a lot of trips and keeps on going. Here waiting for the train in Nuremberg

 

 

We have 2 Samsonite cases like your yellow one.......a 27" in taupe and a 29" in green. We've had them for years and they are indestructible. My husband uses them now. They're just too heavy for me since you have to tilt it up to wheel it on the 2 wheels.

 

I bought an Eagle Creek hard sided spinner for myself a couple of years ago. It's so easy to wheel. It's much lighter than the Samsonite. The only thing that I don't like with the Eagle Creek is that it opens in the middle.

[SPacificbound]

I think it's mostly personal preference.

 

Four years ago we decided we needed to buy some new light weight luggage. We chose Samsonite Lift which is softside. Since then it has done quite a bit of globe trotting and the pieces are all still working well.

 

http://shop.samsonite.com/luggage/samsonite-lift2-21%22-spinner/58745XXXX.html

[cruisemom42]

I have a variety of bags for different types of trips. A few years ago I flirted with the new lightweight hardside style luggage, but I didn't like it. As others have mentioned, most open in the middle and are harder to pack because both sides have to lay flat. I have stayed in plenty of hotels in Europe where there is literally no place to put a suitcase like that and open it. (Not even the skinny single bed!)

 

I started buying some Eagle Creek softside pieces and really like them. They are lightweight, the wheels (two, not four) are really sturdy and can handle rough terrain like cobbles, curbs, even gravel paths. One Eagle Creek piece is a sort of hybrid suitcase/duffle that's very narrow and is excellent for train journeys where the aisles are really narrow and storage is limited. Another slightly larger piece is my go-to for cruises.

 

A long, long time ago my mother had a blue suitcase like that yellow hardside one pictured earlier. That thing was a brick, but so heavy. It must have weighed near 20 pounds just on its own!

[slidergirl]

I have a variety of bags for different types of trips. A few years ago I flirted with the new lightweight hardside style luggage, but I didn't like it. As others have mentioned, most open in the middle and are harder to pack because both sides have to lay flat. I have stayed in plenty of hotels in Europe where there is literally no place to put a suitcase like that and open it. (Not even the skinny single bed!)

 

I started buying some Eagle Creek softside pieces and really like them. They are lightweight, the wheels (two, not four) are really sturdy and can handle rough terrain like cobbles, curbs, even gravel paths. One Eagle Creek piece is a sort of hybrid suitcase/duffle that's very narrow and is excellent for train journeys where the aisles are really narrow and storage is limited. Another slightly larger piece is my go-to for cruises.

 

A long, long time ago my mother had a blue suitcase like that yellow hardside one pictured earlier. That thing was a brick, but so heavy. It must have weighed near 20 pounds just on its own!

 

Which one did you buy? A Flatbed?

I bought a new Eagle Creek 22" Load Warrior the other week. Sierra Trading Post had it for $129. Bright light green color, so it goes with my eBags bags. It doesn't have backpack straps for convertibility, so it will have some limitations on where I use it. My other Eagle Creek Tarmac 22" is now 10 years old (and still in great shape), so I had no issues with buying this one. I'm a soft-sided luggage slut; I've got 6 carryon-legal bags in various configurations, and 2 25x14x14 bags (my "big" Osprey bags, one with wheels and straps and one just straps) when I need more room and will be comfortable checking a bag. I do a a bit of adventure travel, so the durability of soft sides comes into play as does the ability to port in multiple modes (wheels, straps, handles). If you are largely cruise-oriented, I don't think it would matter much; most people unpack and push the luggage under the bed.

Edited September 2, 2016 by slidergirl

[iancal]

The best luggage that we have ever had was Costco Kirkland brand. Soft side, indestructible, great wheels (2).

 

We no longer use them very much since we evolved to lighter weight carry on bags only.

Edited September 2, 2016 by iancal