Suitcases?

Pixbarmy

Pixbarmy

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Just got back from holiday and one of our (old) suitcases is damaged, so shall have to get another one. The old one was a "Tesco" one, bought in haste some years ago but has done well, considering that it was a cheap and cheerful. Forum wisdom and recommendations please, for a replacement. We only holiday two or three times a year, so doesn't have to be bulletproof! Thanks folks.
 
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We have a samsonite that has done us well. I was lucky as I got it as a long service reward, I know they are expensive though.
 
From many years of world travel experience (having worked in the industry), I would only ever buy Samsonite. (y)

I just wish they would make one to accommodate a wheelchair - I don't fly anywhere now through fear of being left stranded after 'losing' my wheelchair. Airlines are renowned for breaking them. :headbang:
 
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I tend to go with soft duffel type bags, less to break, cheaper to buy and easily replaceable.
 
Steep said:
I tend to go with soft duffel type bags, less to break, cheaper to buy and easily replaceable.
Click to expand...
I'll second that.

Plus, you can fold up one inside another, if you think you may have something bulky to bring back.
 
When we were going regularly to Hong Kong. we would pack two small cases to take with us, and buy a couple of big ones to bring purchases back in! It helped that we usually were in business class.
Sorry that's of no help at all. I second the soft bag approach, but I used to use a wheelie one when I did business travel
 
Over the years we have had a few different ones......

However, the outstanding ones are Samsonite.

My one I bought decades ago and is blue with the boundary edge (for want if a better description is marked with EU gold stars) it is a clamshell design.

SWMBO case until last year was an even older Samsonite inherited from her dad. Sadly, it suffers some wear that with a ding damaged the hinge making it unusable.

She also had a canvas style zipper make and the zipper has become unstitched!

So last year we shopped for a replacement and what struck me was the 100% absence of clamshell designed ones!

In the end at some cost she bought a Samsonite wheelie style but IMO more importantly it has clamshell like closure i.e. not zips! Of note, upon returning from holiday last year (it's first use) I noticed only once back that one corner had been pushed in. I did not see that when taking it off of the carousel or loading it into the car ???

I took pictures etc for the record. Once emptied out I looked at it from the inside and decided to see if it would 'pop' back out.......it did with almost no sign of any evidence of the event, NB it made me wonder if it was caused by a decompression effect?

Of note in regard to the design:-
It has detachable inserts that you can put on the bed for loading up! Plus and possibly more importantly, if one of the wheels gets broken they are user replaceable.

HTH
 
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We have soft cases with relatively stiff frames and very identifiable material. iT lightweight ones IIRC. They must be 10 years old now and get used twice a year (well, 4 flights and some road trips!) Just replaced the wheels so they should be good for a few more years.
 
I would recommend you take a look at Travelpro, we bought one of their soft shell cases. They are very well made.

eu.travelpro.com

Luggage | Suitcases | Business Bags

Shop Direct For Travelpro® Luggage Online. The entire collection of Travelpro Luggage, Carry On Luggage, Checked Luggage, Spinner Luggage, Suitcases.
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I've got two decent cases, a large American Tourister which is a favourite due to only having one handle rod that goes down the centre allowing much more room.
and a medium sized Level 8 suitcase. Both hardshell, both pretty square - I can't stand those ones with the horrid curves.

Neither are bulletproof and you have no control over how your case is handled once it's outta your hands :)

Level 8
American Tourister
 
About 8 years ago we bought 2 large Tripp 4-wheeled hardshell suitcases..... They have proved to be very durable considering the amount of flights they have been through..... Me and Mrs Fiend fly out to Thailand a couple of times a year which involves 3 flights each way. When we return Mrs Fiend fills up her case with a lot of Thai foodstuff, often weighing 30KG with any excess gets put in mine. Due to frequent flyer status we get extra luggage allowance, so the weight is not a problem. Apart from a broken wheel the cases have taken the abuse. I found replacement wheels on Ali-Express (they're also available on Amazon) and it was simple enough to replace the damaged wheel and I have spares in case it happens again...

We recently added a couple of Tripp cabin-sized ones for our carry on.
 
We needed a larger suitcase and Samsonite had some excellent discounts a few months ago so we bought one..about £130 discount.

We also bought personalised straps to ID them as they come along the baggage belt. We got the one in the link that looks like a Canon camera strap..black/red/white.

 
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We have Eastpak Traverse ones. Perhaps not quite as 'robust' as Samsonite but when you are trying to fit several suitcases and camera bags in a smallish car something squeezable is more advantageous. Plus when it comes to putting them away in the attic, being able to store a smaller one inside a larger one leaves more room in the attic for the camera bags!
 
Bought a pair of Eminent hardshell about 10 years ago, still going strong, also have an American Tourist that I got about 5years ago when we started spending winter away to bring back all the extras we purchased and it's going fine as well.
 
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