Where To Buy Lightweight Luggage
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where to buy lightweight luggage
If you are planning to visit Croatia, you might wonder what is the best lightweight luggage for Europe. When it comes to experiencing Europe, and Croatia is no different, lightweight luggage can make a big difference.
We often travel within Croatia, and around Europe. Sometimes we fly, and sometimes we drive, rarely we use trains. And we can tell from our own experience that choosing lightweight luggage for Europe is a necessity.
The best lightweight luggage with a hard shell is made of technologically-advanced materials like polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is also flexible (no bumps), strong, and waterproof. So, no need to give up on your favourite suitcase shelling.
Compartments come in handy when it comes to organizing your luggage, and when you need to keep certain things separate. E.g. dirty clothes from clean ones. Or toiletry bottles (not to mention coco oil when travelling to places with a temperature above 25 C; I should have known better!).
Oh, boy, how many times did I wish that my old 2-wheel suitcase had spinner wheels! The answer is, many, until I finally decided to upgrade my luggage, and bought one with spinner wheels (and one with double spinner wheels, just to be on the safe side!).
Also, you will have a choice between mono-tube, and two-tube handles. Mono-tube handle usually spins which can be interesting when manoeuvring your lightweight luggage for Europe. The suitcase with a mono-tube handle also looks sleeker.
Elegantly designed, it comes in platinum (our favourite!), red, and black colour. This is a hard-shell suitcase, but it has a unique opening feature: 90/10 split just like a softshell suitcase. This way you can pack better, and it also allows you to open your suitcase easy on a luggage rack.
It is also one of the lightest hard-shelled luggage you can find on the market. It weighs only 6.3 pounds (less than 3 kg). The design is sleek, and the wheels are as smooth as butter. It is made of polycarbonate and it has two dividers storage.
Being the lightest luggage on the market comes with few downsides. It is a soft-shelled suitcase made of a fabric sheet. And, I must admit, it does look a bit flimsy. However, don't let the look deceive you. This suitcase is as durable as it can be.
Besides standard features like a telescopic handle, TSA-approved lock, double-spinner wheels, top and side carry handles, this luggage has a built-in overweight indicator that alerts you when the weight of the suitcase exceeds 50 lbs (23 kg).
Durability is a common concern for travelers, especially considering most people travel with laptops, iPads, cameras, and other delicate electronics. Hard shell cases are appealing if you want to protect anything fragile. Though most cases are not considered completely water resistant, hard shell luggage is much easier to keep dry in rain, snow, or puddles, and it provides better protection against general spills and accidents.
The same is true for keeping the luggage clean, which is a huge perk for anyone who has been stuck carrying a muddy, smelly suitcase from city to city (or country to country). Softer cases can absorb water, and are more susceptible to stains and smells. If you plan to travel in the winter, or to more rugged locations, you may be better off with hard shell luggage.
Travelers who plan to do some shopping along the way may find it more difficult to fit extra items into hard shell luggage. Although many hard cases, especially those made from polycarbonate, are expandable, soft luggage can still stretch more around the edges. Soft luggage is also easier to manipulate into small spaces, such as overhead bins or luggage racks on buses, whereas hard cases really compete with other bags.
If you want soft luggage that can fit into an overhead bin, one option is the Samsonite Luggage Hyperspace Spinner. The suitcase weighs only 11.4 pounds and is great for compact packing and expandability. You can find it online for $129.59.
Some companies offer reasonably priced luggage with four wheels. Rockland is one brand whose suitcases feature 360-degree turning spinner wheels, which, combined with the lightweight design, make traveling a little bit easier. You can find three-piece sets starting at $139.
Different colors and patterns are more common with hard cases, making them easier to spot among the dozens of black bags that come bouncing onto the baggage carousel. Soft cases do come in various colors, however, colored luggage tends to get dirty after a few trips, and general wear and tear is easy to see.
Customizing your luggage, regardless of which kind you prefer, is always a good idea. Personalized luggage tags, ribbons, stickers, or even duct tape can help your bag stand out and remain easy to spot.
If you want to make sure your luggage visible at the baggage claim, opt for suitcases with unique colors, patterns, and prints. Heys USA has a range of options, including prints of world maps to Disney princesses. Individual suitcases run from $109 to $300.
The best lightweight luggage will come with extras like a hard exterior and additional security features. For example, the OmniLite Hardside luggage collection made exclusively for JCPenney is a durable line of luggage that is high capacity while remaining sleek, professional and lightweight. Made with a polycarbonate shell, the Samsonite-designed luggage feature 360-degree spinning wheels for easy, upright mobility. Available in three colors and 20-, 24- and 28-inch sizes, this luggage also features a TSA-approved side-mounted zipper lock for added security and peace of mind.
Traveling means packing suitcases and getting them from the house to the car to the airport and finally to the hotel. Lightweight luggage is popular because it is easy to handle and maneuver. Wheels can make a big difference too. For many years, luggage only had two wheels. Now, most lightweight luggage has wheels at all four corners for even easier handling.
If you are looking for a three-piece hard-sided luggage set that rides on four 360 degree spinner wheels and has side-mounted, TSA-compatible locks, then take a look at the Samsonite Omni PC Hardside Expandable Luggage.
A great place to get started when looking for a lightweight luggage set is by figuring out how many pieces you need. You will find luggage sets that have anywhere from two to five pieces. Most of the lightweight luggage sets sold today come in sets of three or four.
All luggage sets come with an FAA-certified and airline-approved rollaboard suitcase you can stow in an overhead compartment. The standard maximum height of rollaboard luggage is 20 inches. All other pieces in a luggage set are for checked baggage only. Typically, each successive piece of luggage in a set is 4 inches taller than the next. This means most three-piece sets have a 20-inch rollaboard as well as 24-inch and 28-inch suitcases in the same design and color.
Soft sides are lighter in weight. They have some give to them and can stretch to accommodate those extra things you bought while away. Fabrics are subject to rips and snags and do not keep your contents dry when caught in the rain. Soft-sided luggage may be slightly lighter and cheaper, but usually not enough to offset the downsides.
The first wheeled luggage had two wheels and a handle to pull with. Two-wheeled luggage was a real breakthrough that has since become the industry standard. Now you see more and more luggage with four wheels. One advantage is greater maneuverability. Another is you can push it or pull it at any angle.
Handles on soft-sided luggage are usually straps that go over the shoulder or hand grips that meet at the top, above the zippered closure. They need to be sturdy, comfortably padded and firmly attached to the bag itself. Handles on hard-sided luggage are all collapsible, usually telescoping their full length down into the body of the luggage. They should be sturdy and the mechanism should operate smoothly when opening and closing.
There is little you can do about security with soft-sided luggage. Luggage with hard exterior shells should come with locks. The best locks are those that are TSA-compatible for more hassle-free traveling.
A complete set of ultra-lightweight 4 wheeled spinners, constructed of a durable, flexible German Quality polycarbonate material. Trimmed in Full Grain Tuscan leather with Japanese Hinomoto spinner wheels this collection is elegant as it is functional.
The Wildcat Tiger Drover Saddle Harness is designed to hold a drybag securely beneath your saddle, and makes for an incredibly secure and lightweight bikepacking setup. The design makes packing easy and quick, although the initial setup can take a while.
It's likely that a saddle bag is the first bit of kit you're going to look at buying if you want to get into bikepacking or light touring, and Topeak's BackLoader would be a good investment. It's a versatile piece of luggage that will serve you well when attached to a racing, commuting, touring or mountain bike.
Does that matter to you? In all probability, the answer is: not really, unless you're an ultra-racer and Tailfin isn't going to make its millions selling them just to ultraracers. WHere the Aeropack appeals is as a bag for your posh bike. There are not many bags of any size you'd want to attach to your posh road bike. For a start, your posh road bike maybe doesn't have rack mounts, so a rack is out. Even if it does, it's a pain to be taking a rack on and off if you do want a bit of luggage space. You might be tempted by a bikepacking-style seatpack, but they have their issues: they tend to swing about as they have very little structure, and they require careful packing to minimise that. Also, they don't really hold that much stuff.
The Aeropack scores on all counts here. There's the carbon arch keeping everything steady laterally, and inside the bag there's a lightweight alloy frame to give the whole thing structure. When you're riding, the AeroPack sits there anonymously. It's entirely rattle-free and impressively stiff. There's no lateral movement at all when you're out of the saddle, and most of the time you forget it's there at all. In terms of the experience of using it as luggage, it's easily better than a seatpack or a pannier on a standard rack. 041b061a72