Luggage Bags and Packs
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Interesting, Doug. It makes such a huge difference that I may have to stray from BR. The effort involved in schlepping a bag with them versus the traditional model is exponentially less.
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Jody felt the same way and did the same thing, until two of the wheels of her omnidirectional bag broke on a single trip and she had to drag that thing around.
Now we have three BR bags and I'll prob be getting a fourth for her on her birthday.
A lot of it depends on how much wear and tear your bags go through. Jody is on a plane about 40 times a year.
I use a Pelican case for a suitcase…
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Great to know the Gibson bag is still with you! Still love the bag, just never could figure out a use for it :). The A2 pocket on the front was just a treat!
On the Briggs, I'm coming up 6 years on my baseline. It's easily had 30-40 international trips and still in fantastic condition. I'd heard similar about the wheels breaking on other brands, and looking at the BR design, it's easy to see the wheels are protected. Sucks to be pulling it everywhere and it looks very outdated these days. It's reliability and work-horse-ness has kind of has me looking past the wheels. Hope one day they can figure out a solution.
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Hm. Well it's not a big problem, perhaps I'm being overly lazy. When I wear the messenger instead of mounting on the BR it isn't nearly as bad. And I love the design, durability, and warranty of BR.
I wonder why someone doesn't inset rotating wheels into the bag to protect them? It would be worth sacrificing a little case space.
A colleague has the exact same model of travel ruck that I gifted my fiance when moving back to the Acronym. His shoulder strap ripped immediately. I suspect that to be more anomaly than trend. I can't break my BRs aside from snapping the plastic rod in the suit hanger. That's not much of an inconvenience.
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We've had to exercise the warranty once. I'm not sure how it happened, but the suitcase was literally folded in half to 90 degrees. Had we not had a 12 week old puppy with us, we would have tanned the customer service reps ass. But we just wanted to get her home after a 6 hour flight.
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Good to see you back on board @mclaincausey.
I try to travel with one bag as carry-on, but the restriction tends to be with weight rather than volume these days. I caught a flight from Melbourne to LA yesterday, and the limit was 7 kg / 15 lbs. I got away with it because when I pulled my laptop out, I was close to the cutoff.
If anyone is interested, my packing list was roughly:
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Three John Smedley Merino t-shirts
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One John Smedley Merino sweatshirt
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PBJ indigo twill chinos
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Iron Heart chambray Western shirt
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Seven pairs of socks and underwear
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Wash / Dopp kit
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Klean Kanteen Bottle (empty)
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Folding duffle bag
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Laptop
I can do about a week out of that, and I was wearing another outfit. For a longer trip, like this one, I'll wash everything midway through.
That said, a 10 kg rucksack isn't that comfortable to carry around all day. I think that getting to below 8 kg would make things much easier. I had my Verbockel, which is really heavy, and a lighter pack would save me 1 kg off the bat.
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I'll take that Acronym bag off your hands when you're ready to let it go
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I'll take that Acronym bag off your hands when you're ready to let it go
noted–I have a laminated 3A-1 that I would be more likely, though still unlikely, to part with in the future and I will check with you first if I ever do
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What kind of folding duffle do you use @Graeme ? I've mentioned it before but I carry my SDR Hauly (with strap) in my D3 as my overflow. I use it as a cube on the way to my destination and then as my personal bag on the way home. What Dopp kit do you use? I was using a Teranishi leather kit but switched it out to the Outlier version and shaved off some weight there.
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You should check out thegrayl.com
Best travel water bottle ever. I never have to worry about buying clean water when I can make it.
Plus it's fairly light.
I switch between the orange and the blue filters depending on where I'm going.
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Seems you have to slim down @Graeme .
IH- Luggage Bags and Lightweight packing items:
TInanium-DOUBLE 450 COLORED MUG
Mug with Insulation Lid: 119g + 32g = 151g
But I prefer the Stacking Mug from SnowPeak.
I would love to see this, with an IH laser engraved logo! -
@Anesthetist I use a really cheap one by Eurohike. It cost me something like £10, about $15.
I figure that any checked bag is likely to be damaged, so I go for something I don't care about. So far my bag has gone from the UK to Australia, and then out to Uganda (with my girlfriend), and is now with me in the US. It's got a hole in it, about an inch square, which I'll patch with Duct Tape if I use it on this trip.
I'd like one of the SDR duffles, but don't really have a need for it.
@DougNg I'm more likely to try a collapsible water bottle to save weight. The Grayl looks good, but most places I go have drinkable tap water.
@Aetas I don't tend to pack a mug either.
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I used a Vapur bottle for years before I got the Grayl (as you know I'm big on lightweight too)
It's kind of a bitch to clean though
I always pack duct tape when I travel. I wrap it around an old gift card several times. Gives me a couple yards should something go wrong. If duct tape isn't the answer, you're asking the wrong question.
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Given my current water bottle gets cleaned less regularly than it should, maybe a foldable one isn't too clever.
The Grayl looks interesting, and the Platypus Meta Bottle could be another option. It certainly looks easier to clean than a folding design. I'm not seriously shopping for an alternative to my Klean Kanteen right now, though.
As for Duct Tape, I tend not to carry too much for "just in case". If something breaks, I can probably get a roll in a matter of minutes, or borrow a couple of metres off someone.
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Picked up this duffel made of sailcloth materials from the Father's Day sale at Triple Aught. It packs into its own pocket and has great capacity. Should be good as a gym bag or "oops we came home with more on the trip than we left with" incremental shopping capacity. Can be configured as a backpack or duffle. Currently in use as a dog park outing bag. If you need a simple duffel in this capacity range that's weatherproof, tough, and stowable, take a look.
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Looking for a backpack that looks similar to a Jansport but is built like a tank. I already know about Porter, Goruck, Filson, Visvim and others. Looking for the kind of backpack that Iron Heart would make (but not the Thrux Lawrence one). I don't like that style or backpacks with leather on them. Preferably Made in Japan.
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Weirdest thing happened last night-
After a trip this weekend where I needed to quarantine some of the stuff in my carry on luggage, I decided I needed a dry bag. Found one on Amazon, put it in the cart. My wife had some stuff in there, too, so I asked if it was ok for me to check out. She looked at all the items and pointed to the dry bag and said, "What's that?" I explained what it was and why I wanted it. She then pointed to a box of stuff in the living room that we're packing for our eventual move and said, "can't you just use that one?" And son of a bitch, there's a dry bag, exactly like I wanted.Why in the hell does my wife have one of these?
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@Chris either your wife is super-organised and can predict your needs, or she's a KGB sleeper agent.
@petersmith a few more brands to look at:
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Teranishi Studio (on hiatus)
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Lotuff Leather (leather)
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Frank Clegg (leather)
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I've probably missed a few there too…
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Speaking of dry bags, I got a 70L one for $20 from Sierra Trading Post. Give that it is seam sealed canvas tarpaulin with the standard rolltop closure and sturdy padded backpack straps, I feel this is as good an option as ones costing many times what I paid.
I highly recommend looking at STP if anyone needs one.
