Ebags Motherlode Weekender

Thanks, Frank. I miss the old Ebags company. A little over two years ago, I purchased the old Mother Lode Weekender Junior for about $100 less than what Samsonite now is selling it for (which is now $179 minus 10%). I think that for someone who likes to use a backpack for their carry on, that it is still a good option.

Wow, the price is so much more expensive than what I paid for one about four years ago! I used it domestically, but I didn’t like it to take on international trips. It wasn’t as comfortable as I hoped for anything beyond a flight and car transportation. (I switched over to my Cotopaxi two years ago for both domestic & international.). My shoulders would always begin to ache, and I am a very light packer. I will be taking my Motherlode Jr. for a trip to Cancun - just because I don’t want to take the Cotopaxi in case the airline insisted that I gate check my bag to Mexico since I’m in the cheap seats.

Ebags used to be a great site. They used to sell all brands at discounted prices. I almost bought the same Motherload Weekender Jr back in 2015 but ended up getting an SOC Bugout Bag through eBags. Eventually, those other brands stopped selling through eBags. Choices became limited and eBags shut down or was bought out.

Two things to note about this latest offering. First, the price through Samsonite is very expensive for what you get imo. Second, this bag does not have any hip belt to transfer weight of the bag to your hips. Compare with Osprey Farpoint or Fairview, much better bag at about same price.

Several of us here on the forum got these at the start-of-covid sell-off that many businesses were engaging in -- just like we got a lot of the RS Guidebooks at great prices, too.

I find that I like the book-opening layout better than the duffel-opening or top-loading layouts, and the sternum strap on the Motherlode Jr. keeps it stable.

LOVE my Ebags carry on! You can now find new and used Ebags on eBay - hit or miss.

I just have to jump in here as an eBags lover.

In defense of Samsonite, the prices for the Mother Lodes right now, are not too different than prices Ebags have listed on their website nearly 10 years ago on the waybackmachine. $200USD for the full sized, and $119 for the Jr.
Of course ebags was ALWAYS having a sale, and it was rare to ever pay full price. The wayback capture had the price marked down to $79 and $69.

Ebags was something special. They made good luggage at a reasonable price, with thoughtful design. But more importantly they showed all the features of their luggage, every detail, and explained why it was designed that way. They had nice informative videos, and pictures of every detail.

You shop on another site, like Samsonite, and it's hard to know what you are buy. Just trying to find out if their is a bottom handle is quite the chore.

Ebags stopped doing this when bought by Samsonite. I can only guess because of Samsonites frequent design changes to ever try to reduce production costs,, and it would only add costs to explain to the consumer what they are buying.

Ebags had some nice bags that samsonite did not continue. So many I regret not buying as I was poorer back then.
The TLS upright I missed out on. One product developed during samsonites rule was the Mother Lode E.V.D. It's a really good bag despite not having features like the luggage tag window, and too small of trolley passthrough.

I am surprised samsonite does not offer the E.V.D. They also do not seem to offer anything for that "personal item" sized type category. and because samsonite is so lovely and helpful, when you do shop for bags for that purpose on their site, they help by listing "carry-on" size requirements of major airlines. Thank you so much...........

I really despite a lot of things samsonite does. mysterious shopping experience, ruining the best luggage store online, and taking the best bags and making them a little worse. I cannot believe how bad some of their products are. My sister bought a matched luggage set from american tourister, 2 spinners. They handles don't extend to matching heights, so you can't wheel this 'matching luggage set' with one hand. Thats a company wholly owned by samsonite, and if a detail that small, but with such a huge impact is over looked like that, i cannot imagine what other nonsense they do.

PS, I was shocked to see the ebags fortis listed on samsonites site. a hardside that was nothing special. The glossy finish would have made it pretty if not for the feet on the side of the suitcase ruining the look.

The rolling duffels would have made way more sense, as would the entire former TLS line.

I wish I had enough money to buy samsonite and stop their way of business of humdrum offerings that are available a couple years, before something cheaper to make comes a long. and bring back ebags model of making a good product, that develops a following, and keeping it on the market forever, while explaining every detail. only changing it for the better, not for the worse.

I have a Weekender Junior from several years back, and it’s been a great bag. Durable and packs a lot of stuff, which I need to be careful about due to an aging back;).

I do have to say that the current (post-Samsonite purchase) selection doesn’t seem nearly as extensive as before, but having purchased several eBags products in the past, the quality was excellent.

I bought the Weekender Jr before they closed the website at around $40 + shipping. Haven’t used it yet but plan to for my road trip around Scotland in a few months.

I miss EBags because I could get almost anything I needed for my trips.