Seeking "Personal item" bag rec for Lufthansa

A “Calibre” bag made by Ogio that I found at a Thrift store fits the bill. Laptop cases work as well. While I have never had any airline weigh the personal item, the question is whether Lufthansa actually checks the size of the personal item. My experience is that they do not.
The airlines don’t weigh passengers and they don’t check what is inside your jacket or pants pockets either. My Banana Republic photography vest from the bygone era of 35 millimeter cameras and canister film ( remember film?) is what I wear to the airport. It has more than 15 deep, thick pockets inside and out that hold more than four times the volume of a personal item. I’ve managed to stuff 8 lbs of items into it when the carryon and personal item weigh too much or are too bulky.
And then there’s my regular windbreaker worn over the vest with its inside and outside pockets which can easily hold another 3 pounds.
As a fit, slender passenger, I think the luggage-weight restrictions and extra fees are a bit of a ripoff. My photo vest is just one way to beat the airlines at their own game!
You can find the photo vest and Ogio Calibre bag on E-Bay.

Look at soft-sided bags that will scrunch down to the 3.9" - perhaps one of the RS day bags.

The Lufthansa bag question pops up occasionally. Look at Tom Bihn cadet. Or, a basic zip top tote like LLBean (check the dimensions for the correct size). Good Luck.

I love my new smaller size PortlandGear backpack.
Dimensions: 14" by 9.75" by 7.25" inches
While the width is more than Lufthansa specifies it will squish narrower if you don't pack it totally full. I especially like the luggage sleeve feature and the unique pop open top is awesome.
I had a sort of small purse style-tote that met their requirements this past summer (I don't remember a sizer) but to pull that off had to use my pockets for a few things.
I had to use a backpack to meet their carryon limit for weight, since my "lightweight " suitcase is almost 6 pounds empty.

I'm flying Lufthansa for the first time in December. I was hoping to bring my 40 liter backpack and a cabin spinner-- but this post now scares me! The cabin spinner can fit under a seat.

Anybody fly on Lufthansa or knows a flight attendant or gate agent? Are they really strict with "personal item" size?

I agree with Kenko's weight assessment-- I'm petite and my carryon bags' weight, even with bags fully loaded, together I am still 20 pounds less than the average person's weight not including their bag weight.

I recently bought a Scotte Vest and one reason was to load it up with heavy items for air travel. I look like Pinto from "Animal House" in the supermarket scene when it is fully loaded. Not remotely fashionable or flattering, but I'll play the weight game if I have to.

I’m flying with Lufthansa in a couple of weeks.
I’ll try and remember to watch and see if they are weighing or sizing personal item bags.
Then try and remember to report back!
Leaving from Canada I’m not sure if they care about weight, just size.
Coming home from Europe, I have had my carryon suitcase weighed and rejected by them in Florence a few years ago.

Last September I flew Lufthansa Milan Malpensa to Frankfurt. My personal item bag (Fjalraven Kanken 15" laptop bag) was almost at its full dimensions of 40 x 28 x 16 cm. But it probably would have squished down into a sizer if necessary. The gate agent didn't bat an eye and it easily fit under the seat in front of me. My carry on bag was a 38 liter Osprey Fairview backpack with a max size of 49 x 35 x 20 cm. Bags were not put in sizers nor were they weighed. But several people had their otherwise presumably compliant carry on rollaboards checked. Not because the rollaboards were too big or heavy but because the personal item bags - picture a full book bag backpack - were too big. And there was no way to "sneak" your rollaboard on to the plane. The baggage handler was standing right there next to the gate agent to collect bags.

Obviously, your experience may be different than mine.

So I went out and bought a bag that I'm hoping will work for me. This is the one I'm test-driving, starting tomorrow:

HOMIEE Ryanair Personal Item 40x20x25 Travel Bag, 20L Carry on Backpack Flight Approved Underseat Cabin Bag

It's a simple, straightforward small backpack. It's 40 x 25 x 20 cm (15.75" high x 9.8" wide x 7.8" deep). That's clearly too thick for Lufthansa's stated limit, but the pack is entirely squishy, with zero hard plastics or unyielding material (other than strap buckles). When it shipped, it's empty and squashed down to about 2.5" high. It's got the other minimalist features I'm looking for:

• it's very rectangular, so no wasted space from curves
• a handle on top
• shoulder straps that seem well padded and comfortable
• an internal compression strap
• 4 external compression straps so it can be cinched down to just a few inches deep when needed (granted, when cinched way down to the extreme, it's quite thin, but doesn't have a lot of carrying capacity)
• fully un-squished, it holds 20 liters which is quite roomy, but can squeeze down below Lufthansa's thin requirement
• the main compartment is simply a rectangular box shape with no dividers or organization, opens 180° and lays flat
• trolly handle strap
• several internal pockets (very flat) for organizing small flat things
• a couple larger (also flat) pockets that can easily hold an iPad or small laptop
• empty weight is just 1.5 pounds, featherweight
• it costs only $27 which is crazy cheap, yet it appears to be pretty well built (the Tom Bihn and Red Ox bags look lovely but cost more than many airline tickets)

Since it's highly squish-able, and reports vary quite a bit about how strictly (if at all) Lufthansa enforces their stated dimension (thickness) requirement for a personal item, my strategy is going to be: aim for a bag that looks like it'll fit below the seat in front of you, even if when loosely packed it's much thicker than the stated limit of 3.9 inches.

If the gate dragons just want it to fit under a seat, I'll be golden even when it's fully expanded. If they've been having a bad day and insist on 3.9" thin, I can unload enough stuff and get it squished waaaaay down to meet that requirement (and just how do we manage the stuff that comes out of it? I have two words for you: Cargo Pants.)

One obvious advantage of this inexpensive little bag (if my gambit works) is that in other situations where the personal item doesn't have to be quite that thin, it's big enough to hold lots. By putting less stuff in it, and cinching it down, it should be able to adapt to less demanding limits, and I appreciate that flexibility.

I have not tried this yet, but will be running the Lufthansa gauntlet in about 48 hours. We'll see how that goes.

About personal weight: No expert here, however after many flights I discovered in Salt Lake that the aircraft is weighed at some point before take off. Our plane was overweight, discovered after leaving the gate. It had to return to the gate and we disembarked and for additional reasons were hosted overnight by the airline for dinner and a hotel room with breakfast free of charge. Commercial aircraft probably go through a host of inspections and checks at every landing I am pretty sure. For example: I was once grounded overnight in Paris because there was a problem with ONE of the very large aircraft's toilets that turned out to be unfixable within the rather long departure window. Another free dinner, overnight stay and breakfast with transportation at CDG. So checked baggage must be weighed. And the collective weight of the passengers+gear+crew etc etc must be determined at some point after doors close. Could be scales posing as concrete slabs... or some sophisticated on-plane gadgets. :-) Hope this helps clear up the baggage weight question a little. No need to weigh each individual checked bag - just weight the carts they are piled on for another example.

My husband and I flew Lufthansa from Boston (via Frankfurt) to Scandinavia and back late August/early September. We sat in both premium economy and Economy. We didn’t notice anyone checking bag size or weight at the gate at any time.

The bag you purchased looks very similar to what we used. For our personal item we each carried an Ecohub backpack. Mine was their smallest 16” (sold out right now) and his was their medium 17”. We do not travel with a laptop so we specifically selected the bag without the laptop sleeve to maximize packing space (our son travels extensively with their laptop bag and we purchased these on his recommendation). Both bags fit with room to spare under the seat.

These backpacks open like a suitcase and hold a lot. We each packed a compression packing cube with “my suitcase got lost” clothing (1 top, pjs, 2 pairs underwear, 2 pairs socks), an LLBean rain jacket, Bose headphones (with case), charging cables/plug adapters, (the equivalent of) a quart size bag of medicines & non liquid toiletries, some snacks (granola bar, individual pkg of nuts & candy, etc), a quart size TSA liquids bag and a water bottle. I also had a Rick Steves guide book and tour/itinerary papers. My bag was pretty full; my husband had room to spare.

We checked 22” rolling suitcases. The backpacks attached onto these easily and we toured through Scandinavia for 2 weeks (trains, ferries, walking) with no luggage issues.

I have never liked backpacks, I am more of a tote bag person, but found I really like the organization and ease of use of this backpack. It came through our trip with no damage and I am looking forward to using it again on our December trip.

Amazon links:
ECOHUB 17'' Travel Backpack, Personal Item Backpack with 13 Pockets
https://a.co/d/e4IvQM7

ECOHUB 16'' Laptop Backpack for Women and Men
https://a.co/d/g0MsW5m

I take care in terms of weight distribution regarding my spinner and the carry-on. I go Economy regardless of the airline, regardless of the discomforts and those don't really make a pleasant flight for 11 hours going over.

Never had a problem meeting any airlines incl. that of Lufthansa rules, restrictions on the length of my carry-on, ie 19 inches, always passed and above all, the max weight at check-in. No problems. My carry-on weight is 14 pounds max. First of all, I don't lug anything heavier, too cumbersome popping on the trains if heavier. So, I keep it under 14 lbs.

Apparently my carryon was fine going but coming home it wasn’t. I had to gate check. Funny how much bigger bags were allowed. Mine is the RS rolling so it’s small.

OP here, back from my trip where I extensively tested the aforementioned inexpensive bag:

HOMIEE Ryanair Personal Item 40x20x25 Travel Bag, 20L Carry on Backpack Flight Approved Underseat Cabin Bag

Short version: This bag worked out great.

I had no trouble with it passing muster as a so-called "small personal item" not only on Lufthansa, but also on a second low-cost European airline (which has a reputation for being picky about enforcing luggage limits). I also used this as my primary "day pack" throughout a 20-day trip to Europe. It was small enough to pass scrutiny by the airline gate dragons, and was just big enough to let me bring all my electronic goodies (some of which were small but heavy, eg a DSLR camera and zoom lens), and my other daily needs throughout the trip. It was comfortable even when fully loaded with some heavy items and performed as well as I could have hoped. For an under-$30 bag, that's gonna be tough to beat.

To respond to some posts above...

I discovered in Salt Lake that the aircraft is weighed at some point before take off...

Sorry, that's simply not true. But they do know how much the aircraft weighs "empty" (close enough), they know how much "stuff" they typically load on board and how much that weighs. Checked baggage is either weighed or (more likely) estimated. Passengers checked-in are counted and although people are not weighed (at least not yet on almost all airlines), they have an "assumed" weight limit for each (used to be a standard 180 lbs but I believe that's been revised upwards). They do not know how much all the checked bags weigh (airlines with strict limits will weigh some carry-ons to ensure they're not over their limit). Then they do all the math before takeoff, factor in weather conditions, runway length, airport altitude, and figure out how much fuel they can carry. It all works out.

As to "consistency" mentioned above: as most of us know, exactly how much scrutiny one's bags actually get, and how closely stated limits are enforced, that varies wildly, from "none at all" to "extreme." The problem is, one can not predict with any certainty what kind of luck you will have, so for many of us, we try hard to be compliant with the stated limits (and if stretching those limits, have a Plan B ready to execute). I have experienced both ends of the enforcement/permissiveness spectrum so have learned to be prepared for the worst. It's always a roll of the dice.

Bottom line: I am very happy with this small (and compressible to become extremely small when necessary) bag, it worked really well for me on this most recent trip, and I look forward to slipping it by the gatekeepers (just barely) on future flights. I hope this was helpful to others.

PS: @dhdanley - The 16" Ecohub bag you reference above was another one I looked at (it appears nearly identical to the one I got) but it was out-of-stock when I needed it. It looks like another good option.