kuggage wheels

Hi, Rich --

I looked into this quite a bit, as I had neck surgery last year was afraid I'd wear out half way through a trip to Europe. I've been discouraged (by honest luggage salespeople) from buying the ultralite types of carts, and if you don't get the light ones, the sturdier carts get heavy very quickly.

We have a trip coming up soon and we've decided to compromise. We've used the convertible back packs in the past, but this year my husband bought one of the RS wheeled backpacks (Autobahn line).

Our plan is for my husband to use the wheeled backpack and I'll use the original (lighter) backpack when we want our hands free. In airports, or places where wheeling makes sense, we'll piggy back the non-wheeled onto the wheeled pack.

The wheeled bag is a little more than 5 pounds heavier than the other, but I like it better than all the others we saw in the stores. It's one of the only rolling packs we found that has the waist straps to ease the load on the shoulders, and it's very space efficient.

Sorry I can't tell you yet whether our plan is a good one -- I'll have to wait a couple more weeks for that. :>)

If you look at the Samsonite Micromover, it's just over 2 lbs and will fit inside an RS sized convertible bag.

I tried one many years ago with a convertible bag. My experience was not good. When I turned corners, either the bag would shift causing the cart to flip over, or the bag itself would shift and I'd have to readjust.

It was a pain having to set it up and break it down.

There are newer rolling bags that weigh less than 4 lbs. We recently had a conversation about these when discussing Ryanair's carry-on limits.

For what it's worth, the Samsonite Micromover is one of the ones that the luggage store clerk said they had quit carrying because of the complaints that it wouldn't hold up.

rich,

Using a "luggage cart" is not something I would ever recommend. While a weight of two pounds is not much, you're going to have to haul that all over Europe in addition to your luggage.

You might have a look at the Eagle Creek or Osprey lines of luggage, as there might be something there (either wheeled or not) that fits your needs.

Good luck!

thanks for all of the feedback. let me be clear. i am not choosing wheels for preference. i have recently dveloped some back problems that my doc says is arthritis. i contend that it is a ligament strain (not a doctor; just irish) and ex-pect it to be in better shape - the pain is slowly abating - by june.
That said, i don't waqnt to take any chances and i certainly don't want an airport rack.
This travelit, i'm referring to gets high marks from doug at onebag.com (a true sectagenarian anti-wheeler) and has gr4eat positive reviews at amazon. its. $50 and holds 80 pounds, so if it breaks, its not a big loss.

however, from what i'm reading, others have used it in europe with RS bags.

as far as wheels go, they seem better than most other racks for lightness, durability and cost.

incidentally, onebag.com has a nice little screed against built in wheels on bags.
so thanks. i'll let you know how this little puller worked when we return.

Osprey rolling backpack bags are sturdy and have waist straps. The handles on the top and side are thick and well-padded also. You can even squeeze a few items in the compartment that holds the straps when they are in it if you're going to be using the bag as a roller. They hold more than a standard soft-sided suitcase.