dreamfish

Did you use and did it withstand all those airmiles and being thrown around airports?

jueinnz

We might be a long way away but the planes and handling people are the same as they would be if you were going to europe. If you are worried you can aleays get them wrapped in plastic at the airport.

lardyl

I have some large Samsonite (cheaper range) ones picked up from an outlet shop in the US. These have held up well in intercontinental travel, but then the ancient "Carlton" (woolies) ones we had before managed US, Europe, Ethiopean Airlines, etc for 10+ years..... pays ya money.....
My only luggage tip is to get a tripod bag if you have walking/ski poles as they can be a real pain going through checked luggage - you have to take them to the security check-in but it beats waving them at the pilot or them going through checked luggage.....cheap ones may be had from Jessops.... also useful for carrying your tripod!!!!

Andrew Cross

Can I suggest that if you get a hard case that you weigh it first. I have to argue with passengers about their excess because the case that they bought weighs about 7kg before they even put anything in it. The only time the baggage guys touch the bags is when they take them from a belt and put them into a container and then at the other end moving from the container into belt. The most expensive case is not necessarily the best.

dreamfish

i dont own a suitcase so i need to go buy some for the family, coupled with hand luggage, thats why i asked i dont know the first thing about suitcases. i know some are rubbish some are good, some dont stand up to being chucked about, some crack. I remember watching a program on tv a few years ago but i dont remember the outcome. what cases have you got?

StevieB

My advice is to forget suitcases. They weigh about 4 - 7 kilos at least, so that's already cutting in to your baggage allowance AND they are bulky. I would advocate the use of large holdalls. I have a 35 litre police holdall, which has shoulder straps like a rucksack but is big enough to hold an 8 year old child (honest, her big brother put her in it!!). 3 side pockets and 2 end pockets to keep the little things. You can get as much, if not more in one of them as a suitcase and use the same padlock as you would on one. Let's face it, if you want security, Samsonite is the way to go, but if you want more than 2 changes of clothes at the other end, then a holdall will give you that and more (mine only weighed about 2 kilos). And who wants to nick your undies anyway??

jueinnz

yep I agree, if you are not bringing anything precious/ valuable or fragile, buy soft big bags on wheels, much more pratical to store when you get here as well. As they take half the space and squash down nicely. Fit into car boots easier etc

Maz

This thread is reminding me of when I moved to the US from France. Hubby and I had our life's belongings in 2 huuuuuge kit bags, as described above. I'd called the airline in advance to make sure we could go over on our allowance. Explained how we were moving country etc. etc. and they said yes, of course, and they didn't even charge us extra. I like Air France. Anyway, we flew up to Paris, then changed planes, and eventually arrived in Chicago. It took long enough for my paperwork to get processed that they'd taken our luggage to another holding room. We were so knackered by the time we got through to baggage claim that we just thought "Oh sod it, let's call the airline later" LOL. So we got into the in-laws' car, painfully aware that neither of those two huge bags would have fit in their car boot, as big as it was anyway! We called the airline, they were very nice, and sent a van round the next day with all our luggage very nicely intact, and free of charge. They did almost 100 miles round-trip, bless 'em.

lardyl

a good bet is a diving bag - pretty volumous, water resistant and often with a frame/wheels to lug it around. Seen some fire investigators carrying their kit overseas with 'em....practical, light and mobile.
Another way is to use a rucksack but get hold of an army kitbag - basically a large tube of canvass with a loop at one end and if your lucky two straps....then you can fit the valuable rucksack and all the vulnerable straps/loops/etc safe inside - still have to go through oversize checkin very often though (same as with a rucksack).....good luck!! When you want to carry the rucksack get it out and pack the large kitbag in the lid - or you can buy rucksack covers - expensive and less durable.
Looks like we'll all be off to the "surplus stores"!!!!!!!!!11111111
LardyL

daviesl

We may by one suitacase but otherwise were using North Face Duffle bags, big and durable..

dreamfish

i never even thought about those bags - fantastic idea!

all i need to do now is find out what the score is regarding hand luggage these days

lardyl

try the local army surplus - we got canvas duffle with waterproof liners for about £15 + £10 - had to patch the liner in one point but they are really durable and look inconspicuous --- no scrote will look twice.
best of luck, Ian

helinuk

Great thread.
We've always used Samsonite suitcases for our long haul travel and they've lasted 10yrs+ and still good. A bit of handle came off an old case and we emailed Samsonite and they sent us a new handle for free.

If you are ever going through Asia I think security is important. The business men in Singapore were always told to use hard cabin cases so they never needed to worry about drugs being smuggled into their cases -
. I agree large canvas bags are good- I bought one from a cheap shop in OZ cos I'd been on a shopping spree and it's great to get son's stuff to uni and back.

poppets

we brought 2 HUGE holdalls for when we emigrated (sale on at local bag shop), used 2 rucksacks that we'd had before, & 2 boxes from the packers for the kids car seats (they were the light types, & we stuffed blankets, coats etc in there too), & a average size holdall -(7 pieces of luggage plus cabin baggage), when we checked in at heathrow with Singapore airlines, we were allowed to have our luggage checked in all the way to auckland (1 night stopover in singapore) so we didn't see it again til auckland. I packed on of the handluggage bags with a change of clothes for singagpore