The Next Great Bag Search
This first photo is for Jillian. Just because. Orange Crystals on Pink yarn would be lovely I think.
OK. On to the search. A little background. I finally bought myself a travel wheel this year. A Schacht Sidekick. I never found one that I loved enough to own before but this was the one. It folds compactly and is easy to throw over your shoulder and take to classes, spin ins and guild meetings. One drawback is that it’s a bit too tall to take as a carry-on on an airplane. So now I need to figure out how to transport the thing when I am going to teach at places that aren’t in driving distance. SOAR is coming in just 3 weeks. I’m running out of time to plan my packing.
More background. When we went to Peru in November I went to Marshalls and purchased a hard side suitcase with spinner wheels. Most hard side suitcases only come with spinner wheels these days. I filled it with fiber and a spinning wheel and a charkha. It weighed just under 50 pounds with all of the stuff in it. I checked it in Detroit and the next time I saw it was in Lima when I had to pick up my bags for customs. Did it come off in Detroit or at the flight change in Florida? I don’t know but for the rest of the trip that suitcase was horrible to drag around.
I save the receipt and the tags that came with the bag. No warranty on the wheels coming off when flying. Bummer.
So now I need another bag because that one went to the garbage. I want something hard sided and light weight since the Sidekick is 13 pounds. I also want something with some kind of guarantee. So I decided to go to the actual luggage store.
The first bag we tried was a carry on size duffel with a zipper part in the bottom. It didn’t work because the drive wheel is a tiny bit too wide and about an inch too high.
Not sure if this photo shows it very well…
Here’s another carry on bag…not cuttin’ it.
Camparison of size with another carry on. Thing is, the wheel might work on its own as a carryon but I would hate to risk it. I’ve been on flights where they made me put my carry on under the plane. That would be sad.
I like that one. There is a stretchy strap to keep it in place with a zippered bit that goes over top as well as room all around the wheel so I can wrap it in bubble wrap before packing it. I wish it were a bright color but I can’t complain too much. It’s also very sturdy and resists very well when I try to push the sides in. This one also comes in silver.
I like the look of that one (it’s shiny) but it didn’t have the extra protection of the stretchy band to go over the wheel. This one also comes in red.
That one was a bit too small. Very little room around the edges and I want to be able to put some buffering all around before I trust it to an airplane.
This is the from the same collection but bigger. I love the look of this one and the wheel fits very nicely and the interior is pretty lovely. No other colors are available.
Ok, I got rid of pretty because it wasn’t as sturdy/strong as the other two. Then I had to make a final decision.
9 thoughts on “The Next Great Bag Search”
I think you made the best choice. What is best for the wheel is most important. Afterall, if you were a spinningwheel, which one would you be most comfortable in?
I agree that Samsonite store and staff are great. I bought two new pieces of luggage there last year when I went to visit Jennifer. y daughter has also purchased luggage from there.
Great post. I need to look for a hard sided suitcase for my lendrum. Thank you.
I have an old samsonite that I use for my Lendrum and it's really a pleasure… Lots of space to squeeze little extras in as well! 🙂
What a great post! Glad you were able to find something. Did you try it in a 24" spinner? I'm looking for a bag for my sidekick as well and looking at the folded specs on the wheel, it looks like it should. I'm not going to be flying with it but using it as a general light protective bag for toting it about.
So, it’s a couple years later. How’d that bag work out for you? Were you able to carry on or did you have to check it? I am going to be searching for one for my new-to-me Kick and am curious to know. Thanks for such a thorough search and discussion!
It’s definitely not carry on size. This bag was the largest size suitcase I could buy in hard size. It is a great suitcase. It’s been all over including a trip to England. I’ve been very happy.
I couldn’t tell which model you actually bought. We are in the market for the same thing for traveling with our two sidekicks on the plane. We are Americans who live in southern France. We went to England with both our wheels (my husband and I both spin) in June with soft sided largest size suitcases heavily packed with our clothes. It worked but we think we should buy hardcases for the future.
I got the 27″ spinner that was silver. The picture somehow disappeared!
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