Welcome to AFARguments, a collection the place editors go face to face about divisive journey points.
Shopping for a brand new suitcase is an funding that may set you again wherever between a number of hundred and even a number of thousand {dollars}. Earlier than you even decide to a sure baggage model, first it’s important to make an essential choice. Are you a hard-shell or soft-sided baggage type of particular person? AFAR editors have sturdy emotions about each. AFAR’s editor at massive Laura Dannen Redman and senior commerce editor Lyndsey Matthews debated the deserves of every in a heated Google Docs chat. Right here’s what they needed to say.
Lyndsey Matthews: For the sake of this argument, we’re speaking hard-shell versus soft-sided curler baggage, sure?
Laura Dannen Redman: Sure, truthful. Duffels and backpacks are their very own . . . bag. Womp womp.
LM: Now that we’ve cleared that up, at any time when I journey with wheels, I’m staff hard-shell baggage all the way in which. I’ve been loyal to my Away Greater Carry-On for six years now and lately swapped it out for the up to date model the model launched this summer time.
LDR: OK, wait, how dinged up was your suitcase after six years of travel-editor journey? That’s my best OCD worry with arduous shell: the scratches. The wear and tear and tear.
LM: After six years of frequent use, my white Away Greater Carry-On had black marks right here and there on it {that a} Magic Eraser may wipe off in a number of seconds. I’m additionally a giant fan of the worn-in look. My baggage dream is an aluminum Rimowa coated in stickers from my travels.
Structurally, although? After stacking 5 different suitcases on prime of it within the automotive on the way in which to the airport, a three-inch crack appeared within the prime nook of the hard-shell exterior. (If I needed to guess, there have been roughly 200 kilos on my bag for the hour-long trip.) Nevertheless, I discovered Away’s customer support and lifelong guarantee so environment friendly and straightforward to make use of that I’m nonetheless glad I invested my cash on this product.
LDR: I imply, who wouldn’t need an aluminum Rimowa? They’re attractive! And $$$. I’ll admit that soft-shell baggage type of will get a foul rap these days—the clichéd primary black bag which you can’t discover on the bags carousel. However I had a workhorse Delsey featherweight carry-on for a decade that circled the globe with me a number of occasions, and it by no means confirmed a mark. Zippers and wheels by no means fell off, even when I packed every week’s price of stuff in it (really, I moved to Australia in it, so every week is conservative). And it was terribly mild, dwelling as much as its billing. Fundamental? Perhaps. However rattling, I miss that bag. It lastly died the opposite yr when the handles got here off and couldn’t get replaced.
LM: OK, it didn’t present any marks on the black nylon, however aren’t you frightened about all of the grime that’s hiding in there which you can’t see?
LDR: Ha! What grime? I didn’t drag it by a building website or a tar pit.
LM: However I’m positive you rolled it by many an airport toilet and once you test it you don’t know the place that’s going—you’ll be able to’t precisely wash a soft-shell suitcase and that’s why I favor arduous shell. You possibly can Moist Wipe that factor down every time you come dwelling and never fear about all of the germs it’s toting round. Am I being a germaphobe right here?
LDR: Sure. 🙂
LM: I’ve been recognized to be one. However a white suitcase has taught me simply how soiled suitcases can get even when you suppose you’re not carrying it by soiled locations. Water resistance can be essential. However I believe most soft-side baggage now’s made with nylon, which is waterproof, in order that’s a moot level.
LDR: I believe I used to be most likely much less involved with the germs and muck and such and extra fascinated about how a lot I may stuff into my suitcase and nonetheless have the ability to elevate it up. [Full disclosure: I’m not a large human being.] Delicate shell has one large factor going for it that tough shell doesn’t: It expands. And within the days earlier than we needed to pay for carry-on baggage (thanks, primary financial system, grumble grumble), I may nearly at all times stuff it in an overhead bin.
LM: That’s one in all my journey pet peeves—individuals with overstuffed carry-ons on planes. When it’s totally expanded it seems ridiculous! Laborious-shell baggage by no means leaves any guessing room as as to whether or not it’ll match within the overhead bin. Positive, you’ll be able to pop your sweater into the entrance pocket of an expandable however then it bulges and I’ve had to assist individuals squish that in. Laborious shell? Slides proper in between every thing.
LDR: Then they should cease charging a lot for checked luggage and shedding our shit on nonstop home flights!
LM: Let’s discuss weight. I used to be below the impression that soft-sided baggage can be lighter, however I used to be flabbergasted to see that the Travelpro Platinum Elite 21-Inch Carry-On Spinner—one of the widespread soft-shell suitcases on the market—is mainly the identical weight as Away’s hard-shell equal. The hard-shell Away Greater Carry-On is 7.9 kilos versus TravelPro’s 7.8 kilos, and the Away comes with almost two liters extra packing house in comparison with the gentle aspect when it’s not expanded.
LDR: As somebody who carries a 26-pound toddler each day, a number of ounces distinction doesn’t frighten me. What’s the price distinction, and the way large does the bag get when it expands? Like, are you shopping for a carry-on and getting the equal of a checked bag on the similar time?
LM: Since I’m a sucker for numbers, I simply checked. The Away Greater Carry-On begins at $295 lately, whereas that TravelPro is $370 (however marked all the way down to $314 on sale proper now). Although the TravelPro carry-on does increase an additional two inches, it comes with this warning: “This carry-on bag has been sizer bin examined to accommodate overhead bin house on most main U.S .airways. Absolutely expanded carry-on could not meet airline restrictions.”
Laborious shell can be wonderful as a result of I’ve used mine comfortably as a seat earlier than. The opposite summer time, I used to be delayed out of New Orleans for a number of hours due to a thunderstorm and the gate was completely full and there was nowhere to sit down. My arduous shell is almost 10 inches throughout on the highest and durable sufficient it may carry my weight as I sat there and waited out the delay.
In the end, it comes all the way down to desire. Do you want how hard-sided baggage opens like a clamshell, making it simpler to see every thing directly? Or do you favor the one-big compartment versus two smaller ones that almost all soft-sided baggage provides you?
LDR: So, ultimate protection: I had a gentle shell at a time when price range was extra of a priority, and I wasn’t alone. Delicate-shell suitcases have been a mirrored image of the democratization of journey. By the Nineteen Seventies and ’80s, flying was not an elite exercise—passenger totals elevated tenfold—and suitcase makers had to answer the occasions. Do not forget that gentle shell was really an innovation—product of nylon for sturdiness, and with wheels added as a result of porters weren’t gently shifting your bag from automotive to aircraft. Delicate shell spelled freedom! And suppleness of journey—good for a weekend or every week—and accessibility. (so. many. pockets.) The luggage have been made lighter to answer restrictions on weight on planes. It wasn’t till pretty lately that tough shell actually grew to become accessible as properly. What took arduous shell so lengthy?
Although I’ve a confession to make: I exploit an Away hard-shell suitcase lately. It’s the Dwyane Wade line and I succumbed to the two-tone blue and his charms. (We swear this isn’t an advert for Away! That is simply how prevalent and related the corporate has change into. Additionally, gentle shells’ “selection” of coloration is mainly a spectrum from Tumi “anthracite” to TravelPro “metallic sand”.)
LM: Ha, did I simply win?
Backside line: Laborious baggage is healthier
Laborious-shell baggage wins this spherical of AFARguments—for now. In 2019, when this text was initially printed, a employees ballot revealed twice as many members of Group AFAR most well-liked arduous baggage to soft-sided when utilizing a curler suitcase. Nevertheless, in October 2023, that quantity is almost tied, with hard-shell baggage beating out soft-shell suitcases by only one particular person.
This text was initially printed in 2019; it was up to date on October 11, 2023, with present info.