BootsnAll Travel Community

I am brand new to the forum and am excited to be here (though I have been doing tons of research, so I have looked at all of the forum topics on wheeled backpacks).

I know that there are lots of arguments for/against the wheeled backpacks, but my husband and I have decided that the wheeled backpacks are right for us due to my poor back (even though I am in my 20s) and his interest in carrying a larger bag. Plus, we aren't planning on doing heavy trekking/hiking on our trips --- most likely will just be doing day trips when we hike.

I have bought the 22 inch Victorinox E-Motion bag which I really like and it feels perfectly comfortable on my back even filled up with stuff. My husband is thinking about a 26 inch Victorinox because that was the one he liked the best at REI. My question is: do you think that 24 or even 22 inches would be large enough for him for a RTW trip. Our RTW will likely be between 6 to 11 months. We have done 22-inch wheeled suitcases on 2 to 3 week trips before, but have never gone for months at a time and would like opinions from those who have.

The RTW, by the way, isn't for another two years (2009), but we wanted to go ahead and start road-testing our gear since we have a two week trip to Italy coming up this October.

You've given length measurements, but what you probably should be worried about is _volume_ meaurements.

There's heaps of great threads on here about backpacks and if you find out what the volume of that pack is you can compare it to what others have said. It seems to me that the size of the pack depends on how good your are at packing light, how often and how long you'll carry it and just generally personal preference. It seems to range anywhere from people who manage a carry-on size pack (I could never do that!) to mega-huge 90L ones (that could weigh more than the person carrying them!).

There's also a great number of threads on here from people showing their packing lists. They're great for ideas on what you'll actually want to fit in the pack in total, so I'd highly recommend having a look at those and coming up with your own draft list. That'd give you a better idea of how much you need to fit in the pack. Especially since you'll probably want less in yours (re: bad back) so he made need to take some of your stuff too.

ickis - That is a really good point. I think we are looking at packing lightly, and are already purchasing small amounts of light-weight travel clothes. I have looked at all the travel lists and think I can whittle it down to 24 inch bag for him and 22 inch for me.

The capacity of the 22 inch bag is 3600 cubic inches, the 24 inch bag is 4700 cubic inches, and the 26 inch bag is 5000 cubic inches. I don't know how that converts to liters, but I would think that the 24 inch bag would be large enough, right? It's probably just a little larger than a carry-on bag.

You really just need to figure out an example of what you'd be taking and try packing it in a bag. My concern with rolling bags and size is the width. that's generally the constraining factor when you are trying to roll through places with narrow walkways, lots of people or getting on a bus.

You've got the 22 inch at home so look at some packing lists here and think about what your specific needs are and see if you can fit it all in. I'm sure its possible for both of you to only use the 22 inch size but you need to try your own stuff and see how you both feel. Remember you'll want a little excess for picking up things along the way.

My wife and I are 5 months into a 9 month RTW right now. We've traveled with 49L Eagle Creek Explorer LT bags for shorter trips (which we get in the low 20 pound range including snorkeling gear and rain gear- we know how to go light), but we noticed we were almost always wearing them while walking on concrete, where a roller would be better. We decided to go with roller/pack combos for our RTW trip so we could take a laptop, SLR gear, and cold weather gear (as well as a pharmacy of medicine). She has the 24" Victorinox E-motion, and I have the 26". They've been great packs! They are some of the lightest, smoothest looking roller-packs out there. They also made better backpacks than most rollers I tried (they were the only model where the wheels didn't touch my hips). Even the detachable daypack is relatively useful. In five months, we've only had to use the backpack straps once, on the Gili Islands in Indonesia where there are no paved roads (and even there, in hindsight it wouldn't have been much of a problem to get by without the straps). In fact, I use the straps so seldom that I've taken to stuffing my wool sweater, hat, gloves, and long underwear into the panel that conceals the pack straps! Stairs are kind of a pain, too, but they usually don't last for long, and you can usually find an elevator or escalator. The biggest pruported disadvantage of rollers is the weight, but it has seldom been a problem at all! We drug these bags for kilometers all over Tokyo for two days. You go slightly slower than with a regular backpack, but it doesn't tire you out NEARLY as much. At the end of the day you feel fine! Plus, to put it bluntly, you don't get as many of the negative backpacker stereotypes put on you when you have sleek, rolling luggage.

Here are the only real problems we've had...
1) If you load the detachable daypack with your heavy stuff, the bag tends to tip over when you try to stand it upright
2) I got two small holes in the strap concealment panel, which is made of thin nylong. Gorilla baggage handlers.
3) The zipper which attaches the daypack to the main bag tends to come unzipped if it isn't secured on with a carabiner, safety pin, or lock.
4) The spine down the middle of the inside of the bag can make packing a bit awkward


We also carry relatively large daypacks for our carry-on bags. She has a Crumpler Base Toucher with our laptop in it, and I have a Vaude Bike Alpin 25 with our SLR gear.

Check out our travel blog. We have a travel gear page on it.
www.adamandshawn.com

Adam - That's so funny because we actually bought two 22-inch Victorinox E-Motion bags last November based on the comments on this page and our checking out numerous roller backpacks. I think that the ones we bought are a little different than the ones they are selling now, but we LOVE ours. We travelled for 3 weeks in Italy with them and 1 week in Puerto Rico, and they are just awesome bags. My favorite feature is the boot storage because I love being able to separate my dirty shoes from the rest of my clothes in an easy way. I am glad to hear that they've worked well on your RTW.

Also, as an added bonus, the life-time warranty does work. In Italy, one of the wheels fell off toward the end of the trip which was a real hassle, but the luggage repair store near us fixed it for no cost in a very short time frame.

I totally agree with the tipping over issue --- that's the one thing I really don't like.

Great website, by the way (your gear list is extremely similar to ours)! Your underwater pictures are gorgeous --- some of the best I've seen. I think I'm going to take a look at your small point-and-shoot camera and underwater housing because our point and shoot is dying.