cowman
Final Approach
... or I suppose I could have said something like luggage thread but less of you perverts would click on it.
This is the trio that's gone with me on every major cross country adventure for the past few years. The flight bag is obviously a sporty's bag... I think I actually got the other 2 from walmart of all places. The big duffel is awesome, it's made of a heavy material and has held up for years now but sadly the stitching on the attachment point for the shoulder strap started to tear away, I reinforced it with some kind of rubbery adhesive gunk but who knows how long it will last... I'm gonna hang on until the bitter end though. The laptop bag has rough edge where my new(then) puppy was still chewing... but it works.
See it's so hard to find a good sturdy sack. Price range doesn't seem to make a difference just luck of finding a good one. So many tear, rip, or have crappy zippers that lock up and fail constantly. I don't feel like I'm excessively punishing with it, my only real sin is overstuffing. Or perhaps I've just had bad luck over the years. But I digress...
So why the thread? Well one thing is bugging me here. I know how I pack these things, I put the same things in the same bags every time and that actually has created a bit of a problem. See if I am just stopping somewhere overnight I need all 3. If I'm going on an overnight I end up overstuffing the crap out of the laptop bag(if it's summer) or worse stuffing my junk into my wife's baggage where it gets all intermingled in an attempt to pare it down to 2 bags. Yet another issue with the old 3-bag arrangement is we have a baby and my old method of "pack so we each can carry all of our own stuff" is no longer viable.
I've come up with a sort of solution if I can find the right bag. Flight bag always has to go, but if I swap out the laptop bag for a nice backpack with a laptop sleeve that I can also stuff a shaving kit and 2 changes of clothes into then I'd be set. That way I can leave the big duffel at home for short trips or leave it in the plane for the 1-night stops. What I have in mind is something heavy duty made of canvas or maybe even leather.... or just something tough enough without crappy zippers that are going to fail in short order. I've not seen much I like in stores I've been in, there are some bags on amazon but with stuff like this who knows what you're getting until it's in hand... the measurements seem on the small side but maybe they aren't measuring the same way I do. I like the backpack idea just because it would leave hands free for the inevitable "extra" baby items I'll be handed. I'm a "one trip" guy wherever possible.
Anybody got something good they like? So hard to find a sturdy reliable sack...
This is the trio that's gone with me on every major cross country adventure for the past few years. The flight bag is obviously a sporty's bag... I think I actually got the other 2 from walmart of all places. The big duffel is awesome, it's made of a heavy material and has held up for years now but sadly the stitching on the attachment point for the shoulder strap started to tear away, I reinforced it with some kind of rubbery adhesive gunk but who knows how long it will last... I'm gonna hang on until the bitter end though. The laptop bag has rough edge where my new(then) puppy was still chewing... but it works.
See it's so hard to find a good sturdy sack. Price range doesn't seem to make a difference just luck of finding a good one. So many tear, rip, or have crappy zippers that lock up and fail constantly. I don't feel like I'm excessively punishing with it, my only real sin is overstuffing. Or perhaps I've just had bad luck over the years. But I digress...
So why the thread? Well one thing is bugging me here. I know how I pack these things, I put the same things in the same bags every time and that actually has created a bit of a problem. See if I am just stopping somewhere overnight I need all 3. If I'm going on an overnight I end up overstuffing the crap out of the laptop bag(if it's summer) or worse stuffing my junk into my wife's baggage where it gets all intermingled in an attempt to pare it down to 2 bags. Yet another issue with the old 3-bag arrangement is we have a baby and my old method of "pack so we each can carry all of our own stuff" is no longer viable.
I've come up with a sort of solution if I can find the right bag. Flight bag always has to go, but if I swap out the laptop bag for a nice backpack with a laptop sleeve that I can also stuff a shaving kit and 2 changes of clothes into then I'd be set. That way I can leave the big duffel at home for short trips or leave it in the plane for the 1-night stops. What I have in mind is something heavy duty made of canvas or maybe even leather.... or just something tough enough without crappy zippers that are going to fail in short order. I've not seen much I like in stores I've been in, there are some bags on amazon but with stuff like this who knows what you're getting until it's in hand... the measurements seem on the small side but maybe they aren't measuring the same way I do. I like the backpack idea just because it would leave hands free for the inevitable "extra" baby items I'll be handed. I'm a "one trip" guy wherever possible.
Anybody got something good they like? So hard to find a sturdy reliable sack...
