Suitcases: soft or hard or?

[Jo]

I need a new suitcase and I’m not sure what to get. I’ve always had soft-sided luggage, but I’m seeing more and more of the hard cases now.

What do do you travel with for trips where you need to check a bag, and why?

[steamboat185]

We are slowly moving to hardsided suitcases they are lighter and can handle a bit rougher treatment if you check them. Our hardsided carryon has a front pocket, which was a requirement for us.

[TBM]

We've moved to hardside cases. When DH brings home 5 or 6 bottles of gin from the UK, it seems more protected.

Also, we had a softside suitcase get wet on the tarmac, and it was a mess. Thankfully, it happened on the way home, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

[G22]

We made the move to hard sided as well when our soft ones died. I dont regret it one bit. They have held up very well with all the traveling we've done in the 4 years we've had them.

[Pibs]

I don't really care one way or another, but one of my requirements is an amazing warranty. The best I've found have been Eagle Creek -- they've got a no matter what warranty on a lot of their products. Meaning if you break the zipper overstuffing your suitcase or the airline rips a wheel off and shreds the outside pocket (both have happened to me on other suitcases) they'll repair or replace. We haven't had any problems with Eagle Creek products so far even after 6+ weeks of daily use.

[mrsukyankee]

After we had a bottle of wine smashed even with it being wrapped in bubble wrap, we're moving to hard-sided.

[sandandsea]

We have the soft sided suitcase with a duffel top. I love them. More durable and squishable and hold a ton. We are partial to the ful brand ones as they hold up very well.

[babsbunny]

If you use hard sided, you should try to pack it full, even if it is just some paper bags. Some hard sides can get crushed and easily crack if there is not resistance behind it.

We have one of each, both lightweight. I got the hard sided after seeing some luggage in London sit on a road at the airport in the rain for 20 minutes because no one noticed that bags had fallen off the truck. I got mine on clearance at Macys because the spinner version was coming out.

[GilliC]

I have soft-sided. I like the little bit of extra flexibility, but I really like having a lid-style suitcase where the bulk of the storage is on one side. So instead of opening at the middle clamshell style, it opens more like a lidded container. I find that makes it much easier to handle in small spaces where I don’t have the room to lie both sides flat. I can just open the top, lean it against the wall, and access the full contents without things spilling out. Since we usually travel and stay in places with limited space, this is practically a must-have for me. I have seen a few asymmetric hard-sides cases, but most of them are clamshells that split down the middle.

I invested in an ultra lightweight Samsonite spinner, and it’s survived years of heavy wear and tear. On my most recent trip, it wasn’t packed very full, and I saw on the baggage cart that it was straddling the rim with a ton of big bags piled on top of it. (Small airport, so they pretty much just sent the bags out to the plane right before the passengers) I was thinking that surely the frame would be bent, but it came through unscathed. I do find that with soft-sided bags, you usually have to spend a bit more to keep the weight down and the durability up, and I do think you can find much better hard-sided options at lower price points.

[mich1]

I bought a soft sided Victorinox to replace my old Samsonite that bit the dust about 10 years ago. I found it at Tuesday Morning, at about 70% off (it was one of the more higher priced bags). It also has a lifetime guarantee, and when a wheel broke on it, I could have sent it to them to have them fix it, or they would send me the parts and I could do it. It was an easy fix, and I needed my luggage faster than their turn around time. But I think I had the parts 2 days after the call.

I’d replace with another, not sure I would go hard sided though. My bag has been drenched, but my belongings were still dry.

[doctoranda]

We have both and like both kinds.