BS: Bought a new suitcase

Subject: BS: Bought a new suitcase
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 06:59 AM

I bought a new suitcase recently, one of those lightweight, super strong & almost certainly overpriced jobs, made by the company with the quasi old testament name. Watched a documentary on TV last night about Stanstead Airport & would you believe it, what type of suitcase do baggage handlers gripe about the most?: "Slippery, don't stack well, etc, etc," Yep, MINE! Admittedly, the handler in question could have been expressing a personal view, but it still begs the question, don't suitcase manufacturers consult/meet with reps. from baggage handling companies as part of the design process? Seems they don't, but wouldn't it be a good idea if they did?
                                              Slightly Miffed,
                                                                         Nigel.

Subject: RE: BS: Bought a new suitcase
From: GUEST,John MacKenzie
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 08:27 AM

That's why guitars get damaged so often. Odd shaped cases that don't stack, and 9 times out of 10, they have a slippery finish.
The best answer is an oblong guitar case, suitably reinforced, not the trendy (Slippery) aluminium ones, beloved of rock musicians, either.

Subject: RE: BS: Bought a new suitcase
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 10:52 AM

Good point John. Fortunately, I don't have to take instruments on planes anymore, so the mandatory flight-case is no longer needed, but I do travel several times a year to visit my daughters & the grandchildren, so a robust suitcase IS an absolute necessity.
                                                                                                       Nigel.

Subject: RE: BS: Bought a new suitcase
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 11:24 AM

The guy solution: go to the hardware store, buy friction tape, put it on the suitcase in key places.

The girl solution: sprinkle some scouring powerder into the palm of your hand. Rub the suitcase all over with scouring powder. Take care not to rinse it off.

It may not work, but it's worth a try.

As for your question about checking with luggage handlers, I'm sure that corporate types pay no attention to the needs of luggage handlers. My husband once had an engineering job to do in the luggage-handling depths of Denver airport, and he told me that conditions are terrible down there. (And that's a new airport.)

Subject: RE: BS: Bought a new suitcase
From: Micca
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 12:06 PM

While we are on the subject, go for "Lay-Flat"(Like Here) handles where ever possible, Not the "sticky out moulded plastic bolted on"( Like this)
kind because after very little time passing through an airport or two the handles are RIPPED OFF, as you have been ,\nd you are stuck at some godforsaken airport haveing to move luggabe with NO HANDLES and have to buy new cases, so it is worth gettting good ones in the first place/ Guess who has had this happen? and having bought the Good stuff as replacement, had my travelling companion have exactly the same thing happen!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Bought a new suitcase
From: GUEST,number 6
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 12:17 PM

Biught a LL Bean canvas duffle bag about 4 years ago for about $40 ..... great suit case ... can stuff a lot into it .... durable ... been to quite a few place with it, on many airlines ... still in tip-top shape, brass zipper still works, no rips and the canvas handles are still intact.

biLL

Subject: RE: BS: Bought a new suitcase
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 24 Feb 11 - 01:52 PM

Coming back from one of my trips to Senegal a few years ago, and always travelling exceptionally light, I put anything worthwhile into my cabin bag, and the slightly larger case I filled only with loads of horrid dirty sweaty smelly laundry, chiefly underwear. That went into the hold of the plane. On arrival at Gatwick I had to smile as SOMEONE had cut open my bag and had a ferret around. Nothing was taken. I wonder why not...? I have often heard that the scruffier ones bag, the less likely it is to be pinched or slit.