Its been over a year and many days on the road with this new bag. I made a choice to abandon my traditional hard sided roller bag and try a rolling soft sided duffel from 5.11. The bag is the Mission Ready 3.0 90L bag. I paid about $300 for it in October 2024.
I usually pack the “lid” with my 2 flight suits, jacket and vest. The main compartment I pack my clothes on the left with a packing cube of sock and underwear then my boots, sling bag and toiletries on the right hand side. The size keeps me from overpacking. The bag doesn’t have intergrated locks so I had to buy a set to go through the main zippers. The small outside pockets don’t have a way to lock them so be mindful what is placed in them.
The ugly:
The corners and the clear plastic on top of the bag have torn from the abuse from the baggage handlers. The Velcro handle loop also seems to struggle to stay strapped with guys pull on it to move it around.
The zippers, wheels and retractable handle have all held up extremely well.
Overall verdict – I like this bag and will continue to use it and perfect my packing abilities. I still overpack. I do like the soft sided bag with a “lid” style opening over the clamshell design of my standard hard sided bag.
What type of checked bag do you guys travel with? Are the expensive brands like Briggs and Riley or Travel Pro worth the money? Let me know what I should try next.
Seek adventure and get busy living.
-Ben