I've succumbed to using wheeled luggage

[wayno]

I"m a tramper, I dont need wheeled luggage, i can haul any weight on my back. well that was the case till the last holiday. on a long tourist holiday, hauling around luggage and too much shopping in two packs around eventually wrenched my neck out of place... I was lucky it didnt happen till the end of the holiday or it would have ruined my tramping.... just when i thought i was over it the neck problem came back even worse.
i've got another holiday coming up and i'll have to go back to day walks to be on the safe side , and haul my luggage in a wheeled pack, to make sure i get through without affecting my neck again.

[Strider]

No point carrying it if you don't have to!

[GD4Up]

You can always get the wheeled bags with backpack straps on

I wouldn't worry until you have to get the 4WD version and have to take the wheels on bush walks as your body can't carry the weight anymore.

[wayno]

yup i got an osprey one, has padded shoulder straps and hip belt that tuck away into a compartment.. but theres a solid baseplate sticking out, has fairly big wheels to cope with surfaces a bit rougher than city pavements.. just perfect for the milford track....

[GPSGuided]

Indeed there's nothing better than wheeled luggage when traversing airports and hotels. However, you may strain your chest/shoulder muscles and joints if pulling a heavy load on carpet for any significant distance. One of each side is preferred or try pushing. Speaking from experience.

[wayno]

i think the bigger wheels should deal with that ok. being an osprey, its built for more than city life

[GPSGuided]

Wheel size and depth of pile. There are times when both sucks!

[wayno]

none of these namby pamby toy car wheels for me....

[GPSGuided]

That's the standard wheel size for my carry-ons. For a sec I thought you were going for those approx 6" wheels that was available in the market place.

[GD4Up]

That's the standard wheel size for my carry-ons.

Pfft.. Standard wheel size. I'm wondering if you can rip those off and fit a couple of golf buggy sized wheels onto the bag.

[wayno]

That's the standard wheel size for my carry-ons.

Pfft.. Standard wheel size. I'm wondering if you can rip those off and fit a couple of golf buggy sized wheels onto the bag.

dunno about that, i've seen smaller thinner wheels around,

[GPSGuided]

Yes, at one stage there were carry-ons with big wheels. They were a delight to pull but took up too much space. Not worth it and it died out. Roller blade sized wheel is a good balance and typically well engineered for longer distances and fast movement. Nice and durable. I have got them hot on a few occasions when rushing for flights. Have also seen passengers losing their luggage wheels. Sad scenario.

[photohiker]

Problems arise with lack of clearance around the wheels. Once a bit of junk gets caught up in there the wheel stops and the wheel grinds on the pavement, flat spotting the wheel. After that, the luggage becomes a bucking bronco!

[GPSGuided]

Problems arise with lack of clearance around the wheels. Once a bit of junk gets caught up in there the wheel stops and the wheel grinds on the pavement, flat spotting the wheel. After that, the luggage becomes a bucking bronco!

You are meant to stop and clear the obstruction at that point, in case that's not your routine practice.

[wayno]

hell no,, i'm a tramper. just push on regardless....

[GPSGuided]

hell no,, i'm a tramper. just push on regardless....

I thought you were into destructive testing.

[forest]

Wayno didn't you travel to Japan, Don't they "Hike" there. Tramping's only in NZ isn't it.
Kiwi's land = Tramping.
OZ = Bushwalking.
USA = Hiking, I'm assuming the Japanese have taken the American term.

Maybe you should have purchased some even lighter gear so your pack was lighter. Either that or stacked all the really heavy stuff in your partners pack. That might not work though, if your anything like me you end up lugging all the bags while the missus sorts the travel tickets etc.

[wayno]

by the end of my trip i think its whats universally refered to as crawling...
shes smart enough to take a pack thats barely big enough to fit her gear in and she makes sure she's packed before i am....

[whynotwalk]

That looks like the Osprey Sojourn, Wayne. I've used one and reviewed it on Campsaver, as follows:

This trolley pack carried everything I needed for 7 weeks of plane, train and car travel in Europe. It proved very strong, coped well with many miles of wheeling through airports and towns, and was luggable/carryable when I needed. The interior is well set up with zipped compartments, the stow-away trolley handle works very well, the top and side handles are strong, and the padding is sufficient to keep your gear safe from knocks. It occasionally wobbled or tipped when wheeled over uneven ground.

I gave it 4/5, and would recommend it for the type of trip I was on. Very sturdy and well made. Only slight downside was the wheel wobbles over uneven ground,

cheers

Peter

[GPSGuided]

... if your anything like me you end up lugging all the bags while the missus sorts the travel tickets etc.

Spoilt pure luxury! I have to cover both.

[wayno]

yes the sojourn, great minds think alike.., they've got a lightweight version, but the nylon is pretty thin, even thinner than standard pack nylon.... and i think about what baggage handlers have done to my pcks in the past. I watched once as my pack fell from the top of the conveyor belt going into an airbus... i'm not afraid of flying, but the baggage handlers can really scare me, why they thought the thin bungy on the back of my pack would hold when they tried to lift my pack by it is beyond me...

[GPSGuided]

i'm not afraid of flying, but the baggage handlers can really scare me, why they thought the thin bungy on the back of my pack would hold when they tried to lift my pack by it is beyond me...

Japan and Singapore are probably the most civil of all countries when it comes to luggage handling. Ever tried the US and some 3rd world countries? They are in the same category. 10 trips and any travel bag would fall apart, until I moved to carry-ons only. Yes, went UL and UC (Ultra Compact) at least a decade before UL became serious in the bushwalking world.

[wayno]

yeah i remember the japanese ground staff on the tarmac lined up waving the plane good bye as we taxied out.... japanese service is amazing most places, i left my rail pass on the train, they found it and i was still able to retrieve it from tokyo station, try that with nz rail....
i think nz luggage handlers like to practice their rugby ball passing skills with luggage.

[GPSGuided]

US luggage handlers like to practice grid iron touch downs in winter and slam dunk in summer...

[wayno]

someone i know said United were pretty bad or is it just all US airlines are as bad as each other?

[GPSGuided]

All US airlines are in the same pot. They are bad based on the airport. Personal experience, SFO and SEA are somewhat better than LAX and JFK in my experience. The later two are great to luggage testing. Any weakness in the design will be fully exposed within 2-3 trips. I learnt a lot and paid a lot too in those years.

[Davidf61]

Here's what you need to get by during the "twilight" years.....Smiley inserted here!

http://www.packwheel.com/index.asp?Id=6