My problem when I travel is not being able to carry everything that I need and so I usually check luggage (especially when its a long trip). However, there are obvious issues with checking luggage such as time. When you are traveling through a third world country you have to lug all that stuff around which could be a safety issue.

I found a bag at www.onebag.com which I just received and has everything that you need. It has no wheels and so the bag has more capacity. When you have a bag with wheels, you lose capacity and add weight. It is sized exactly to airport carry-on specifications and only weighs 3 lbs empty (some wheeled luggage carry-ons weigh 7-10 lbs empty). It holds 3000 cubic inches and can be overstuffed...its made of Cordura plus which is twice as tough as nylon with heavy duty zippers.

The most impressive part of this luggage is that it easily turns into a hiking backpack with a waist strap / chest strap. There is a plastic frame on the back. All of the straps stow away in a zippered hidden compartment. You could easily run with this bag on your back where as you could not move so quickly towing wheeled luggage.

Being able to turn into a hiking backpack can be important when on the move. When I was moving to different hotels in Thailand, the wheeled luggage I had seemed to slow me down. Safety did not seem like a huge issue there, but it would have been nice to move faster while weighed down. This might be more important in other destinations.

http://www.meivoyageur.com/

To compare against wheeled bags go to this link:

http://www.thetravelinsider.com/travelaccessories/carryonreviewindex.htm

Most wheeled bags hold between 2300-2700 cubic inches and weigh in at 10 lbs. They can only be dragged and not put on your back. The backpack style also attracts less attention to yourself whereas an expensive wheeled bag attracts more.

So this is the ideal carry-on bag. You can easily fit a laptop in there with a generous helping of clothing.

I will never check luggage again...btw...most airlines allow you two carry-ons. In my experience, no one ever checked exactly how much stuff I was carrying and sometimes I carry on more then 2 bags. I have only seen one guy get stopped at airport security and he had a mid-sized suitcase that was obviously too big.

A buddy of mine swears by these guys http://www.eaglecreek.com/ they really do stand behind their warranty.

I know that I can go for a one week trip to a tropical country with just a carry on bag, I just would not want to have to hike through the airports with it on my back though.

Just keep in mind that some airlines like EVA WILL weigh your carry on and will make you check it if it is too heavy.

I use the Eagle Creek as well. It is bulletproof, and if anything does happen, they replace it, no questions asked. I have an ORV Trunk 30 for long trips where I need to haul lots of shit, and an ORV Trunk 22 for carry-on. You can often find sales on the colors that aren't selling well on sites like http://luggagebase.com/

As much as I dislike when commercial websites post gratuitous Jesus quotations to show what good Christians they are, I did find that www.sierratradingpost.com has really good prices on some closeout Eagle Creek merchandise, including some luggage and also some of their "packit" accessories. A small percentage of what they have is factory seconds, so if this matters to you, make sure you read the (sort of) fine print for any item you are interested in.

In addition, if you sign up for their newsletter they will send via email (at least they did to me) a 20-percent off coupon, which unlike most other websites that sell Eagle Creek does not exclude use on Eagle Creek merchandise. The email with the coupon should arrive in a few minutes after signing up.

They have the best prices I could find on Eagle Creek stuff on the web, by far. Although the selection is not as broad as many of the retail websites that carry Eagle Creek stuff, and the merchandise is closeout merchandise for the most part, it is well worth checking out if you have any interest in purchasing Eagle Creek luggage or accessories, and don't particularly want to pay retail prices.

(Message edited by laguy on May 09, 2010)

This may be a bit off topic (since it doesn't refer to carry-on luggage) but one Eagle Creek piece of luggage that I particularly like is the Eagle Creek "Fuck You Take 2 ORV Trunk 28." So you show up at the airline check-in counter and the check-in guy says (while drooling excitedly) "I'm sorry, but your luggage exceeds the allowable weight. We will have to assess you your first-born son in order to accept your luggage." At which point you say "Fuck you" and unzip the front section thereby making two pieces of luggage, each of which is within the weight limit.

The fuck you component only works well if you are under your number of pieces allowance, although even if you aren't it might be cheaper to pay for an extra piece of luggage than the overweight surcharge.

It is also useful if you want to store a portion of your things at a hotel you will be returning to while you travel to some other location.

For the moment, the fuck you luggage can be purchased at http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/,2664T_Eagle-Creek-Take-2-ORV-Trunk-28-Wheeled.html. If you piggy back the 20 percent off coupon that you can get by signing up for their mailing list, the cost is $160 plus shipping. And as above (in my last post) this outfit is "Jesus approved."