Carry on only. It's a hell of a lot better than checking your bags.
Saves you time, money, and stress.
But does your bag fit overhead,
or do you have to check it?
I'm Alex. Im Marko, and you are watching Vagabrothers,
your go-to guide for travel tips, vlogs and
inspiration here on YouTube.
This video Is part of our Travel Hacks Series,
and in this episode, we're going to help
you choose the perfect carry-on bag.
Picking a bag's a very personal thing. Everyone wants something
different, so what we're going to do is go over the important things to consider in picking your bag,
the main different categories of carry- on, and our favorite model from each.
We've put links down there in the description for all the different bags that we mentioned in this video, and if you find this video
helpful, please help us out; give us a big thumbs- up, share this video with your travel buddies, and if you haven't already,
hit subscribe and enable notifications. Let's get Into it.
Here's how to pick the perfect carry-on.
First things first, let's find out what's allowed for carry-on...
Typically, you're allowed two bags: a main bag, which Is 22 by 14 by 9 in,
including handles, straps, and wheels, including a personal
bag which could be like a laptop carrier, a backpack, or purse.
Now these rules are somewhat flexible unless the flight is super packed
or it's a very small plane, you can get away with bending the rules a little bit.
Just remember to be polite,
smile and try to make your bag look as small as possible.
But if you're going to buy a brand new bag, you might as
well make sure that fits within the size guidelines of the airline so you
don't have a constant headache every time at check-in.
Once you determine the size, next you've go to decide whether you want to have a wheeled
bag or something with shoulder straps. Having a
wheeled bag is more comfortable in the airport,
but once you're out of the airport, wheels are much less versatile.
You don't want to be That Person pulling a roller bag down some cobblestone street in Europe
and waking up every single person in the neighborhood.
Not to mention stairs. Backpacks also have pros and cons. We prefer backpacks because
they're super versatile; you can get anywhere no matter if it's dirt roads or hiking or whatever.
The problem is that without a wheeled situation,
it's not really comfortable to carry two bags, no matter what.
If you wear two backpacks, you got the backpack and the front pack, and even if you carry a duffle bag,
it's a lot of tension on your arms. If you get a roller bag, you're going to have to decide whether you want it
hard or soft. Why? Because the hard
bag gives you much more protection, and at the end of the day, it's all about being protected at all times, people.
Soft bags are typically lighter, more flexible, cheaper, but they also don't last as long. Whichever bag you
choose, make sure that it has compression and expansion features.
This really helps if you've picked up a couple of extra souvenirs.
You can cinch that down and still squeeze your bag into carry-on.
Lastly, don't forget these other important features:
internal packing cubes, easy access external pockets that hold boarding passes, and
smart technology that can charge your phone,
weigh your luggage, and track missing bags.
So now that we've gone over some of the general principles to keep in mind when purchasing a carry-on bag,
we're going to go Into each category and choose our favorite bag from each.
You ready? Let's do it.
First up: we have a great overall bag.
This is the carry-on by Away.
The carry-on is perhaps the best overall bag to get
if you're looking at a roller bag.
It's got a hardshell, but it's not that heavy and yet still pretty durable.
It's got great internal divisions.
There're two compartments: one's for clothes; one's for shoes, toiletries other hard objects.
It's got a bit of smart technology in the form of a battery that can charge your phone.
It also has a nylon laundry bag to help you separate out dirty clothes from your clean ones and
another cool feature is that they sell a larger version of this called the Check In, and
this smaller unit fits inside that, so when you're not traveling, you can store them upstairs in your attic or whatever
and not take up too much space.
Lastly it's got a built-in lock that's TSA
approved, so I don't have to worry about security
opening it up and breaking it. It's all very seamless.
Overall great value. Unisex ,durable, affordable and pretty good looking, too.
Next up: we have the duffel bag, which is probably the simplest and most
efficient form of packing, but it's definitely not the most organized.
Why don't you enlighten us to the history of the duffel bag, Marko?
The duffle bag is named after Duffel, Belgium, which was a sail making
town back in the day that made sales for Spanish and Portuguese sailors.
Prices range from around 20 dollars for a used
army-issued duffel bag, to a couple of hundred bucks for some overpriced ones, but we recommend the
Patagonia Black Hole Duffel, which like as the name implies, is
perfect for holding everything that you own and then some.
At only $79 , this is a bottomless pit that Is
absolutely perfect for all your carry-on needs.
For all you people who are a little bit OCD, it might not be the best call because
organization inside of that Is not going to last for long.
It's perfect for last minute trips because you can throw all your stuff in
there without having to worry about running out of space.
It also has backpack straps, and it comes in a bunch of different sizes from 30 to 120 litres, starting at just 79 bucks.
Next up: we have a Weekender, which
is designed for exactly what it sounds like -a weekend away where you have a couple of changes of clothes,
but it's not designed for long term travel.
There's tons of Weekenders out there. Most of them are leather and on the
expensive side, but for this video, we've chosen The Novel by Hershel Supply Company, and it cruises in at a cool $85.
What we really love about this bag Is the shoe holder, which allows you to bring an extra pair of shoes.
The shoe holder Is separated from your main bag,
and it's going to keep whatever clothes you have clean and away from the bottom of your dirty soles.
Hershel produces a lot of well priced travel bags, all of which have a really great aesthetic.
Herschel Company has really good style, and for this particular
Weekender, it's kind of cool because it has a matching backpack. So if you're one of those people
who like to buy your luggage in bulk, you can get the backpack and the Weekender together and be one stylish Mofo.
Carry-on only for under 200 Bucks.
Next up: we got the Patagonia MLC
for Maximum Legal Carry- On. As name implies, the MLC is the maximum size for carry-on and
combines the best of a backpack with other types of carry-on bags.
Essentially, you zip it down the middle and it opens up as if it were a soft rolly bag, but there are no wheels.
It has backpack straps. The outside zipper
essentially takes place of a separate personal bag.
It has a spot for your laptop, and it's just really, really well organized.
As you can see, there's really great internal organization.
What makes this backpack awesome is that you basically have one large compartment.
If you roll your clothes, you have a full week's worth of clothes
laid out side by side, so you never actually have to unpack your bag.
You can just see everything at a glance and then you
put your dirty clothes in here. You can put your socks and your underwear in these ones...
oh yeah, you definitely put your undies in there.
Yep. You slide this over a rolly bag, meaning that
combining this with some of the other ones like the Away, you can
really carry a lot of stuff on a carry-on flight.
Carry this as your personal item, the other one is your carry-on bag, and you are stoked.
We've already done an entire video dedicated
to the best travel backpacks, but these are the bags that we use when
we travel: it's the F-Stop Tilopa. The reason we use it is that it has an internal camera unit known as an ICU,
which slides right Into the bottom of the bag. Then you just pack your clothes and stuff on top of it.
It's also got a laptop sleeve, plus plenty of little zippers and
straps for carrying tripods.
We're going to be doing a video
about the best camera bags for travel.
So stay tuned for that.
And if you haven't already, hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications
so you do not miss when those videos come out.
All right last but not least,
we're going to finish a video with the high end of the spectrum which Is smart luggage.
There're two main smart bag companies:
there's Raiden and there's Blue Smart.
Ok, so full disclosure.. I do know the founder of this company.
I used to write for a magazine he also founded.
Blue Smart was a Kickstarter project that had massive success. It spread worldwide
and is now about to go into production of their second new and improved version of this bag.
It's got a very cult following for a
number of reasons, which we'll show you now.
Smart Bags are really cool because they
work with your phone through apps that can track your bag of it's lost,
weigh your luggage to make sure it's not over carry-on limits,
and they even have auto-locking
technology for when you walk away from it.
It's got an external pocket that holds a laptop, has an internal
charging unit and holds all your loose items and then locks with your phone.
The battery can charge your phone six times. So it's really
strong, and apparently the new version is going to be able to charge even laptops.
It's just generally a more improved version of this original prototype.
The Blues Smart retails at $479,
making it the most expensive bag on this list, but the second version is coming out even cheaper at $345,
which is also going to be 25% more space.
It's bigger; it charges more, and it's cheaper, basically.
The main competitor for the Blue Smart Is the Raiden.
The Raiden has a very sleek, beautiful design with tons of different color options
so you get to customize your own bag.
It's made with a polycarbonate shell.
The downside is that it scratches easily.
The bag is spacious, but the handles do take up a lot of room.
The Raiden has a lot of the same features as the Blue Smart: a built-in scale,
wireless lock; an app that tracks the weather, calls you an Uber and even tracks down lost luggage.
The main difference Is that it's way cheaper.
It's $295, and it has a five-year warranty.
No matter which option you choose,
smart luggage Is going to be the way of the future, so I'm sure
we're going to see a lot more competition in this arena in the coming years.
That's our take on carry-on luggage.
Hopefully it helps give you some ideas
on what's the right bag for you. If you want any more info on those bags,
there are links down below in the description box.
As usual if you enjoyed this video, make sure to give it
a big thumbs- up, share with your friends, and subscribe and turn on notifications,
if you have not already. In the meantime, stay curious, keep exploring, and we'll see you guys on the road.
Peace.