Luggage

[Ratdog68]

Been making do with some of my travel stuff, and sorting through some good things. Tried the Maxpedition packs, but, pretty much too small for my needs. Settled on the "5.11 Tactical" for packs. Got four of 'em thus far. Keep a "Rush 12" at work with some added external pouches. Using a "Rush 24" with an external pouch for my travel carry-on. Have a "Rush 72" that I'll be using for going out and about in the woods (with a couple of external pouches), and have a "Moab 10" that I'm using for EDC when at home. I've found that I have to keep so much stuff away from my "travel" bag, that I just end up having more than one... since I keep a .45 in my EDC... and a knife and multi-tool in my work bag. Just have to be so careful about not doing a "stupid" and show up at the airport with the wrong gear... would hate to lose something nice.

For checked luggage, I've been making do with some inexpensive wheeled stuff (after my Swiss Gear rolling bag started falling apart at the wheels from so much use). Busted up a Samsonite rolling duffle next... another cheaper one has been holding up a little better than the Samsonite. But, this afternoon... snagged me up a 5.11 Tactical "Mission Ready 2.0" rolling bag. NOT "cheap", a little larger than I was initially looking for... but I should be able to stuff my pack inside of it while heading to the airport and pull the pack to carry on and check this one... or, attach the pack to the outside of this roller and haul it that way... then un-hook it at the airport. The wheels are a little larger, and look to be a little heavier. It has feet on the front of the bottom of the bag that also allow it to be lashed down onto another 5.11 rolling piece... if it needs to be palleted. And, you can connect more than one of them in tandem and roll them like a train through the airport (or what have you). Nice design.

The more I use this 5.11 gear, the more I like it over the Maxpedition stuff I've gotten.

 

[pruhdlr]

I have several Maxpedition bags. A smallish day pack is one and it is extremely functional. I also have several of their clip on pouches that I use for speciality gear. One I have all my batts in for use in my lights. One I carry all my small skinning/gutting blades in.

I do not "do" the airlines anymore so I basically have no need for the larger capacity bags. For the several day trips I still have some of the parachute bags that I retired with. Several helmet bags are used for day trips.

I try not to be too "tactical". 5.11 does make some good stuff though. I have one of their belts and a couple of their vests. The vests are extremely sturdy and functional. I use it when carbine hunting thru a small section of woods and a pack would be a little too big. --- pruhdlr

 

[Afalex1]

Rat, when are going to start stuffing those bags with hog hunting gear and head to Texas? I've got a couple penned up for you. LOL. Good gear write up.

 

[Ratdog68]

Rat, when are going to start stuffing those bags with hog hunting gear and head to Texas? I've got a couple penned up for you. LOL. Good gear write up.

I'm jockeying for getting in some OT. One of those "unexpected" gremlins reared it's ugly head (I hate when those happen).

Back to the luggage thing. I get some USE out of my roller luggage. Drag it to the bus, off the bus and to the light rail terminal. Onto the train from downtown to the airport, across the airport parking area/terminal to my airline counter... then it has to survive arctic conditions too. I do that routine twice a month. We'll see how this one holds up. I should send my Swiss Gear bag in to them to let 'em see how their stuff does with USE and have 'em slap a new set of wheels on it for me. Nuttin' else wrong with their bag after all that use, still looks great... just ran the wheels off it... literally.

I like that this one is basically one big open bucket, with some zipped dividers in it. Gives you versatility without being tied to ONE configuration. Now, I can build "kits" of stuff I need to travel with and just toss 'em into the cavern. I've gotta find out for certain again how you word it... but, as I understand it... if you put a note in your luggage that everything is inventoried, and that you require a name of who rifles through your checked bag (TSA), they just close it up and send it on through. Since this bag has a clear plastic window staring at you when you're fixing to open the bag, I can print out a notice in BOLD red/black/highlighted, laminate it and slide it inside that clear envelope and maybe keep nosey faces out of my gear. Sometimes, dirty laundry at the top works. LOL I've got nuttin' to hide, but, I just despise having some clown rifling through my stuff and facing the temptation of stealing. And, I really resent these padlocks that they have master keys to.

On a side note, if you're travelling, and want to have a water bottle in your carry-on, all you have to do is tell them it's for taking your medication with. They cannot question what you take/when. They'll wave a test strip over the open bottle to verify it's simply water and send you on your way. I always carry some ibuprofen, vitamins, cold medicine, etc.