Rio (Philippines) isn’t done with his questions. 😀
After reading my latest posts, he tweeted…
@EvelynYap Hi, miss evelyn. Long time! Just wanna say im waiting for ticket na lang 🙂 any tips if soft or hard luggage dalhin ko? 🙂 thanks
https://twitter.com/angdiwangmalaya/status/541579230966857729
@EvelynYap and a big thank you pala sa lahat ng sagot. You were a big help. And sorry kung naging makulit. My apologies. Thanks again! 🙂
I replied…
Hi, Rio. You’re welcome. Glad to help. No worries. Your kakulitan made an interesting title for my post. 😉
Luggage is personal preference. Mine are soft. If you saw my post about photog who lost his gear, that was hard luggage.
More specifically, a Samsonite hard shell that the thieves apparently pried open then snapped back in, so it looked intact.
So the above were my 140-character answers on Twitter. And now, the amplified version…
Soft luggage (or Softside) VERSUS Hard luggage (or Hardside or Hard shell)
Have you ever seen hard luggage with pockets on the outside?
Soft luggage can have a couple of pockets that are accessible without having to open the main luggage compartment. But when you think about it, a really bad person can easily stuff something illegal into those outer pockets to frame you. Hmm…
We know how suitcases get thrown about and stacked really high in trolleys. Imagine a not so densely-packed hard case at the bottom of the pile. I have no in-depth knowledge of the material and engineering in making these hard shells, but my little knowledge of physics tells me that it is bound to crack and break. But then, good quality hard-sided luggage would not break so easily thereby protecting objects inside from getting squished in transport. You decide.
I travel with 2 pieces of check-in luggage. The small one is a soft-sided suitcase that I’ve had since 1999. It’s so old that it only has 2 wheels.
Now I didn’t travel every year since 1999. But that little maroon suitcase of mine has gone with me to China in 1999, to Vancouver / Toronto / Montréal in 2001, to S. Korea and to Scandinavia in 2002. Then it had a 5-year sabbatical. It has been with me since 2007 when I started working as a seafarer — flying back and forth to the other side of the planet and getting transferred here and there between ships.
Yup. It’s still alive. Still in one whole piece.
Whether you choose to go for soft or hard, as much as possible, go for those with 4 wheels, also known as “spinner” suitcases. It will definitely be worth the extra money you pay for. Trust me.
Fortunately, my medium-sized soft luggage has 4 wheels. So the 2-wheeled luggage gets dragged along and the 4-wheeled one just cruises alongside me. So much better than dragging 2 pieces. When my ancient 2-wheeler retires for good I’ll be replacing it with 4-wheeler… still soft-sided, of course.
Recommended reading:
- Flyertalk forum posts on Pros and Cons of Hard Side vs. Soft Side Luggage
- eBags Blog post on Hard Sided Vs Soft Sided Luggage
Disclaimer: EvelynYap.com has no relationship with the above websites, whatsoever. I don’t actually know the publishers or writers, but Web-of-Trust (WOT) rates them as safe. And the posts are helpful, to-the-point, simple and clear. Good enough, me thinks.