In an ideal world, we’d spend flights to the best vacation destinations just to put our luggage through the kind of real-world test you’d do yourself. Our budget is not tens of thousands, and we have to find a more suitable way to simulate the situation at home.
First, we filled the box with a mix of heavy and soft items and then zipped it shut. We walked them around our home on hardwood floors, thick carpets, thin carpets—exactly the kind of surfaces you’d find in your own home and in the various hotels, Airbnb rooms, and guesthouses you’ll find on our travels. Then we threw them down the stairs. Not because we’re cruel, but because it’s a great way to simulate the brutal treatment a case might receive from an airport baggage handler.
Suitcases are often broken due to rough baggage handlers, and broken wheels are not uncommon. So we put them on wheels again and again and from every angle. And then again. We pull them and twist them. We apply pressure to the handle. Can it support our weight?
We took them outside, still loaded with heavy loads, and dragged them over the paving stones of the sidewalk, along the old cobbled streets and up and down the curbs. Do they shake? Are the wheels rattling? Will the handlebars bend? Do they scratch? These are the things we focus on. Finally, we double-check the zippers and materials, checking for any loose stitching or other signs of manufacturer defects that could indicate quality control could be better.
If they don’t pass the test, they don’t make the list.
