re: Hard sided or soft sided luggage?

Soft-side Tumi.

Can't wear it out.

Pics?

I have Samsonite hard-sided that has a basket weave 3d appearance (not actual basket weave) and in the time I have had them, I have certainly abused them both by overpacking and they have held up well. So far the zippers have also handled the abuse.

I also have a Patagonia black hole toiletries bag that I have grown to love so much, I am about to pull the trigger on one of larger duffle bags.

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I also have a Patagonia black hole toiletries bag that I have grown to love so much, I am about to pull the trigger on one of larger duffle bags.

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If you are looking for a hybrid duffle/backpack try to get to an REI or similar to compare the Blackholes to The North Face Base Camp duffle. They have been the defacto standard gear bags for rock and alpine climbers for over 40 years. The oldest of mine is about 30 years old (back when they were only available in yellow aka summit gold) and nobody hammers equipment more than rock climbers, like tossing them off a cliff when you are bailing on a pitch.

I checked out the Blackhole versions a while back and they are quite different and depending on your body one will likely be much more comfortable than the other. They are also different shapes so depending on what and how you pack one will likely be a clear winner. The big thing I didn't like about the Blackholes is there is no way to stow the carry handles and they interfered with getting it on as a backpack. In general, you can't go wrong with either but most people will have a serious preference when looking at them IRL.

Hard side Away. Travelled all over the world with mine.

Just buy Pelican cases and North Face bags so you can look tacticool.

Soft side Travel Pro has been awesome. The ones with 4 wheels, not the 2 wheeled surfboards.

I had a set of Earhart luggage but it always got lost.

I feel like hard sided luggage could accidentally hit me in the knee and hurt. Soft sided.

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For short trip carryon, cannot recommend a 72L backpack suitcase enough.

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Just be aware a true 72 liter bag packed anything like full will NOT meet TSA carry-on limits. The carry-on limit is 22x14x9 (45 total linear inches) which is just over 45 liters. You will see 45 linear inch bags listed as high as 55 liters, maybe more, but this is just marketing puffery. You will see all sorts of shenanigans with (especially backpack) manufacturers when it comes to capacity.

We went with hard sided, but typically just try to take one with us each. Two becomes a bit hard to manage unless you strap them together, which we do when we need to.

We bought our from Sams/Costco. Just go a new Members Mark set from Sams. Made by Samsonite, and 1/2 the price.