Isn't that your suitcase on the luggage carousel?
The one with the yards of duct tape holding it together and the handle that's half torn off?
Looks as though it's time for a new one.
Though packing a suitcase is a grim but unavoidable part of traveling, shopping for that suitcase can be fun.
You've no doubt noticed those confident travelers who breeze through airports wheeling neat black bags that glide smoothly over tile floors, asphalt parking lots, even curbs and stairs.
Maybe you want to be one of them. And you can. These days, virtually every type and style of luggage comes with wheels, whether you prefer a duffel, a garment bag or a Pullman suitcase.
"I used to say that backpacks were the only type of luggage without wheels, but now there are wheeled backpacks, too," said Michele Marini Pittenger, director of communications for the Luggage & Leather Goods Manufacturers of America, an industry trade group.
Wheels may be the biggest luggage innovation of the past 10 years, but they're by no means the only one. Abrasion-resistant fabrics, retractable handles and detachable straps that let you hook one bag to another for easier transport are recent improvements, too. And all the colors -- red, taxi yellow, lime, tangerine -- vying with the traditional black.
Though these features make luggage more durable and versatile, they also give consumers more to think about.
Your first consideration should be the type of trips you take. Weekends at the beach? Three-day business trips? Marathon jaunts through Europe, Africa and Asia? Each of these demands a different type of bag.
A casual canvas duffel might be fine for beach weekends, but for short business trips you'll probably want a wheeled vertical suitcase that you can carry on the plane. And you'll need a large Pullman suitcase or wardrobe bag for those extended trips abroad.
Next, consider how often you travel by airplane. If you're a frequent or even periodic flier, you'll need something sturdy.
Though hard-sided luggage has its fans, luggage dealers say most travelers prefer soft-sided pieces (duffels and garment bags) and semi-soft-sided suitcases, which consist of plastic or metal frames covered with fabric.
Finally, assess the individual features of the various brands and styles. Here's what to look for.
Fabric
Luggage dealers and manufacturers unanimously single out DuPont Cordura Plus nylon as the strongest fabric for soft- and semi-soft-sided luggage.
"It's so strong they use it for airplane tires and the belting on aircraft carriers," said Larry Brook, owner of Cadillac Luggage in Detroit.
What Cordura Plus does best is resist abrasion, those scuffs and scars that can result when a bag is tossed into a baggage cart, slid across the floor of a cargo hold or dropped onto a conveyor belt.
Some manufacturers also make bags from ballistic nylon, the fabric used in bulletproof vests. Ballistic nylon has a two-by-two TC weave that keeps the fabric from tearing if it's punctured, though the weave doesn't diminish its ability to resist abrasion, said Bruce Welford, president of Travelers World, a luggage store in West Bloomfield, Mich.
The most common fabric for semi-soft-sided bags is polyester, which is less durable but also less expensive. The key to choosing the strongest polyester is to look at the fabric's denier, a term that refers to the density of the weave.
"The heavier the denier of polyester, the tougher it is and the better the wearability," said Anne Fleming, marketing manager for Atlantic Luggage, which uses polyester in its products. "Six hundred denier is not as durable as 1200, and 1800 is more durable than 1200."
Color
Black is the color of 70 percent of all luggage bought nationally. But the situation is poised for change.
Stan Schwarz, president of Innovation, the biggest luggage chain in the Northeast, said color was selling wildly. In his chain, where black constitutes 50 percent of sales, with brown and moss green the other leaders, he said that a bright red line from a small company, Ricardo of Beverly Hills, was consistently selling out.
Most of the bright bags coming onto the market now -- red, taxi yellow, lime, tangerine -- appear in fabric suitcases. Boyt of Iowa Falls, which has favored dark colors for its wheeled models -- black represents 50 percent of its sales and khaki 30 percent -- produced a red line with black trim two years ago.
Some manufacturers of hard-sided bags, both molded plastic and aluminum, are moving into color. Delsey went into fuchsia for its wheeled 30-inch Volume Planet Summer Edition, which sells for $200.
