Have rolling luggage and one of our bags? Could you help us test something?

[Darcy]

Some folks have rolling luggage that has very wide and/or thick handles that are difficult to push through the luggage handle pass-through on the back of the Synik. This was inevitable; to make the pass-through fit even the widest luggage handles would've required that we make the bag itself considerably wider, which most people would have found odd.... to carry to say the least.

That said, we've been working on coming up with a solution that can accommodate luggage with wide/thick handles, and we think we've found one. It's more of a hack really, and a rather obvious one. We've been testing it and so have some friends, and it seems to work pretty well.

Our asks of you:
Do you have rolling luggage with a two-pole handle*?
Do you have one of our bags?
Do you have one of the Gatekeeper webbing waist belts that comes with our various backpacks and other bags?
And are you up for providing feedback on how this hack/solution works for you?

*Note: this works with two-pole handle rolling luggage; it won't work well with the seemingly more rare one-pole handle rolling luggage.

If that's four yeses, yay! Thank you! Here's what to do:

1. Remove the webbing waist belt from your bag if it's on a bag.
2. Overlap and connect the two Gatekeeper clips on the webbing: now you’ve got a long strap with a buckle closure.
3. Use that strap and wrap it around the middle of your bag as it’s on top of the rolling luggage with its back against the handle of the luggage
4. Clip the buckle around the rolling luggage poles.
5. Cinch the strap down so the bag is held tight to the luggage pole.

Here's some photos of how this works with the Synik. Note that this rolling luggage handle fits through the pass-through on the 30 okay, but it's what we had for the photos:





What we like about this strap-around-the-bag solution:

Your backpack — Synik, Synapse, Guide’s Pack, whatever pack we offer, or even a pack from a different brand — will be secured to your rolling luggage in such a way that it won’t spin around or slide off. It feels super sturdy.

It feels sturdier than a webbing or elastic band sewn to the back of the bag because it's holding the center of gravity of your bag and all of its stuff against the rolling luggage handle. Because of the whole gravity thing, this method also works better than simply leaving the webbing waist belt connected to the back of your pack and securing it and the sternum strap around the handle of the luggage.

It's super simple. And it's free for anyone who has one of our webbing waist belts.

P.S. It's entirely possible one or more of you have already thought of this solution and are already using it! If that's the case, kudos to you for thinking of it before we did Would love to hear how it's been working for you over time.

[NClens]

I admit to always leaning towards things that reduce, even fractionally, the hassle of traveling and care less about design simplicity. Along that line of thought; finding, attaching, and tightening a strap is going to be a hassle in the middle of an airplane aisle or if you need to get from security to an airport gate fast. So, I'm not sure if your solution fits the definition of reducing hassle. It does seem like a great option for people that are walking long distances with a pack and roller and therefore want to save weight off their backs.

[kjquilts]

Works perfectly. Used my 21" Briggs & Riley that has 8" two bar handle and got the following results:

Synapse 19 ..... fits with enough room above to also attach a Side Effect.

Smart Alec .... fits with top of Smart Alec just underneath the bottom bar of the B&R handle. On the Smart Alec I threaded the strap through the cording to keep strap from slipping although I don't think it was necessary.

Tri-Star .... fits fine and also leaves the B&R handle free. As added security threaded the strap through the TS handles to keep strap from slipping (again probably not necessary).

[Lia]

Works fine with the S19 packed to about 70% capacity, with several inches of waist strap to spare. Takes about six seconds.
I'm not interested in a pass through handle on a backpack anyway... It's a backpack, I can wear it on my back while I roll the rolling bag... But if I hurt my neck on the flight, and couldn't carry my backpack, this would actually be a great hack for protecting my spine an emergency.
S19 on a carry-on size rolling bag







And on the 27-in bag.

[Darcy]

I admit to always leaning towards things that reduce, even fractionally, the hassle of traveling and care less about design simplicity. Along that line of thought; finding, attaching, and tightening a strap is going to be a hassle in the middle of an airplane aisle or if you need to get from security to an airport gate fast. So, I'm not sure if your solution fits the definition of reducing hassle. It does seem like a great option for people that are walking long distances with a pack and roller and therefore want to save weight off their backs.

These are good points. Our thoughts:

As an option for those who don't want to repurpose their 1" webbing waist belt, we've made what we call a Side Release Lash Strap-- it's basically a version of the strap (sans Gatekeepers, as they aren't necessary) that can be purchased. Photo of this version is attached. It's not available for purchase yet because we wanted to get more feedback from people on whether/how this works for them.

Some people don't ever wear their 1" Gatekeeper webbing waist belt, and if you're like me and have multiple bags, you might have extras of these laying around. We figure in this case someone could detach their 1" Gatekeeper webbing waist belt just once, connect it per the instructions, and have it around somewhere handy in the event they go on a trip and are taking rolling luggage. And it's a great way to repurpose something that might not otherwise be useful.

Def. would be a hassle for someone to, on each trip and at the airport, detach the webbing waist belt, fashion it into a lash strap, and secure their bag that way. So, if someone doesn't have an extra webbing waist belt that they don't use, it may work best to purchase the Side Release Lash Strap if they want to do this.

Works perfectly. Used my 21" Briggs & Riley that has 8" two bar handle and got the following results:

Synapse 19 ..... fits with enough room above to also attach a Side Effect.

Smart Alec .... fits with top of Smart Alec just underneath the bottom bar of the B&R handle. On the Smart Alec I threaded the strap through the cording to keep strap from slipping although I don't think it was necessary.

Tri-Star .... fits fine and also leaves the B&R handle free. As added security threaded the strap through the TS handles to keep strap from slipping (again probably not necessary).

Thank you, that's really helpful! Interesting re: attaching a Side Effect above the Synapse.

[RosemaryOrchard]

Works great! I'll take some pictures when I'm out of the airport lounge and home (sometime tomorrow), I'm trying this with the Synik and the handles of the luggage pass through that fine. I have some other cases at home with larger handles so I'll have to try all those out and see what works or doesn't work


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[JonC]

This is a great idea and works very well with my S25. I will also test with the Synik and larger rolling luggage when it arrives later this week.






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[Tony G]

I’d love some way to keep the Tristar reasonably secure on the top of my rolling case. I like this idea, although could you engineer a way for it to stay on the bag so it won’t get lost?

[backpack]

Using the waist strap still clipped to the bag, each side passed through the inner sides of the handle, then moved around the outer sides of the handle, then to the front of the bag to secure the TB backpack base.

The Wheelchair/Stroller Strap secures the TB bag top handle to the horizontal part of the roller's handle.
(I use the same strap to secure to shopping carts handles, a huge lightweight former luggage bag, which hold all my reusable grocery bags, including the ones padded for cold stuff.)
https://www.tombihn.com/collections/...nt=42235318663

And, a TB Travel Money Belt secures the middle of the TB Bag, if it is still wobbly
https://www.tombihn.com/collections/...nt=16455335623


All 3 Accessories are already made by TB, unclipping the first two will be fast and easy, the third could be a modified as a plain Travel Belt to avoid damaging the TB Bag. It would fit the vast different girth of bags and people.

The Money Travel Belt is extremely durable, I put one at the service of my husband's casual pants and shorts, the minute I received it, I got it many years ago. It is still going strong with little sign of wear.

[G42]

Ricardo suitcase, carryon size

S19, stuffed with a random pillow... this made the S19 very consistent in thickness & worked the best




Large Zip Top Shop Bag with two random pillows... worked reasonably well, especially with the handles flipped over to help




S25 with some emergency bug out gear that is currently very bottom loaded... if I tighten the strap too much, it actually slides off the top of the bag, so this would be a type of pack out that the strap method won't work for very well, regardless of the backpack itself

[DWSeattle]

For any bag that has a top handle I would add a strap and/or carabiner. That would take the bulk of the weight and create a three point mount with the lower strap simply stabilizing for sway. You can also put the shoulder straps over a wide hand and use the sternum strap to create a harness and the waist belt at the bottom-- the suitcase literally wearing the pack.

[Darcy]

Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback and photos!

For any bag that has a top handle I would add a strap and/or carabiner. That would take the bulk of the weight and create a three point mount with the lower strap simply stabilizing for sway. You can also put the shoulder straps over a wide hand and use the sternum strap to create a harness and the waist belt at the bottom-- the suitcase literally wearing the pack.

We were initially thinking the solution needed to be along similar lines, but in practice we found the one around-the-middle-of-the-bag strap solution to sufficiently stabilize the bag. Using additional straps wasn't necessary, and using one strap was also faster/easier to add or remove.

YMMV of course; we will be recommending the one strap option.

I’d love some way to keep the Tristar reasonably secure on the top of my rolling case. I like this idea, although could you engineer a way for it to stay on the bag so it won’t get lost?

I see where you're coming from! Our recommendation would be to stow the strap in a pocket of the bag when you're not using it -- maybe even the compartment where the backpack straps stow away. If you want to secure it to the outside of the bag, you might try clipping it around the handle (would be a dangly though).

[Darcy]

Oh! One more thing.

Earlier in the thread, I mentioned that we have come up with what's basically a 1-1/2" Lash Strap for those who don't want to repurpose their webbing waist belt (maybe because they use it, or maybe because it's a little less elegant than the Lash Strap).

**We're working on a page for this strap; stay tuned!**

(As a side note, we're trying to figure out what we should call this this item: calling it a Rolling Luggage Strap would help people find it/discover its use most easily, but there's something about that name that implies we've come up with a brilliant invention when in actuality this was a simple solution staring us in the face this whole time! Open to ideas here.)

[G42]

(As a side note, we're trying to figure out what we should call this this item: calling it a Rolling Luggage Strap would help people find it/discover its use most easily, but there's something about that name that implies we've come up with a brilliant invention when in actuality this was a simple solution staring us in the face this whole time! Open to ideas here.)

Eponymous Rolling Luggage Strap (we'll say that Erl invented it)

[Izzy]

I DO put my S25 on my rolling suitcase. When I'm running from terminal to terminal to catch a connecting flight, it makes a HUGE difference as to how hot and sweaty I get. And if I've just gotten off a long flight with horribly cramped seating, I'm not anxious to put a backpack on my already uncomfortable back.

I have struggled with various bungee cord setups, and have been very frustrated, which is why I'm so interested in the Synik. For my upcoming trip (before Synik will be available, sadly ), I just ordered this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1. I can post a photo, if anyone wants.

I suddenly have to pack some nice clothes and shoes for a memorial service that wasn't part of our original plans, and I'm not sure I'll be able to fit everything I want to take into the S25. I have to bring gluten-free food, because some of the airports we're going through have only gluten-filled crap, and our connections are tight anyway.

Since Synik wasn't available, and Amazon had a 30% off sale, I also ordered this: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...ay&sr=8-8&th=1.

(Am I allowed to post that here?)

I don't mean to imply that it's competition for the Synik, because IT'S NOT.

If anything, I think they were inspired by the Synapse when they designed it (note the bright contrasting lightweight fabric it's lined with...), though they TOTALLY missed the boat with the water bottle pocket, which will not fit my 18-oz Takeya water bottle, and I'll have to make do with a 12-oz S'ip by S'well, or else a 15-oz S'ip by S'well UPSIDE DOWN (which makes me just a wee bit nervous).

But it does have a passthrough.

Anyway, if you're considering removing the passthrough from the Synik, that might be a game-changer for me, and push me into not getting one. I REALLY dislike messing with (and having to remember to pack) bungee systems. And for trips where I don't need to put my Synapse on a rolling suitcase, it's not like the pass-through gets in the way or takes up space or anything.