Aeronaut Vs Tristar pros and cons?

[dsmking]

I am also trying to decide between the two and have been looking at both the Tom Bihn web pages and the various Aeronaut reviews. I noticed that the Tri-Star description talked about Poron foam padded briefcase handles which sounds different from the Aeronaut.

Can anyone who has seen both talk about the difference in the briefcase handles? Are there any plans to change the Aeronaut briefcase handles in future runs (like the Indigo/Solar in June)? I suspect I will be waiting until then to order.

One other thing - do the waist straps on the Tri-Star and Aeronaut use gatekeeper clips? I really love them on my Buzz.

Thanks,
David

[MsMoon]

One other thing - do the waist straps on the Tri-Star and Aeronaut use gatekeeper clips? I really love them on my Buzz.

I can't speak to the Tri-Star, but the Aeronaut retro-fit waist straps I just received do use gatekeeper clips. I believe the ones you can order now also come with the similar system.

[timothy]

I've semi-impulsively bought a used Aeronaut (should be here soon) partly because of the waist-strap's availability. [ETA -- I'll have to have it retrofitted, but that's a nice thing about living near the factory.]

Down the road, I hope to get a Tristar, too -- that had been the goal until a few weeks ago, but I hadn't quite built that slushfund to the right point

I can't quite decide either between them: I tried on the prototype Tristar, and liked it very much, but the Aeronaut is its own, slightly different genius. I hope to use that for a plane trip this July, and though I'll be bringing other stuff that rules out a "one-bag" trip, when I cross the country in August on a 2-month round-trip voyage by car, the Aeronaut is slated to hold my clothes for the trip. (Except for a wedding-suitable suit, which will travel separately.) Putting off the Tristar (since that fund morphed into the Aeronaut) would eliminate the temptation to make it a *two*-clothing bag trip. But the next time I travel outside the country, a Tristar looks perfect, for its slightly smaller dimensions.

(And I'll be bringing some stuff back from the east coast, so there's reason that I want to pack light even on a car trip. That, and my desire to get the best gas mileage I can from an Impreza.)

timothy

[bluedenim]

I am still on the fence. I am considering buying both the tristar and the areonaut and I will use one and my partner the other.
I think one of my main concerns is the one airline we are traveling with on this trip to europe in October is jet2.com and they have a strict policy. One bag ONLY...and the maximum length is 19 inches. I am trying to see if I can fit all my clothes, my camera in one bag and all my partners clothes and macbook pro in the other.
On every other form or transport it won't matter because we will be able to carry on the laptopbag and camera bag as personal items.

I am pretty convinced the Areoanut will be able to fit everything but I am worried about being forced to check it because of it being just a bit bigger.
As for teh tristar I think it would fit all the clothes and the lap top with on difficulty. I don't know about it fiting everything and my camera bag in the center though....

Hence the consideration to get one of each. But I dont' want to have to check the Areonaut. I may just have to take the risk.

[dsmking]

I think one of my main concerns is the one airline we are traveling with on this trip to europe in October is jet2.com and they have a strict policy. One bag ONLY...and the maximum length is 19 inches. I am trying to see if I can fit all my clothes, my camera in one bag and all my partners clothes and macbook pro in the other.
...
Hence the consideration to get one of each. But I dont' want to have to check the Areonaut. I may just have to take the risk.

That sounds similar to one of my worries. One of my trips in the next year will be to Italy - I don't believe that we will be taking Jet2 but I have heard some airlines are developing a strict weight limit. My known trips will be the whole family (2 adults, 2 kids) so the Aeronaut has the appeal that it can be a clothing bag for more than just me but I heard of weight limits as low as 7kg (~15 lbs) which nixes that.

As for the maximum length could you keep the Aeronaut slightly empty (say one end pocket) and squish it into the 19" length? Since an end pocket packing cube is 3.25" high squishing that should get it down to 19".

It just so happens that I have not flown since January 2008 and its gotten a lot more complicated especially the international travel. It actually reminds me of some of the 1940s Science Fiction space travel where space settlers had to fit their life into 10kg "allotments."

David

[timothy]

'It just so happens that I have not flown since January 2008 and its gotten a lot more complicated especially the international travel. It actually reminds me of some of the 1940s Science Fiction space travel where space settlers had to fit their life into 10kg "allotments."'

It may get ever more so, too -- we may at some point pay primarily by the pound for people. What I've thought about doing is planning ahead more wrt items that are too large to carry on, but that I'll actually need (or intend to pick up in a destination city), and using the mails more. For a long time, I was glad about free checked baggage, because it meant free transport home of anything I could manage to lug to the check-in counter. I flew home with a bunch of books from San Francisco book stores when I was there several weeks ago; Alaskan Air ended their free checked luggage service the week after I returned, so I snuck under the wire.

timothy

[bluedenim]

that is the other issue...weight...Jet2 is 10kg. It seems like most airlines that I have researched are running around 10kg. I just wonder how strict they are going to be about weight.

Good point about leaving one of the side pockets empty as it might then fit in the the space requirement.