Question: Brain Bag and Aeronaut

[pw1224]

Frankly, the Brain Bag and the Aeronaut combo is now my go-to set up when traveling. They give me enough space with enough organization to carry practically everything. The only thing that I have trouble stuffing in there is my LCB which has now turned into my daily hand bag. I don't usually feel like disassembling it just for a trip. Thankfully, all of these bags have "squish capability".

[JLE]

So now that I've got my new Brain Bag, I'm getting infected with the Tom Bihn bug. This is quality stuff.

Beware, it is a highly infectious bug!

[conejo23]

Thanks for the responses, folks.

And yes, my rolling carry on is framed. No way it could fit under the seat in front of me.

Good stuff, some things to chew on.

[mfeinstein]

I roll my little wheeled bag from house to car, car to hotel and back again. Try justifying an Aeronaut, TriStar or Western Flyer with that scenario. But I'm still working on it!

A wheeled bag has a frame, which can be a limiting factor. I can under pack my Aeronaut and fit it under the seat in front of me comfortably. Thats not going to happen with a wheeled bag. I can also fit more bags in the trunk of my Mini Cooper for a road trip. Plus no frame means my Aeronaut isn't rigid and its easy to fit something like a garment sleeve in it where a comparably sized wheeled bag wouldn't work.

[Badger]

conejo, you are quite right that the Aeronaut's chief advantage over wheeled luggage is that, um, it's not wheeled, making it handy for the sorts of terrain you describe. I'd say though that if you are taking your bags from your car and directly into the hotel it may not be worth replacing the Tumi just yet, especially if there's nothing wrong with it besides the fact that it's not a TB bag.

Whenever I need to carry my Aeronaut whilst wearing a backpack, I do it just as mfeinstein does: backpack on back and Aeronaut with Absolute Strap on my shoulder.

[WhiteStar]

So now that I've got my new Brain Bag, I'm getting infected with the Tom Bihn bug. This is quality stuff.

Tell me about it. All I wanted in the beginning was a Swift. Now, 1 Swift, 2 LCB, 1 MCB, 1 Co-Pilot and 1 Synapse later (not to mention many pouches) I'm contemplating "What's next?"

Like you, my traveling does not involve many uneven roads. It also never involves crowded airports or planes. Checking my luggage is a non existent problem. I roll my little wheeled bag from house to car, car to hotel and back again. Try justifying an Aeronaut, TriStar or Western Flyer with that scenario. But I'm still working on it!

[mfeinstein]

I have traveled with my Aeronaut and Brain Bag a few times. Never had any issues with it, I carry the Brain Bag on my shoulders (both of them sense its usually ~30lbs) and the Aeronaut with an Absolute strap. That combo is pretty easy to carry, my wife (5'2" and pregnant) just took them both on a trip and said she didn't have any issues with it.

[conejo23]

So now that I've got my new Brain Bag, I'm getting infected with the Tom Bihn bug. This is quality stuff.

I've got a Tumi wheeled carry on that is ok, but I'm hearing how many people love the Aeronaut. I agree that non-wheeled luggage is great for being on the street, uneven pavement, etc...., but I'm never wheeling my luggage in those environments. When I take this, it's from home to the airport to the hotel to the airport to home. Once I'm at the hotel, the luggage stays put.

So I'm trying to envision using an Aeronaut instead of a wheeled carry on or a wheeled checked back. Specifically, I'm trying to imagine carrying a brain bag and an aeronaut at the same time, and it seems like it would be really cumbersome. Can't wear two backpacks on one back. So it seems I'd have to wear one as a backpack and sling the other one over a shoulder, or carry one on one shoulder and the other on the opposite shoulder.

Has anyone traveled with both? How do you physically carry them and what's the experience like?

If I was looking at a trip to Europe with multiple stops and flights, then yes, I could absolutely see the benefit of just having 1 or 2 packs I can carry on. Load and go. But for the typical trips I take, where I fly somewhere and stay in the same place for a week, just not sure moving away from the wheeled option makes the most sense.

But I'm definitely excited to see how the Brain Bag handles the experience. Going to be way better than when I was lugging my Tumi ballistic briefcase through airports.