Rolling Backpacks
The original case was simple and correct: nobody enjoys carrying a pack any more than they have to, and a bag that rolls when there is pavement and carries when there is not solves a real problem.
What the intervening years have taught us is that hybrid bags are heavier and neither half is as good as a dedicated version. The wheels and handle add roughly a kilo, the harness is usually an afterthought, and the retracting handle bar sits exactly where your spine wants to be.
So the honest advice:
- If your travel is airports, hotels and pavement, buy a good wheeled bag and forget the straps. That is most travel.
- If it is buses, unpaved roads, stairs and hostels, buy a carried travel pack. Wheels on a broken pavement are worse than no wheels.
- Buy the hybrid only if you genuinely alternate, and accept the kilo.
If you do buy one, check two things. That the harness properly stows behind a panel, because loose straps get ripped off by baggage belts; and that the wheels are large and recessed, since small hard wheels are the first part to fail and the most annoying on anything other than a smooth floor.
One change since this was written: four-wheel spinners took over the wheeled market. They are lovely on airport floors and useless on anything rough, where two larger inline wheels still win.
Part of the guide to climbing and mountaineering.