How about a practical review on this cold November evening?

Jon and I travel quite a lot. We've found the key to successful travel is your equipment. About 5 years ago we bought 2 LLBean Rolling Adventure Duffle's (large) after going through 3 sets of expensive suitcases in a short 2 years. Why? Because our first cruise we bought "regular" rolling luggage. . .the forklift loading our luggage onto the ship ended our luggage's short life.  So we thought we'd outsmart the forklift and we bought hard case luggage for our next cruise. Upon arrival to our stateroom our brand new hard case luggage looked like it had been dropped from about 15 stories. . .So we bought a cheap luggage set next to see if perhaps this would deter abuse. It did not.

LLBean carries a lifetime warranty with their luggage. We've dragged our Adventure Rolling Duffles all over the world and the damage is practically nil. Our last trip to Africa saw abuse to the wheel of my duffle - but LLBean quickly replaced the entire duffle with a new one of my choice. All for free. Since adding two little people to our family we have also added two additional duffle bag. The large duffle is amazing for checked luggage as it literally carries 50lbs to the oz. The limit for checked luggage.

So, spent a little extra up front but save a boat load later. These suitcases are literally life changing. Take my word.