Technology Carries Luggage a Long Way

The Crew5 bags come in a variety of sizes ranging from 29 to 17 inches, but the standard 22-inch model will run you $200 and is available at both specialty and retail outlets, including Macy's and Bloomingdale's. It comes in classic black, of course, but opt for navy or green so you don't end up with some pilot's bag.

The Suit Roll-Up

As an engineer with Intel during the Internet's heyday, Don Chernoff did his share of traveling and would often amuse himself in business class watching fellow travelers board the plane with gawky garment bags, struggling to navigate narrow aisles, bashing crisply starched suits into soggy piles of wrinkles. Then the proverbial light bulb went off and the Skyroll was born.

"There's a better way to do this," said Chernoff. "So I redesigned the garment bag so it wraps around a suitcase instead of folding in half. It creates a more efficient bag. You can fit more stuff in a smaller area and by rolling it up, you get fewer wrinkles -- a trick that people have been using with business shirts, but couldn't do with a suit, up until now."

Indeed, the Skyroll is unlike any other garment bag on the market, storing items like shoes, socks and underwear in an inner suitcase, which is wrapped with a garment bag that can hold two suits comfortably, with room for a third, depending on the material. An easy-access pocket keeps airline tickets, keys and loose change handy while the 1200-denier black ballistic poly exterior keeps clothing safe from damage. At 25.5 inches tall, the Skyroll is small and lightweight, ideal for shorter sales jaunts but not weeklong convention getaways.

The Skyroll is only available in black and comes in two styles, the original over-the-shoulder version, which costs $99 and is sold at Men's Wearhouse and Brookstone; and a new wheeled version, which is 25% larger, costs $149 and can be bought online.

Sure, boxy bags will continue to clog claim areas for the time being, but with garment bags that roll up, handles that switch-hit and unbreakable luggage on the horizon this new generation of luggage almost makes packing fun.