New Carry-On Bags Make Travel Less of a Drag

	A New Way to Carry On
	Photo: ogio.com

Admit it, you hate your luggage.

Luggage these days is cumbersome to carry and lift.

It relies on bumbly follow-me rollers and was designed before security measures turned jet travel into a lug-a-thon.

Now road warriors are ruled by security agents who poke and prod, and by airlines that model passenger and overhead bin spaces on the Tokyo subway at rush hour.

I am forever zipping, poking and sifting to find my tickets, my boarding pass, my ear plugs.

When did travel become such torture?

Though the answer may be to demolish the system and start over, there is a glimmer of good news in the luggage game.

Several ambitious companies are taking a fresh look at the mainstream luggage market with positive effect. These companies are either new, or come from a nontraditional baggage background -- one is known for golf bags, another for bulletproof vests. And while none of these new bags solve the entire luggage puzzle -- they are limited to carry-ons and specialty cases -- they are nonetheless bringing new materials and a sense of style to the luggage carousel.

Pack Them In

I like what Civilian Lab in Long Beach, Calif., is doing with its new line of harness packs and lossless wallets.

Its Business-Class LT ($68) is an interesting use of an over-the-shoulder harness mixed with modular compartments. Also worth a look is the Israel-based Kata, which specializes in cases for the video-production industry and the military.