How do you carry your gear?

Yesterday we went shopping for a new wheeled duffel bag. We had unfortunately lost the wheel to one of our older bags and not only was the wheel replacement cost prohibitive at $40, the parts were also unavailable. So the decision to buy a new bag was made for us.

I think the wheeled duffel bag has only been around for about five years. Before that the only bags that had wheels were hard suitcases and the wheels they had were narrow and flimsy. Anyway, I would have never purchased one 'cause I thought people looked like total asses wheeling around their luggage.

When the new wheeled bags came out, they managed to make them look like the traditional duffels, which was awesome for me since it enabled me to relieve my shoulder while maintaining my manliness. I bought an Everest bag in Sweden and it has served me very well.

Yesterday we bought a model similar to my Everest bag with some nice improvements. For me, compartmentalization is important in a bag, and we found a large capacity High Sierra that opens into two compartments. It also has shoe pockets and has an expansion zipper in the middle which gives the thing a ton of room. Of course, it has wheels. Skateboard wheels.

One of the neat added features is the ability to turn the duffel into a knapsack (backpack for those who aren't down with the "knap."). I don't know how often we'll use the feature, but when most of your travelling is done in ski towns, you frequently find yourself on snow where the wheels are less effective. Even if it's only for a few blocks, it may prove helpful.

We were able to get the bag for $130 CDN before tax at Evex in Toronto. The store is stalked with tons of different luggage and the people there seemed to know their sacs. Also, we were able to bargain fairly easily.