recommendation for a decent crew bag

ChattingLil

ChattingLil

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I'm looking for a soft luggage that will be accepted by airlines for carry-on but that also has wheels. Large enough to contain kit for a week. (will wear the bulky stuff ie oilies, boots, etc).
Any suggestions? I've found several holdalls that look right, but they all have large stiff frames which I suspect won't be good for a stowing on a fully crewed boat.
 
I think you would struggle to find luggage with wheels that doesn't have some element of stiffness to the frame.

I wanted a "cabin sized" bag with wheels that would fit into a locker when empty, without taking up too much space. This is to carry stuff to and from my boat, because invariably I take the train down to the coast. So, I went for the Osprey Ozone 36. (There are two versions - one that has shoulder straps so it can also function as a backpack, and one without).

Unlike most wheelie bags it isn't fully rigid, but isn't "soft" either. When empty it is an "L" shape. I find that it can easily fit in the locker beneath my vee berth.

That one is only 36 litres. It is fine for carrying stuff to and from the boat (where most of my sailing wardrobe remains). Not sure it would be big enough for a whole week. And at £100-£120 it isn't cheap.

I think they do a bigger one (80 litre), but I'm not sure if it is as compressible as the 36l one.
 
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Harken. No wheels but waterproof, including the zip (to a certain extent), straps arranged so you can carry it in the hand or like a rucksack. Decent size but not so large you can fill it so full you can't lift it!
 
I could never fit a weeks worth of sailing kit in the size and weight allowance for carry-on baggage. You will look a bit odd flying in your oilies and boots.
 
KTL top tip

I keep a few bags for life on the boat

when people come aboard I give them three each so that they can unpack their unweildy roller bags and then live out of the bags for life - which stow in lockers with the tops of the bags open.

avoids unpacking everything to get some clean socks.

Lidl_Bag_300x303.jpg


they are also waterproof so if you have damp lockers everything stays dry

D
 
SteveSarabande said:
I could never fit a weeks worth of sailing kit in the size and weight allowance for carry-on baggage. You will look a bit odd flying in your oilies and boots.
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I love going onto the Brittany Ferries boat in full kit including lifejacket. The looks from the crew and fellow passengers are great :D
 
Slight thread drift - on the subject of luggage being allowed for carry on:

A couple of years ago I was getting on the cross channel ferry to go sailing with a friend who was already out there, with sailing kit for most eventualities. I was quite surprised when I got there that they wanted to x-ray my bag, still not sure why this is necessary, it isn't on the IOW ferry, which is basically the same principle. Anyway, as my bag goes through they pull me to one side and ask me if I have anything pointy in my bag. I assumed it was the knife on the swiss card I keep in my wash bag so I got it out and showed him, he went back to the screen and said 'No that's not it, are you sure there's nothing else in there?'.

At this point I remembered my folding sailing knife which lives in the arm pocket of my oily jacket, so I got it out he asked 'why do you have this?' as though the only reasonable explanation was that I wanted to hijack the ferry. I explained I was going sailing for several weeks and that this sort of knife was standard safety equipment. Bearing in mind at this point I had pulled oilies, boots and all other sailing paraphernalia out of a Musto bag the response I got was 'How do we know you're going sailing?' which rendered me response-less.

The expression on my face obviously conveyed some sort of truth to what I was saying because they then let me go through with it, and warned me not to bring it again. Transpired the main issue they had with the knife was that it was the folding variety, as if it makes a difference.
 
SteveSarabande said:
I could never fit a weeks worth of sailing kit in the size and weight allowance for carry-on baggage. You will look a bit odd flying in your oilies and boots.
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hah! two things here that show you don't know me! 1. I travel light. and 2. as if I'd care what I looked like when flying!

my only problem is the LJ that I want to take, not sure they'd let me fly with that in hand luggage. I might just take the LJ without the gas and get a spare there.
 
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