Denrael

This week, I took my first trip with a new friend. That friend, the Osprey Porter 46 is a light weight, no wheels piece of luggage. For as long as I can remember, I have been carrying the TravelPro roll aboard style luggage. The zipper is starting to fail on the TravelPro, so I knew I would need an interim piece of luggage while I sent it off for repairs. As I looked at my schedule this week, I realized I would be creating my own sequel to Planes, Trains & Automobiles.

To put things in perspective, my trip started with my normal car service to the airport. From there, I took two flights with a short connection to Providence, Rhode Island. From PVD airport, I grabbed a taxi to Providence Station, to catch a commuter rail into Boston. Arriving at Boston’s South Station, I grabbed the Silver Line over to Logan Airport where I could call my hotel shuttle to come pick me up. The return was in essence, a reverse routing. As to why I had such a bizarre trip, suffice it to say air fares and travel budget.

Anyway, looking at that schedule I started dreading running for trains and climbing onto crowded subways all the while dragging my trusted, but heavy TravelPro. This seemed as good a time as any to see if I could come up with a more elegant solution. After some research, and a few hours wt REI looking at options, I settled on the Osprey Porter 46, weighing in at a whopping 3 lbs., 2 ounces.

For some time, I’ve been a fan of the Eagle Creek Pack-It system, though never used it religiously. As I was starting with a new bag, and one thT was only semi-structured at that, they seemed a good addition to the mix. I would be gone a week, so I laid out the following items.

• 2 pair of pants
• 3 dress shirts
• 1 short sleeve casual shirt
• 1 workout shirt
• 1 pair of shorts/swim trunks
• 2 pair Ex Officio (The Best) underwear
• 3 pair socks
• 2 ties
• 1 sports jacket
• toiletries
• camera
• various chargers, cables, cube-tap
• running shoes

The pants and shirts went I to an Pack-It sleeve to be placed in the base of the Osprey. All the electronics went into a half cube to be tucked into the base of the pack. Other items went into tubes and half tubes tucked around the edges. The shoes were slipped into bags and went on top of the sleeve with the sports jacket folded finally on top. My first impression was being amazed that the bag did not seem crowded at all and there was plenty more room available. I closed the bag, pulled the compression straps, took a deep breath and picked it up. I could swear it was as light packed as my roll aboard was empty.

The Porter 46 has two padded handles, one on top and one on the side, making for easy carrying. In addition, it has very nice tuck away back straps for turning it into a makeshift backpack. Those proved very convenient when running through the airport, freeing my hand for the ever important Starbucks. My second plane was a CRJ-200. Anyone who travels often will know this means extremely small overhead space, and typically gate-checking the bag. I walked on board and my Porter slipped right into the small overhead. Let’s hear it for compression straps.

My overall impression of the bag is one of total delight. Another thing I noticed is that as I knew I would be carrying it, I paid more attention when packing. The roll aboard let me develop lazy habits. Over the course of multiple trips, it would slowly gain weight as things never quite made it out of the bag at the end of a trip. Loose change and what not would gather, slowly adding more and more weight to the bag. The big difference though was the overall sense of freedom this bag gave me, not being weighed down by wheels.

I am sitting on the return flight now as I write this. I stood by for a direct flight home, and therefore was the last to board. Knowing all the overhead bins would be full by then, I was reconciled with having to check my new friend. Still, I carried it on, just in case. Getting to my seat, the bins were indeed full. On a whim, I tried tucking it under the seat in front of me and what do you know; it fits there as well!

I can’t say I will never use my TravelPro again, but i can safely say that I won’t miss it while I send it out for repairs.

While I was at REI, I picked up a new TSA approved laptop sleeve. This is the type that allows you to just lay it open and not remove the laptop. The sleeve is thin, light, and easily held laptop, iPad, cleaning cloth, a few connector cables, presentation remote, stylus, business cards and a few papers. With the addition of this piece, my TSA process is streamlined even more. Set down the Porter, lay open the laptop sleeve, remove shoes and present myself for groping. If I’m at a ‘must remove belt’ checkpoint, it goes in the shoe. No bins, no muss, no fuss.

While there are a few minor changes I’d make to the Porter 46 design, they are indeed minor. Overall, this is one fine travel bag for the road warrior, and, at under $100 retail, it’s a bargain as well.