Genius Pack 21″ Hardside Spinner Carry On bag review

I avoid checking bags in while flying whenever possible.  Additional bag fees?  No, it’s the hassle of waiting for checked bags at the carousel, the risk of lost luggage, and the tendency to overpack.  I tend to travel with lots of loose items (charging cables, wall warts, adapters), so what if I could find a carry-on with built in organizers?

The Genius pack Hardside Spinner luggage series come in a 21″ carry-on size, as well as a larger 25″ and even a mammoth 29″ version.  I was sent the 21″ size for evaluation.

• Secluded Laundry Compartment
• Interior Organizational Compartments
• Integrated Packing Checklist for think free packing
• 21″ Upright meets International and Domestic Carry on Allowance
• Integrated TSA friendly combination lock
• 8 durable silent gliding spinner wheels
• 100% Crush-proof durable poly-carbonate film
• 6.8 lbs
• Dimensions: 21 x 13 x 8.5 inch.

The first thing I noticed was how light this thing was.  My bathroom scale measured 7.2 lbs vs the listed 6.8.  That’s a 0.4 lb difference, but thankfully there are wheels on all four corners of this bag.

That’s right, this is one of those “all wheel” bags that just seem to glide effortlessly.  I really like these bags.  If you’ve ever been stuck in line at the airport, you’ll just gently nudge the bag along instead of dragging it.

There are soft-touch handles on the top and sides.  You may never use the handles, but they’re comfortable to the touch.

There’s also a built-in 3-digit combination with the infamous TSA lock.

The main retractable handle has a single button on the top.

When fully retracted, the handle measures just under 22″ from the floor to the top of the button.

The handle stops in a “medium” position, measuring at 31″ from the floor.

Finally, when pulled out all the way, the top of the handle overs about 41″ above the floor.

On the inside you’ll see a the organizer panel on the left, and an empty section on the right with elastic straps in an X-shape.

You’ll find individually labeled zippered pouches for “charger”, “socks”, and “under garments”.  There’s also a packing checklist with some pretty common travel items.

I wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, so I thought I’d grab a “wad” of cables and chargers to see how it fit.  No problem!  The pocket is made of a mesh-like material so there’s some see-through characteristics.

The organizer panel unzips to reveal an empty compartment labeled “laundry”.  The funny thing is, this is exactly how organize when I travel.  How did they know?

To give you an idea of what’ll fit in a 21″ carry on bag, I managed to squeeze about 3 rolls of paper towels (left) and 9 rolls of bath tissue/TP/bog roll on the right.  (No, I do NOT normally travel like this.)

Yes, it will close.  This is probably due to the squishy nature of the rolls.  The bag does NOT have an “expansion” zipper to magically make the bag fatter with all the souvenirs you’ve brought home from vacation.  I like that, since it prevents me from packing more than I need to begin with.

I really like the Genius Pack 21″ Hardside Spinner carry-on bag.  It looks sharp, rolls around effortlessly, now I can separate my chargers from my underpants without effort.  If you overstuff your bag and need that extra expansion space, this may not be for you.  However, I try to pack light- or limit yourself to just 9 rolls of toilet tissue.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Genius Pack. Please visit http://www.geniuspack.com for more info.