Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I am shopping for a durable nylon duffle with wheels for my planed travels. I will be traveling for a month across Asia and part of Europe. Planning to be on planes, buses and trains. I am counting 10+ flight transfers. The bag must be durable and must be ultra portable. Since I will be doing lots of travel by land too, being able to carry on my shoulders/hands for stairs and tight/high traffic spaces is a plus. I have purchased the following duffels for trial. Here is my review of these products. Lets see how the "Eagle Creek Travel Gear No Matter What Flashpoint Rolling Duffel L" compares to others.. "Eagle Creek Travel Gear No Matter What Flashpoint Rolling Duffel L" This is an awesome bag at around $150. The material is call bi-tech material. This material is very different. In comparison, it has the thickness of a normal gym duffle which is about 1/3 the thickness of the nylon on suitcases. Besides the standard duffle thickness, it is coated with some sort of latex/rubber like layer. It makes the outside of the bag grippy. This I am sure will make it very waterproof. But it will not make the fabric any tougher. The construction is fantastic. The wheels are solid and is protected with a solid casing surround the wheels which protects it. The wheels spin well and rolls with ease. The seams and the straps are top notch. I say its worth the money. But is it more durable? Other than that, this bag is very similar to the "High Sierra Wheel N Go Duffel - 30". Its soft, easily packed away (can roll in to a small pouch). To roll the wheels nicely, you have to hold the bag more upright since this is a soft duffle with no hard backing or plastic/aluminum handles. The middle will droop, so if you at a slant, parts of the bag can touch the ground. "Geoffrey Beene 30 Inch Drop Bottom Duffel Wheeler" I purchased this bag because its suppose to be made of 600D Nylon. It is sure thicker than the "Eagle Creek Travel Gear No Matter What Flashpoint Rolling Duffel L". I would say its about 3/5 the thickness of a suitcase. About double the thickness of a standard gym duffle. There is an additional ultra thin layer of nylon making this bag double layer. It should be durable in terms of the fabric. But the feel and the quality is not that nice. The wheel housing is not strongly bind to the bag. The seams seem to be not as strong. The hand carry handles are stitched to the corners of the bag, it is double stitched, but not like some other bags where you see a square stitch on the strap for extra confirmation of durability. It is around $70, so I guess it cheap out on the construction. The handle seems to be fine and should hold up. The drop bottom is totally dependent on the sipper as there aren't extra straps to secure the top to the bottom. "Samsonite Luggage 30 Inch Ripstop Wheeled Duffel" This bag is around $110. The material is by far the best! 840D nylon almost as thick as a suitcase, about 3 times the thickness of a gym duffel. This is as ballistic nylon as it comes.. when you put your hand through the fabric, it just feels like it will hold up forever. The over all construction is fantastic. Similar the eagle creek, the seams are nicely done, the feel is very good. I love the extra straps to secure the drop bottom. The handle slides out nicely and feels strong too. Now the bad, the wheels are not fully housed, its partially expose. The wheels are thick and you can easily wiggle it with you hands with out much strength. I feel that the wheels are the weakest link of this bag. The other thing that I didn't like is the hand held handle on top of the bag. Instead of the standard one handle, it has 2 handles one on each side of the bag. So to carry it up through stairs or high traffic/tight spaces, you will have to use 2 hands which is just awkward. "High Sierra Wheel N Go Duffel - 30" This is about $50 and you can tell the fabric is the thinnest out of the bunch. It is made with the 600D Duralite fabraic that is about the thickness of a normal gym bag. But the material does feel strong but thin and the weaving seems to be good (not coarse like the other bags). It is a smooth fabric so I hope that things slide off it easily and not causing any damange. Its also single layer, so waterproofing is a concern. The good is that the seams are done well, its feels like a quality bag. The wheels are encased in a good housing and its attached very nicely to bag. The straps, stitching and zippers seems to be good and strong. This is also the lightest bag of the bunch. The strap handles are extra long allow it to be worn as a backpack, each side of the handle goes around a shoulder. There is also a shoulder strap like the eagle creek. "Timbuk2 Commute 2.0 Messenger Bag" This is not a duffle, but I wanted to add it here to compare the fabric. It's a ballistic nylon, which is the same thickness as the Eagle Creek, but the fabric is on par with the Samsonite. Hope this helps some of the potential buyers; I will report back after some test on the trip. - see the image I have added