Vivek
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 p.1 #16 · PD Roller Pro - 300% too heavy and 300% too expensive | |
Exacty this! I am also fond of their products, but only certain products that work for me. I am looking for a sub- 5lb bag to carry my long lens gear when I go on photo safaris and I looked at their new roller, but as Dan says, it is way over designed for the needs (mine) and way more expensive than it needs to be.
The only reason I am even looking is that I have a Gura Gear Kiboko 30L that is reliably able to carry 2x A1, 600GM, 100-400 GM, teleconverters, flash, 10x42 bins and batteries. The bag is fine, but as I age more, my back is no longer fine. If I can get something in the same weight class but a roller, it would greatly alleviate my dilemma.
Dan, can you please tell me what exactly you found that was 1/3rd or less in cost? I am still checking out a bunch of bags on Amazon for this. Thanks a lot in advance.
gdanmitchell wrote:
To some extent I’ve been (and continue to be) a fan of some of Peak Design’s products. I have several of their smaller bags, one of which I use almost every day. I use several of their shoulder and wrist straps. I’ve been to their SF store and admire the quality of a lot of their products and their focus on innovation.
On the other hand…
Some of their products just seem a bit “over-designed” to me. We were recently in the market for airline carry-on size travel backpacks. We’ve been using Osprey packs for years, but wanted to get something newer. We heard about the PD 45L Travel Backpack and thought it looked interesting, if a bit pricey. So we went to SF and checked them out in person.
On one hand, the product is an impressive bit of engineering, with lots of bells and whistles (like an extra small size opening and a fascinating system for expanding the bag). But as travelers, we actually don’t want or need all that stuff — we wanted relatively simple, straightforward, light and durable bags. This bag, lovely as it is, weighed considerably more than the very functional Osprey bags we had been using, largely because it added features that we really would not use or need. All of those extra zippers and other features are also additional potential points of failure. Not only was it heavier, but it was also significantly more expensive.
Verdict: Impressive engineering, but heavier than necessary due to features we didn’t need, and significantly more expensive.
I just watched the PD video on this new roller. Again, there’s some quite impressive design and technology in the product. Their attention to high level design is really laudable — if you like well-designed products (and I do) you will likely be impressed by their attention to detail.
But…
I have a roller bag in this size from another company that I’ve carted all over the place for yeas and it has held up quite well. The PD extendable handle may be thinner and stiffer, but the handle on my other bag (which is not a cheapo model either) has held up really well. And it cost perhaps a bit less than 1/3 of the price of this new PD bag!
And luggage like this, as pretty as it looks on the showroom floor, is going to get banged around, scratched, tossed around by airline employees, and worse.
And over 8 pounds? Given the airline weight restrictions, that’s a lot of poundage to devote to the luggage itself…
Having said that, it is clear that a LOT of people are pretty enthusiastic about paying $600 (or the “kickstarter” discounted price) for this bag. They’ve had more than $6 million in pre-orders. :-)
Again, I like the company. Just not sure about this one…...Show more →
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