Selecting Luggage

This year, we switched to suitcases with external wheels. I was skeptical about this switch, because I remember the old days — the ’70s and ’80s, when wheeled luggage first came out — the cases (and these were the days of hard cases) with external wheels were more likely to have wheel damage. Forty years on, however, I’m going to assume those problems have been ironed out. External wheels, just by their nature — they’re sticking out — are more likely to be damaged than internal wheels, but I am now assuming that the chances of such damage now are so minuscule that the advantages of external wheels outweighs their disadvantages.

And what are the advantages of external wheels?

A single person can more easily carry two suitcases on external wheels than internal wheels.

The reason for this is that internally wheeled suitcases, in order to be steerable, can have only 2 wheels, since the wheels themselves cannot swivel. In order to wheel a 2-wheeled case, a hard handle telescopes out the top (usually; I have also used suitcases where the handle folds out from the edge), which the owner grasps in order to tilt the case and carry behind him or her. When suitcases had the wheels along the narrow axis, they were unstable, so in the last quarter century, most internal wheels have been placed along the wide axis to provide a more stable base. This means to wheel 2 at a time, you have 2 wide cases in tow behind. Not impossible, but unwieldy.

External wheels can swivel, meaning the suitcase can have 4 wheels and balance on its wheels. Such a suitcase can be pushed or pulled even by your kids, so when flying with children, external wheels are preferred.

Will the external wheels hold up to international travel, or will they succumb to the fate of so many such suitcases 40 years ago? I’m assuming (hoping) that they will hold up, but if they don’t, you will read about it here, on Family Friendly Travel.