Monthly Archives: April 2023

Two grand for a new suitcase (laugh emoji)

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Readers of Tank’s Travels would have good reason to question my sanity (read: aspic photos). But, I’m likely not going to spend $2K on a suitcase.

Rimowa makes good suitcases. But, they come at a high price. The company has been around since 1898 (bought by Louis Vuitton in the last few years, which may be the kiss of death). They made the first ever polycarbonate (hardshell) suitcases. Their aluminum cases are legendary and OMG so pricey.

There isn’t a suitcase on the planet that can withstand baggage handlers. Hardshells, like my purple Salsa Air (a discontinued model now called the Essential Lite) crack. Aluminum cases get punctured or dented. Damage comes and goes with the territory.

Funny thing is Rimowa tries to spin the damage as a badge of worldliness and a good thing. As in, ‘the expensive and now dented aluminum suitcase for which you paid $2,500 now has character. Every bit of damage represents a special memory of your travels’.

LOL.

Rimowa is big on selling image. Insinuating discerning travellers will take notice of you and your expensive suitcase and won’t that make you feel special.

If the owners of Rimowa saw how I dress when I walk through an airport with their product, they’d be appalled. Picture the opposite of style and elegance.

I digress. I won’t be buying a $2,000 suitcase (well, probably not), and I’ll always love my Rimowa Salsa Air, which now lives under my bed as storage for diving gear.

https://tankstravels.com/2023/04/16/say-goodbye-to-a-trusted-friend-nope/

I’ve joined the Rimowa discussion page on Facebook for advice. Rimowa-ers love to connect I’ve discovered.

Advice so far: buy aluminum, only use aluminum on private jets, check polycarbonate and use aluminum as carry-on, buy a Tumi suitcase, buy an Away aluminum suitcase.

Also, buy a Pelican case. Interesting. This, I’m researching. More to come.

Next trip is end of June. Lots of time to decide.

Say goodbye to a trusted friend? Nope

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I refuse to bid farewell to a trusted partner. We’ve travelled the world together for 10 years.

Broken suitcase wheel attached to purple plastic

I’m talking about my purple Rimowa Salsa Air suitcase. Some Tank’s Travels readers might remember when I purchased the suitcase at Mego on Granville Street in Vancouver (now shuttered) in 2013 for a scuba diving trip to Thailand. It cost a lot of money at the time.

The Rimowa Suitcase Challenge 2013

A purple suitcase with a hole where a wheel should be.

I want to cry when I look at the state of my dear friend following my most recent trip in late March 2023. Cracked at the wheel.

See the purple duct tape? A suggestion from the Vancouver Rimowa-store guys after finding the crack during a lock fix last year. “You can buy it from Amazon,” they said. They told me the crack was severe and no fix was possible due to its location next to the wheel. Duct tape, they said, might lengthen the suitcase’s life. It lasted another two trips to Mexico – packed full of scuba gear (and flavoured tequila on the trips home!)

I live in a 510-square-foot Vancouver condo. No room to store a broken suitcase with sentimental value and its replacement. The building’s annual spring cleaning event happens in a few days and the thought of dumping my buddy in a pile of trash hurt my heart.

Then came the idea of the century. Why not store the dive gear I store under my bed in the suitcase? Genius move.

As for the replacement, $1,200 to $1,400 for the Rimowa Essential or Lite. Two grand and up for aluminum. OMG.

I’ll keep you posted on the hunt for the perfect, affordable-ish replacement. Folks on the Rimowa Facebook page are recommending Pelican!

Anyone need a roll of purple duct tape?