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Briggs
& Riley Luggage Reviews
High quality luggage and the industry's best guarantee
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Briggs & Riley,
established in 1993, now make a broad line of luggage items.
Their most distinctive
feature is their 'simple as that' warranty that covers all
damage to their bags. This broad warranty obviously
encourages them to make their bags as robustly as possible.
This makes purchasers
doubly winners - they get high quality bags to start with,
and the comfort of knowing that any damage or defects will
be repaired with no hassle at any time in the future.
Briggs & Riley say they
like to get luggage returned for repair because this gives
them real-world feedback about how their bags are lasting
and which items are wearing first.
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Scroll down or click these links to
jump to the review you wish to read
U-22S
Superlight Upright Carry-On
U-21NX
Expandable Upright Carry-On
TD-UR522 Transcend Transformable
Superlight Upright
Carry-On
U-22S
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This is Briggs &
Riley's lead full size wheeled carry-on bag.
It is well made, but
strangely lacking in the clever extra features that
distinguish the Travelpro bag from most others.
Although described as
superlight, with an empty weight of at least 10.5 lbs it is
hard to use the word light as an accurate descriptor.
|
Price and
availability |
$269
With a 110% low price matching guarantee, comprehensive
product range, and excellent service, we recommend
eBags.com
for purchasing this suitcase.
Special Note : eBags are now giving Travel Insider
readers 10% discounts off many products and free
shipping too. |
Warranty |
Lifetime, no
questions asked, repair/replacement for any reason at
any time, including airline damage. |
Official size |
22 x 14 x 8 (44"
total) |
Measured maximum
external size |
24.5" x 14.5" x 9"
(48" total) The bag
significantly exceeds the common 22" maximum length
dimension, slightly exceeds the 14" maximum, and meets
the 9" maximum. |
Measured internal
size |
21.75" x 14" x
7.25". The bag has tightly radiused corners making
best use of space.
Note that with the externally mounted handle, all the
internal space is available for packing. |
Expandability |
No |
Weight |
10.5 lbs claimed.
Tests to about that weight or maybe very slightly more. |
Construction |
The exterior of the
bag is covered in 2520 denier ballistic water repellent
nylon. Inside there is a foam material with
plastic honeycomb reinforcing and extra reinforcing on
the corners. Most
components are screwed, but the handles are riveted.
It has a fairly rigid top and bottom, semi-rigid narrow
sides, and soft from and back. Corners have good
extra protection on them.
The main pair of zips to open up the bag have locking
eyelets on them through which you can pass a padlock
hasp if you wish. The front compartment zips can
not be locked. All
compartments are lined. |
Color choices |
Black Burgundy
Olive |
Handles |
Three handles.
There are no feet opposite the long side carry handle,
meaning the bag should rest on the ground only with the
narrow base down. |
Towing Handle
|
Extends to 36½" and
42" from floor to bottom of handle.
Telescoping design with three sections. Appears
very strong and doesn't wiggle.
Mounted externally. |
Wheels |
Two wheels, freely
spinning, about one quarter recessed into the body of
the bag. They measure about 3.5" in diameter and
1" wide, with a flat cross-section on the tire.
Wheels are easily user-replaceable due to a spring
loaded unlocking axle assembly. I always travel
with a spare wheel for my wheeled luggage, and with a
Briggs & Riley bag, it is practical to do emergency
repairs anywhere if needed. |
Stair skids |
Can use the frame of
the external handle as skids. |
Outside
compartments |
None on the back.
On the front, a double zip running across the width of
the bag's lid, about four fifth's of the way up, reveals
a compartment spanning the entire interior of the lid,
both above and below the zip line.
Inside this compartment is a second zipped mesh
compartment, about 12.5" wide and 6" deep.
Neither compartment has any gusseting so can't store
much. |
Inside compartments
in base |
There are no
compartments built in to the base of the bag.
There is however a removable waterproof pouch, measuring
10.75" x 6.25", with a zip running along its long side. |
Inside compartments
in lid |
The lid is very slim
- only about 1" in thickness, although it can swell a
bit when overpacking.
There is an open unzipped mesh sleeve in the lid, inside
of which is held the suit carrier. A short tab
loops over the middle of the sleeve and snaps shut to
hold everything in place.
When you place a single suit in the holder, and the
holder in the lid, it is a tight fit.
There are no other compartments in the lid. |
Suit carrier
included |
Yes. A
tri-fold carrier has a hanger to allow it to be stored
in a wardrobe, and a loop inside for hangers to be held
internally. There is
an external pouch 18" x 5" with a single zip running
along its long edge built in to the holder.
A wire rectangle in one of the thirds of the carrier
gives some rigidity and form to the carrier. |
Other Removable
holders inside |
Just the waterproof
pouch mentioned above. |
Waterproof
compartment |
One in the
waterproof pouch. |
Packing Straps |
Yes - a wide mesh
two piece unit acts as a divider/packing strap in the
base of the unit. It runs from the top to the
bottom of the unit with elastic and two clips to connect
the two halves together. |
External carry
hook/strap |
Yes - An adjustable
webbing loop clips onto the top of the bag and then
clips onto itself. |
ID holder |
Yes - a traditional
type holder with buckle and belt are attached to the top
carry handle. |
Other features |
The bag comes with a
small combination lock, but this is not TSA approved and
so should not be used. |
Expandable
Upright Carry-On
U-21NX
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A clever internal
expansion system is the main distinguishing feature of this
bag.
It also has slightly
more in the way of compartments than the U-22S above, but
the bag suffers from a measurable weight penalty in return
for its extra features.
|
Since getting one of
these bags for myself, I've been torture testing one
of these bags.
Rather than just carefully carry it on planes, I've
checked it and entrusted it to baggage handlers and machines, and in
total this bag has been on 31 flights, 46 car rides of more than 100
miles, 5 coach journeys, in and out of 33
hotels, 3 trains and 2 ships in the course of 89,000 miles of travel. Plus it was lost once (by Alitalia) so who knows what else happened to
it.
I've overloaded it with as much as 60lbs of packing, I've hung
a 20+lb bag off the top of it, I've bumped it up and down hundreds of
steps and curbs, rolled it over all sorts of uneven surfaces and
generally done all I can to destroy it.
The net result?
Apart from some scratches on the skid pads from dragging
it up rough concrete steps, the bag still looks like new.
There is no sign of wear, and everything works
perfectly. I'm astonished.
To make a positive
story even better, even if I had destroyed the bag, it
wouldn't matter, because Briggs & Riley's lifetime
no-questions asked warranty would repair/replace it for
free. These truly are bags you can buy with confidence. |
Price and availability |
$345
With a 110% low price matching guarantee, comprehensive
product range, and excellent service, we recommend
eBags.com
for purchasing this suitcase.
Special Note : eBags are now giving Travel Insider
readers 10% discounts off many products and free
shipping too. |
Warranty |
Lifetime, no
questions asked, repair/replacement for any reason at
any time, including airline damage. |
Official size |
21" x 14" x 8" (43"
total) |
Measured maximum
external size |
23.75" x 14.5" x 9"
(47.25" total)
Slightly larger than commonly accepted airline maximums |
Measured internal
size |
20.75" x 13.75" x
7". The bag has tightly radiused corners making
best use of space.
Note that with the externally mounted handle, all the
internal space is available for packing. |
Expandability |
Yes. Unlike
other bags with an expansion gusset that you unzip to
open, this has two sliders inside the bag that lock in
either a fully open or a fully closed position.
The bag, when fully open, adds a massive 3" of extra
space. Having these
structural sliders rather than just a gusset means that
the bag can have one set of supports on the expanded
side of the slider, making it more stable. Other
bags have to have both parts of legs on the fixed part
of the bag, making them more prone to falling over and
typically causing the expanding gusset to be slightly
smaller that the main box body of the bag.
The slider system allows for a 'hidden' expansion -
there isn't another zip run on the outside of the bag,
and when unexpanded, the bag looks like a normal bag.
However, this design adds to the weight of the bag, and
two sliders are a more complicated system than one zip
in terms of maintenance in the future. Of course,
with Briggs & Riley's no questions asked guarantee,
maintenance is merely an inconvenience, rather than also
a costly experience. |
Weight |
12.2 lbs claimed.
Tests to about that weight |
Construction |
The exterior of the
bag is covered in 2520 denier ballistic water repellent
nylon. Inside there is a foam material with
plastic honeycomb reinforcing and extra reinforcing on
the corners. Most
components are screwed, but the handles are riveted.
It has a fairly rigid top and bottom, semi-rigid narrow
sides, and soft from and back. Corners have good
extra protection on them.
The 3" expansion is made from strong exterior fabric.
The main pair of zips to open up the bag have locking
eyelets on them through which you can pass a padlock
hasp if you wish. The front compartment zips can
not be locked. All
compartments are lined. |
Color choices |
Black Burgundy
Olive |
Handles |
Three handles.
There are no feet opposite the long side carry handle,
meaning the bag should rest on the ground only with the
narrow base down. |
Towing Handle |
Extends to 34½" and
39.5" from floor to bottom of handle.
Telescoping design with three sections. Appears
very strong and doesn't wiggle.
Mounted externally. |
Wheels |
Two wheels, freely
spinning, about one quarter recessed into the body of
the bag. They measure about 3.5" in diameter and
1" wide, with a flat cross-section on the tire.
Wheels are easily user-replaceable due to a spring
loaded unlocking axle assembly. I always travel
with a spare wheel for my wheeled luggage, and with a
Briggs & Riley bag, it is practical to do emergency
repairs anywhere if needed. |
Stair skids |
Can use the frame of
the external handle as skids. |
Outside
compartments |
One pouch on the
back, between the two rods of the extending handle.
Measures 10.5" x 4.5", and is gusseted so it can handle
reasonably thick things. Two zips open around the
top and half of the sides. Has flaps to stop items
inside from falling out when opened.
On the front, a double zip running across the width of
the bag's lid, about four fifth's of the way up, reveals
a compartment spanning the entire interior of the lid,
both above and below the zip line.
Inside this compartment is a second zipped mesh
compartment, about 12.5" wide and 6" deep.
Neither compartment has any gusseting so can't store
much. |
Inside compartments
in base |
There are no
compartments built in to the base of the bag.
There is however a removable waterproof pouch, measuring
10.75" x 6.25", with a zip running along its long side. |
Inside compartments
in lid |
The lid is very slim
- only about 1" in thickness, although it can swell a
bit when overpacking.
There is an open unzipped sleeve in the lid, inside of
which is held the suit carrier. A short tab loops
over the middle of the sleeve and snaps shut to hold
everything in place.
When you place a single suit in the holder, and the
holder in the lid, it is a tight fit.
On the outside of the sleeve there are two open pouches,
with elastic around the open tops. These look like
they might be used for putting shoes in. |
Suit carrier
included |
Yes. A
tri-fold carrier has a hanger to allow it to be stored
in a wardrobe, and a loop inside for hangers to be held
internally. There is
an external pouch 18" x 5" with a single zip running
along its long edge built in to the holder.
A wire rectangle in one of the thirds of the carrier
gives some rigidity and form to the carrier. |
Other Removable
holders inside |
Just the waterproof
pouch mentioned above. |
Waterproof
compartment |
One in the
waterproof pouch. |
Packing Straps |
Yes - a wide mesh
two piece unit acts as a divider/packing strap in the
base of the unit. It runs from the top to the
bottom of the unit with elastic and two clips to connect
the two halves together. |
External carry
hook/strap |
Yes - An adjustable
webbing loop clips onto the top of the bag and then
clips onto itself. |
ID holder |
Yes - a traditional
type holder with buckle and belt are attached to the top
carry handle. |
Other features |
The bag comes with a
small combination lock, but this is not TSA approved and
so should not be used. |
Transcend
Transformable
TD-UR522
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The Briggs & Riley
Transcend Transportable represents a good idea in theory,
but in practice, does not seem quite as practical as hoped
for.
This is a dual purpose
bag which can unzip into two separate bags - a regular
wheeled carry-on plus a duffle/pack you can either
carry by hand, shoulder strap, or as a backpack with two
backpack straps.
Altogether, the bag is oversized, and at slightly over 11lbs is heavy (but not the
heaviest by any means).
The removable duffle
bag has a regular carry handle, a detachable shoulder strap,
two backpack straps and also a mysterious double handle that
goes over the front of the bag as well. I don't know
when or why you'd ever carry the bag by this double handle,
and unfortunately the presence of this double carry handle
blocks easy access to the main storage compartments of the
bag.
It seems that when the
two pieces are zipped together, their carrying capacity is
less than a regular full size wheel aboard bag, and with awkward
access to the storage compartments. Separated into two
bags, carrying capacity probably grows to something greater
than that offered by their impressive 21" U-21NX expandable
unit, but you then have two bags, one of which will almost
certainly need to be checked (that is not to suggest that
you'll manage to wheel a fully expanded U-21NX onto the
plane without problems either!).
Briggs & Riley are to
be commended for thinking outside the box and trying to come
up with an innovative solution to how best to have
expandable and multi-purpose luggage. But I'm not sure this represents
as the best approach in its present form.
|
Price
and availability |
$319
With a 110% low price matching guarantee, comprehensive
product range, and excellent service, we recommend
eBags.com
for purchasing this suitcase.
Special Note : eBags are now giving Travel Insider
readers 10% discounts off many products and free
shipping too. |
Warranty |
Lifetime, no
questions asked, repair/replacement for any reason at
any time |
Official size |
22" x 14" x 9" (45"
total) |
Measured maximum
external size |
24" x 15" x 9" (48"
total) This is larger
than the allowable maximum dimensions for many airlines. |
Measured internal
size |
This was hard to
measure due to the soft sided duffle part of the bag.
The wheeled part is about 22" x 14" x 6". The
duffle is about 22" x 14" x 6" at the edges, and more in
the middle, where it can squish out.
But when zipped together, most of the depth of the
wheeled part is displaced by the depth of the duffle
part, with total effective thickness growing only by an
inch or so, perhaps to 7" - 8".
It is estimated to be, when joined together, less
capacity than full sized single piece bags.
Note that with the externally mounted handle, all the
internal space is available for packing. |
Expandability |
Yes - unzips to
become two separate bags - a carry bag that does double
duty as a backpack, and a smaller wheelable carry-on.
It is estimated to have greater capacity, as two
separate pieces, than an expanded U-21NX above. |
Weight |
10.5lbs claimed;
just over 11lbs on my not very accurate scales (~8lbs for main unit and
~3.5lbs for
convertible backpack/bag) |
Construction |
Dupont Cordura Tuff-lite
ballistic nylon exterior.
The inside frame is made from plastic honeycomb
material, with a metal rod frame for strengthening.
Additional strong foam material provides cushioning and
strength. Almost
everything appears to be screwed rather than riveted,
making for easy repair. The one exception to this,
strangely enough, is the top carry handle.
The duffle is entirely made from ballistic nylon on the
outside.
The zips could be locked by placing a padlock through
their handle loops.
All compartments are lined. |
Color choices |
Yes - Dark Blue,
Olive, Dark Red (no black). The bag is in two-tone
colors and would be distinctive and easy to spot on a
luggage carousel if checked. |
Handles |
Everywhere!
The duffle has handles on the logical carrying top, on
its front, a padded shoulder strap and two backpack
straps. The backpack
straps can be cleverly folded inside a flap if you're
not wanting to use them, keeping them out of the way and
safe from getting caught in baggage handling machinery.
The wheel-aboard has the extendable handle on the top
plus carry handles on the top, side, and bottom.
The wheelaboard does not have extra feet opposite the
long side carry handle. |
Towing Handle |
Extends to 36½" and
42" from floor to bottom of handle.
Telescoping design with three sections. Appears
sturdy and doesn't wiggle.
Mounted externally. |
Wheels |
Two solid low
friction wheels, mounted one quarter inside the body of
the bag. About 3.25"
diameter, 1" thick, with flat profile tire part so
entire wheel is on the ground.
Wheels are easily user-replaceable due to a spring
loaded unlocking axle assembly. I always travel
with a spare wheel for my wheeled luggage, and with a
Briggs & Riley bag, it is practical to do emergency
repairs anywhere if needed. |
Stair skids |
Yes, assisted by the
semi-recessed wheels. |
Outside
compartments |
There is one outside
compartment on the back of the wheeled piece, between
the two parts of the telescoping extendable handle.
This is wide enough to hold a ticket and boarding pass
plus passport and other such items, and when you unzip
it, there are 'hinges' of material on both sides
preventing small items from falling out (a nice touch).
It would have been nice for this to have two zips rather
than one (like on the U-21NX), making it easier to
partially open. On
the front of the wheeled piece (when the duffle is
removed) there is one compartment that covers almost the
entire front. The
front of the duffle piece, when zipped onto the wheeled
bag also has one compartment. |
Inside compartments
in base (ie wheeled piece) |
The base is fully
lined. It has no
additional pockets or compartments, but does have a
broad elastic/mesh load restraint that you can snap over
your packed items to hold them more or less in place. |
Inside compartments
in lid (ie duffle) |
The duffle has
two main compartments. A smaller one is in the top
or front of the duffle, and this has a gusseted lining
enabling you to vary its capacity.
The larger compartment has the smaller compartment
within its 'lid' or opening part.
There is also a small compartment by the top carry
handle - enough space to put the shoulder strap and not
much else.
A nice extra feature is the main compartment zips on the
duffle are with the easily replaceable zip pulls, same
as on the Costco bag, although in this case, no spare
zip pulls are included. |
Suit carrier
included |
No |
Other Removable
holders inside |
No |
Waterproof
compartment |
No |
Packing Straps |
Yes - wide mesh band
in the wheel-aboard, nothing in the duffle. |
External carry
hook/strap |
Yes, adjustable
length webbing loop that can be snapped onto the top of the
wheel aboard. |
ID holder |
Yes - on wheel
aboard but not on duffle. |
Other features |
The main special
feature of this bag is its ability to convert into two
pieces - a regular wheel-aboard bag and a second piece
that can be carried as a duffle or as a backpack. |
Review methodology
Please note that weights and
measurements are approximate. Measurements in particular
are surprisingly subjective, and almost no bag/case has even
measurements across every part of the bag.
External measurements are
usually taken at the largest possible part - like an airline
would do if trying to negatively prove your bag was illegally
oversized.
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Originally published
17 Sep 2004, last update
30 May 2021
You may freely reproduce or distribute this article for noncommercial purposes as long as you give credit to me as original writer.
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