Here's a good roll-aboard bag that can double either as a seat
or a work table for your laptop. |
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Solidly constructed, with this
clever extra concept, this is an appealing bag at a good price. |
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SeatKase Carry-On Luggage
A good bag, a great price, and a clever
extra feature
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On the top of the
SeatKase bag is a flap. Open it up and you have either
a seat you can sit on, or a work table you might place your
laptop on.
The wheels lock up when
you sit down on the bag, giving it a stable base.
This clever extra
feature in no way detracts from the bag's main mission, and
so provides a positive reason to consider SeatKase next time
you need a new roll-aboard luggage piece.
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This bag is especially
designed to support the weight of an up to 250lb person.
Sure, we've all maybe sat on our bags occasionally in the past,
but have probably felt a bit guilty doing so. This bag allows you to sit down in
relative comfort and without needing to worry about destroying
your bag in the process.
A clever idea that has been
well thought through and implemented.
Price
and availability |
$99 list price on
the
manufacturer's website.
At present the bag seems only to be sold on the SeatKase
website. |
Warranty |
SeatKase offer a
very generous return policy with no stated time expiry,
but are a bit vague about warranty. They said it
is a typical warranty with typical exclusions (ie
airline damage). |
Official size |
22" x 14" x
9" (45"
total) |
Measured maximum
external size |
21.75" x 14" x 9"
The 9" could be squished down a bit if needed, making it
easier to fit the bag (if not over-full) into small
areas. It is nice to
see a bag which truly is the size it is claimed - this
will fit all templates sized for 22x14x9 with no
problems. |
Measured internal
size |
19" x 13" x 6.75"
The bag has an external pouch that can add another inch
or two to the 6.75" dimension in total, but an object
measuring much larger than 7" in that dimension would
have difficulty fitting into the main compartment.
There is very little space lost by adding a seat flap to
the top of the bag - the flap represents about 1" or so
of the total 21.75" size. |
Expandability |
No. |
Weight |
10.8 lbs claimed.
Tests to about that weight. |
Construction |
The bag is made from
ballistic nylon. There is no extra ribbing around
the edges to protect against wear.
A solid internal framework gives it the strength to
support people sitting on it weighing up to 250lbs.
Much of the construction is by rivet rather than screw,
and it doesn't seem easily feasible to repair/replace a
wheel if one breaks on a journey. Fortunately, the
solid construction of the wheel assemblies should make
this a rare situation.
All compartments are lined.
Overall, this presents as a moderately well constructed bag, as it
would need to be to withstand the extra
stresses it will face with people sitting on it. |
Color choices |
Black Blue
Red |
Handles |
The bag has one main
carry handle on the long side. It is padded and
sprung, so it is held close against the side of the bag
when not being used - this is a good thing because it is
less likely to be snagged on things.
There are no support legs on the side opposite the side
with the handle, and - be careful - there are a couple
of tempting pockets to put things like tickets or other
things in on this side.
Be sure, if carrying the bag by this handle, not to put
it down with the handle upright if you have fragile
things in the pockets on what has become its underside,
and not to put it anywhere damp or dirty.
There's a rudimentary 'pull' type handle as part of the
wheel assembly to help you when loading the bag into an
overhead. Instead of
a commonly found third handle on the short side opposite
the wheels, the space that would normally be used by a
handle is instead taken up by the seat cushion and flap.
So SeatKase have slightly changed the design of the
telescoping handle, giving it some extra extension
stops, and suggest you use this as a third carry handle.
This is not always a good idea. I've several times
been doing this, only to have the catch slip open
(probably due to me inadvertently pushing the release on
the carry handle) and the
handle suddenly opens all the way out, causing the bag to
drop precipitously to the floor. |
Towing Handle
|
Extends 39.5". Easy to open and shut, and has
five different extension positions (in addition to
closed).
It can be difficult to get exactly the right extension
length you're seeking, and in reality, most people would
seek either the 'slightly open' position (about an inch
above the top of the bag) so as to be able to carry the
bag, or the 'open to my height' position which for most
of us would be either the 36" or the 39.5" maximum
length. The other two positions - 30" and 33" -
are unlikely to be used much, other than perhaps by
children.
Telescoping design with three sections. Doesn't
wiggle much.
Mounted internally and protected from external
forces. |
Wheels |
Two wheels that
roll with a little resistance, each measuring 2.75" by 0.85".
About one quarter of each wheel is protected inside the
bag structure.
The wheels have extra ribbing on them to make them less
likely to slip on smooth surfaces (ie when you sit on
the bag) and when pressure is applied on the wheels
(again, when you're sitting on the bag) the wheels move
up into their wells and lock in place, giving you as
stable a platform as can be hoped for. |
Stair skids |
Yes - plastic
moulding above the wheels. |
Outside
compartments |
Two front
compartments, one above the other. The lower one
measures 11.5" wide and 11" deep; the zip goes across
the full width and leaves an opening about 10.5" wide
through which to put things. There is not much
gusseting and depending on how full the inner side
compartment is will depend on how much stuff you can fit
in here. The upper
one measures 10" wide by 6" deep, and has a zip running
around three sides, creating a flap that opens out,
hinged on its bottom side. The flap has fabric
side pieces to limit how far it opens, so things don't
fall out. Inside was an included clear plastic zip
pouch, measuring 8" x 5.5".
This compartment might be useful for keeping tickets in
while traveling, or you could use the clear plastic
pouch to hold liquids in - it is easy to take out when
going through security. The pouch is slightly
smaller than the maximum 'quart size' allowable, so if
you had a lot of liquids, you'd need to store them
either in the lower (larger) compartment or inside the
bag. There are two
slots on one of the sides of the bag. These could
be used, presumably, for sticking a newspaper in, and
perhaps for having travel documents stowed there as
well. Lastly, there
is a compartment on the back of the bag. This
measures 13" wide by 8" deep, and has two zips that open
from the center of the wide side. There is a
gusset in the middle of the compartment which allows it
to expand somewhat in the middle of the compartment, but
not so much at the edges. |
Inside compartments
in base |
There is a mesh
compartment on one of the sides, measuring 12" x 7",
with a zip running along its long dimension. |
Inside compartments
in lid |
The lid has a mesh
compartment measuring 12.5" wide x 15" deep, with a zip
running along the 12.5" side. |
Suit carrier
included |
No |
Other Removable
holders inside |
Yes - in addition
the loose clear plastic pouch in the outer compartment,
there is a second clear plastic pouch inside the base of
the unit, attached to the unit by a couple of snaps.
This pouch measures about 10.5" x 7", with a zip running
along the 10.5" side.
Note that this bag is larger than regulation 'quart
size' for TSA purposes. |
Waterproof
compartment |
No, but you could
use one of the two supplied clear plastic pouches for
this purpose. |
Packing Straps |
Two sets of
non-elastic bands (but with adjustable length straps run
across the narrow dimension of the inner base
compartment, about one quarter and three quarters of the
way up. |
External carry
hook/strap |
No. |
ID holder |
No. |
Other features |
Yes - the seat/bench
flap on the top of the bag.
You can see
from the illustration on the top of this page the seat
cushion opened up - normally, to sit on or when
traveling, it is folded down (and is kept down by a
velcro strip). This makes for a comfortable spot
to sit on.
The other suggested use for this is as a computer desk -
you'd sit on a regular seat and put your laptop on the
SeatKase bag in front of you, rather than on your knees.
In that case, you'd fold up the seat cushion to provide
a more secure cradle for the laptop.
I didn't like this use - the laptop was too low for me.
Ergonomically speaking, your computer keyboard should be
slightly above the level of your lap anyway (ideal
height is about 26.5" from the ground), but depending on
the type of chair you are sitting in, the 21" height of
the suitcase up to where the laptop would be placed with
the flap open/up meant the laptop was slightly or
appreciably lower rather than higher than it would have
been simply on your knees.
The laptop felt precarious but actually was quite
stable. |

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
5 Oct 2007, 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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