SkyRoll Carry-On Luggage

Literally an 'outside the box' approach to garment storage

The SkyRoll carry-on roll aboard suitcase is notable for the wrap-around suit carrier that is wrapped around the outside of the inner suitcase.

With a capacity for three suits, it can carry a lot of clothing, and SkyRoll claims it reduces wrinkling and creasing.

The design changes needed to allow for a wrap-around suit carrier have, however, meant some compromises to the usability of the bag as a whole.

Price and availability

$199 list price on the manufacturer's website.

Some retailers carry the bag as well.

Warranty

Per their website, the bag comes with a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects.  In other words, airline damage and other issues are not covered.

Official size

22" x 14" x 9" (45" total) with loaded garment bag

Measured maximum external size

24.5" x 14.5" x 10" (49" total)
Appreciably larger than the claimed size, these dimensions are with the external garment bag empty.

The instructions with the bag claimed the garment bag could hold three suits (plus other small bits and pieces like ties and socks).  I put one suit, one jacket, and two shirts in the bag, rolled it around the case, and measured the dimensions again.

To my surprise they were only slightly larger - 24.5" x 15.5" x 10.25" (50.25" total).  Yes, you almost get 'something for nothing' with adding your outerwear clothing to the bag this way.  But, even with only this minimal growth in overall bag dimensions, it is starting to get noticeably oversized - good luck getting that through a luggage sizing template, and onto a plane.

Measured internal size

18" x 11.5" x 7"

The long dimension (18") can shrink or grow a bit depending on how large a supplementary storage area is - it shares a common internal wall with the main storage area, so as one grows, the other shrinks.

Expandability

No.

Weight

8 lbs claimed.

This appears to be for the case only, adding the wrap around bag increased the weight to 9.6lbs.

Construction

The bag is made from 1200 denier water resistant ballistic polyester.

When the bag is wrapped around the case, the edges of the bag are the exposed 'wear' parts on the upper part of the case/bag combo.  There is an extra piece of ribbon folded over the bag edges to increase its life and wear resistance, but that is all.

The lower part of the bag/case combo is well protected by protruding parts from the case itself.

If being used without the wrap-around bag, the bottom of the case remains well protected but the top gives the impression of being the most likely first wear/failure point on the case.  The zips are exposed and there's no extra strengthening of the corners.

The interior of the case and its frame seem particularly strongly constructed.  This is just as well, because everything is riveted, making 'field repairs' (eg replacing broken wheels or handles) close to impossible.

Both compartments are lined.

Overall, this presents as a well constructed bag internally, but it is disappointing that no 'field repairs' are possible and the top edges of the bag seem vulnerable to wear and damage.

Color choices

Black only.

Handles

The bag has a carry handle on the top of the bag.  There is also a 'pull' type handle on the bottom to help when stowing the unit with either end facing out in an airplane overhead bin.

It does not have a traditional handle on one of the long sides.  This would of course be difficult to arrange with the wrap around bag.

Towing Handle

The towing handle extends with a bit of a curve on it.  SkyRoll say this enables you to keep the bag itself more upright, and so have less perceived weight at the end of your handle.  This is probably correct, although not to a major extent.

The handle has two extension lengths, 36" and 39.5".

One design problem is that when the handle is shut, it is difficult to get at it to extend it.  It recesses snugly into a gap between the bag and the case, and it is difficult to get your fingers down and around the handle to then pull it out again.  SkyRoll advise that this has been corrected in more recent production models.

Telescoping design with three sections.  It is mounted outside of the case, and has a protective piece of fabric over it.  When the bag is wrapped around, it is of course then fully protected.

Wheels

Two wheels that roll with a little resistance, each measuring about 2.7" by 0.8".

Half of each wheel is protected inside the bag structure.  The wheel structures, while standing proud of the bag, seem strongly constructed.

Stair skids

No.

Outside compartments

There are outside compartments on the bag - see below.

The case itself has a distinctive design by having a 'top' compartment at the top of the case.  Two zips run around three sides of the top of the case, creating a hinge on the back long side.  You open the lid, and inside there is a somewhat adjustable depth compartment that can go down as far as about 6" (but each extra inch of top compartment space means an inch less of main compartment space).

Set into the inside of the lid are spaces to hold credit cards or business cards, cell phones, calculators, and other small items.  It is doubtful many of us will use these spaces for such things, but it is a nice extra touch to add them to the bag.

There is also a pouch compartment on the flap which opens to allow access to the main inside compartment.  This pouch measures about 13" x 9" and has a zipper running across the narrow dimension, about 10.5" from the bottom.  The pouch is nicely padded, but if you have the bag wrapped around the case, this pouch will of course be entirely blocked and inaccessible.

Inside compartments in base

None.

It is relevant to note that, unlike most other roll-aboard bags, this one does not have a full sized opening lid.  Typically, roll-aboard bags have zips on three sides and the fourth side is a hinge, giving you convenient open access to everything inside the bag.

With this bag, there is a three sided zip opening in the middle of the lid.  This opening measures about 14" x 10", making it a little awkward to get to things in the far corners if the bag is tightly packed.

Inside compartments in lid

No.

Suit carrier included

Yes - this is the external wrap around bag, discussed below.

Other Removable holders inside

No.

Waterproof compartment

No.

Packing Straps

No.

External carry hook/strap

No.

ID holder

No.

Other features

Yes - the wrap around garment bag.  SkyRoll say that this wrap around bag eliminates the need to fold your clothes in half or thirds as per a typical garment bag, but instead, your clothes are, at the most, subjected to some gentle wide radius 90 degree folds, thereby reducing the wrinkles and fold lines you might otherwise get in your clothes.

They also say that the combined case and suit carrier enable you to take two carry on items onto the plane instead of one.  This is true, but you do get a smaller case, and the combined size of both is over all airlines' official size limits (but these are rarely enforced).

This is a longer but also narrower than normal bag.  It measures 47.5" x 20.75" - a garment bag that goes inside a regular suitcase would typically measure about 44" x 23.5" and one that goes inside a roll-aboard would measure about 38.5" x 21.5".

It has two zips that run around three sides of the exterior, hinging on one of the long sides.  Opening up the bag shows a simple lie-flat space to place clothing on.  There is no hook for hangars (indeed they recommend against using hangars due to the bag being rolled around the outside of a suitcase rather than being folded flat inside a suitcase), and there are no other internal compartments or things on the inside.

On the exterior there is a pouch measuring about 19.25" x 14" on one side with a zip running along the long dimension; this is on the side that will become the 'outside' of the bag once it has been rolled around the suitcase.  On the other side - eventually to be the 'inside side' there are two mesh pockets, one measuring 18.75" x 8" and the other 18.75" x 11.5".  Both have zips along one long side.

A booklet that came with the suitcase suggests the bag can hold three suits, plus ties and other small items.  I tested a unit by placing only one lightweight suit, a jacket, and two long sleeve cotton shirts in it, and not adding anything extra in the way of ties, socks, underwear, etc.

The first impression was how narrow the bag was, requiring me to have to scrunch in the items to fit.  The second impression was the lack of structure for how to place the items (not on hangers) flat and loose into the bag.  It was not as easy as with a regular tri-folding suiter insert that comes with some carry-on and regular suitcases.

After placing the items as evenly as possible and zipping it up, I then rolled it around the carry-on as per the instructions.  It had two snap clips to attach one end to the carry-on, and then three more with adjustable straps to secure the outer end to the bag itself.  There was also a thick velcro strip running along one of the edges to secure the bag to the case, but no velcro on the other edge.

The bag rolled up fairly neatly and tightly against the case, with the outer large pouch ending up positioned on the front of the bag and spilling around to one side (be sure only to put soft things in this pouch).  After cinching the adjustable straps tight, there were 5" or slightly longer pieces of spare webbing hanging loose from each of these three straps, which looked to me like a problem waiting to happen (getting jammed inside an automatic luggage handling system).  It took a bit of thought the first few times to line up the bag around the right way and with the correct side up, to mate it properly with the main suitcase, but once you get the method mastered, it becomes relatively simple.

It seems fair to accept SkyRoll's claim that the bag is capable of holding three suits, based on my positive results with something equivalent to two suits.

Is the external (rather than internal) garment bag a good idea or a bad idea?  Skyroll claims their advantage is this garment bag eliminates the need to fold suits and dresses, reduced wrinkling and creasing, and a more compact piece of luggage.

Maybe it might do these things, but there are trade-offs that you must be willing to compromise on.  For example, with the bag wrapped around the case, there's no way you can convenient access the case.  There is a small 'top loading' compartment that you can access, but if you wanted to access the main compartment, you have to first take the bag off (and then put it back on again afterwards).  This takes a fair amount of space to do properly, and isn't something I'd enjoy doing at security when asked to open the bag up.

A regular carry-on gives you the option - do I use all the space for 'stuff' or do I use much of the space to put suits, etc, into the carry-on, and possibly in or not in the provided internal suit holder.  But the SkyRoll has no such duality.  The size of the carry-on is permanently reduced.

One omission with this bag was any way to hang it up inside a hotel room closet.  You have to take the clothes out of the carrier, put them on hangars and hang them up, then reverse the process when packing to leave again.  Particularly for a business traveler changing hotels every day or two, this adds to the hassle factor of packing and unpacking.

It is, however, an interesting concept and literally an 'outside the box' approach to luggage design.