The best thing about this bag is its weight: it is really, really light for the size. There aren't too many back around that are this big and this light. They've saved a huge amount of weight by not having a telescoping handle and frame. I've not found this to be a problem at all, since the bag is long enough that the (soft, comfortable) handle ends up at the right height anyway. Over the course of a year's frequent travelling the bag has held up well. So far there's no visible wear at all. Construction quality is excellent, and it is nice to know that bag has lifetime warranty. The main handles can be extended so they can be used as shoulder straps to carry the bag like a backpack. This is very handy, but the straps aren't padded, so you won't want to carry a fully-loaded bag very far, particularly if you're only wearing a t-shirt! But that seems like a reasonable compromise between weight, cost, and comfort. The size is great. You can cram *a lot* of gear in there. The downside is that if you're not careful, it is really easy to overshoot the weight limit for US airlines. I guess about my only criticism is that the back won't stand up on its end: it would be nice to to be able to do this when waiting in line, at ticket counters etc. I would definitely buy again.

Having previously had a piece of Eagle Creek Luggage, I expected this bag to be pretty much bomb proof as advertised. Unfortunately, after 2 airline flights, the fabric had ripped in two places. I know that the airlines don't exactly baby the luggage. But I didn't expect a $150 duffel to fall apart so easily. I intend to return it to Eagle Creek. In terms of functionality, it works great. Its big enough to fit everything you would need for a ski trip (or to bring xmas presents out to the east coast) and its easy to get around the airport.

this bag opens wide down the belly which made it easy to load my whole expedition into one bag. and the rollers have kept it simple for me allowing me to avoid the dreaded porter scam. No I just roll out to the curb and grab a cab no matter what city I am in.
This is the big rig, built tough. Mine has been all around North and South AMerica with me for almost 5 years now. totally tough!!!

I ordered a Big Rig 30 and 36 because a friend used them to carry his personal stuff during Navy deployments and recommended them for my trip to Antarctica. They survived my trip on commercial airlines (including whatever adventures they had while lost and delayed), military aircraft, and being dragged through ice and gravel on the continent with grace and good looks. Minus telescoping handles and any internal dividers, they were light enough to allow me to make weight requirements, but they were still easy to deal with as rolling luggage. There is a nice pocket to stow your ID tag and I found the handles convert well into straps so that the duffel can be carried like a backpack over ground that isn't suitable for rolling - this turned out to be very useful for me. My main complaint is that there was no handle on the wheels-side of the bag. At times I needed to lift the duffel up and put in the back of a truck or some other raised platform. It would have been easier to hoist it up by both ends, except for the missing handle on one side. I will probably sew one on for this purpose. Overall, both Big Rigs worked well for me.