Is an 80L bag too big for a plane?

Soldato
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I am off to Vietnam in May and need a new bag.

I need something to fit everything in and was looking at 80L bags.

This should be OK to check in as baggage at an air port right?

Something like or this or this.

Any recommendations?

The last bag I bought I bought cheap. And yes it made it through my trip to Thailand but when I came back I noticed it had a hole in the bottom.
 
It'll be fine as checked in luggage, although you'll normally have to take it to a separate desk for "oversize" bags after checking in due to all the loose straps on the bag "potentially" getting snagged in the conveyor system the check-in desks use.

I use to travel with a 100L ex-military Bergen when I went off hiking places and never had an issue despite the size, the weight was always more important.
 
Yes but duct tape all of the loose straps tightly against the bag. Don't leave anything at all that could snag in a conveyor belt.
 
Get an osprey farpoint

A) it opens like a suitcase
B) it comes with a zip-off 'daypack' that is handy for taking on the plane and day trips
C) You can completely zip away all the straps so nothing can catch on the conveyor belts

Me and my missus took them to Thailand.
 
I'd personally pack light and buy as you need over there, you'll be wearing singlet / vests all the time anyway and they are literlally pennies to buy over there! Travel light is what i'd say
 
How long are you going for? I've just done 2 weeks with my 22l rucksack as hand luggage which had my 9l daysack folded up inside. Can't see why you would need more than 40-50l even for long term travelling.
 
Got a 45l that I plan on using as carry on. It's just over the maximum measurements (by about 3cm each way) but won't be near full so hoping that as it will squash means there won't be an issue.

I really don't want to be taking a check in as we're off to New York and if it's gonna get lost, it'll be there.
 
What do yoy mean by checking in as baggage? Do you mean into the hold? If so then that size shluld be fine if you tape everything up as mentioned above.

Or do you mean to take onto the plane as cabin luggage? For this you would need so ething around 40L such as the Farpoint 40.

Personally I've decided I will always try to travel with only carry on now.
 
Not as hand luggage. You check it in when you arrive and it goes off on the conveyor belt.

I obviously don't want to get a massive bag if I don't need it. But I am unsure what size is big enough.

I'm off for two weeks.
 
What do yoy mean by checking in as baggage? Do you mean into the hold? If so then that size shluld be fine if you tape everything up as mentioned above.

Or do you mean to take onto the plane as cabin luggage? For this you would need so ething around 40L such as the Farpoint 40.

Personally I've decided I will always try to travel with only carry on now.

I take an 80L Osprey on as hand luggage regularly. I've taken the metal bars out, but never had any issues. They squish down a fair bit! It'll be absolutely fine in the hold.

For OP, buy an Osprey. I've had mine all over Europe, six months in S.E Asia. Multiple trips to Thailand, all over Eastern Europe, the USA. It's fantastic.
 
I'm a wary that 80L might be too big and over kill. I should be fine with a 65L bag right?

It's big enough for the usual holiday clothing? Only going for two weeks.

This video kinda makes it sound like 40L is big enough.


What size do people recommend?

This article reckons 60L is sufficient.
 
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Nobody has mentioned that hand luggage is typically 7kg however checked baggage is around 25-30kg in terms of allowance.

Plus all the security rules surrounding what you can take in the cabin.
 
I take a small on board suticase to visit the gf in London, on every trip. Even if its for a week, without doing washing.

40L is MORE than enough. I took a big bag around Vietnam and regret it. Doing it again, I'd go 40L and pack better.
 
There are loads of vlogs about how to pack for a trip to Asia with just a 40L or 50L bag. For example:

https://youtu.be/6i3fUMm0dfM

https://youtu.be/8Qf7ppBKA5w

I've not travelled for a long period with my Farpoint 40 yet. But I'm very happy with it for shorter trips. I won't be using anything bigger anymore for longer trips. It has carrying handles, a detachable shoulder strap and also hidden backpack straps so can be carried or worn. The 7kg allowance mentioned above is important though. So whenever buying things I may take in future I always look to get the smallest, lightest one possible.

In the past I've taken so many things I never wear. So now I plan to take hardly anything but wash it there (laundry should be cheap or you can wash things in a dry bag and hang them out). I now also make sure that all electrical items can be charged by USB to reduce the number of chargers I take. My next laptop will have USB charging. But I recently replaced my hair clippers with really small lightweight USB charging ones (Philips 1000 trimmer). If going somewhere colder then a lightweight down jacket will scrunch up really small and weighs nothing. But to your destination you probably won't see much cold.

I guess it's harder to reduce stuff if you plan to go to nice places while out there and need to dress up. But if not then I think it can easily be done with a small bag nowadays.
 
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