Briggs & Riley
21" Expandable Upright Carry-On

Luggage Review

ABOVE: By pressing two buttons and lifting up on the rim, you'll gain an extra 2½ inches or 6.35 cm of depth inside the protective frame.

by Durant Imboden

In an era when you can buy cheap wheeled luggage at any discount store, why pay more for a quality suitcase? That's easy: Because when your cheap bag pops open or gets flattened on its way from London, Ontario to London, England, you don't just lose your bag--you also risk losing what's packed inside. Even if you carry your bag onto the plane, the security of having a suitcase that won't burst open from being overpacked can justify the expense of a bag like the Briggs & Riley 21" Expandable Upright Carry-On--especially when it's backed by a lifetime warranty that states:

"If your Briggs & Riley bag is ever broken or damaged, even if it was caused by an airline, we will repair it free of charge. Simple as that!"

In late 2005, I field-tested the Briggs & Riley model U-21NX carry-on with the "One-Touch" expansion system to see how it compared with the TravelPro Crew5, which I'd been using on transatlantic trips for just over a year. After nearly five years, I'm still favorably impressed by the Briggs & Riley approach to suitcase design, and in the next several pages I'll tell you why.

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In this article:

Briggs & Riley Luggage Review: 21" Upright

Construction and packing features

Field tests, Web link, related articles

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