I was absolutely stunned when one of the handles of my Victorinox Rolling Trevi came away when I lifted it down some stairs in San Francisco on Friday. This is not a cheap bag, and I expected a lot more from Victorinox, but there was a huge difference between how the handle was sewn on at the front of the bag (two lines of stitching) and on the back of the bag (4 cm x 2 cm rectangle of stitching, plus an X of stitching in the middle of the rectangle). It was just poles apart.

I have owned this bag for less than three months, haven’t used it all that much, and have not been rough with it. It’s gone back to the shop for repairs … but it has shaken my perception of Victorinox bags.

Have you experienced anything similar? Is there a more robust bag I should have purchased instead?

Martin says “Samsonite” (October 1)
Email from Martin earlier today:

“The thing about Victorinox is that they do not make their own bags – they make penknives and have jumped on the luggage bandwagon

My large Samsonite suit carrier lasted 18 years and some 30 countries, I have a carry-on which has lasted eight years and a shoulder bag that has been all over the place and lasted four years. The stuff never wears out and they make it all themselves so spares and repairs are easy. And it rhymes with Sampson! What more do you want?

Go buy!!

Regards

Martin“