On the road with the eBags Mother Lode TLS Mini 21

When you read this, I’ll be on my way back from a quick trip to Vegas to attend a conference.  Although I’d usually use a bag like the Red Oxx PR4 or perhaps the Bihn Tri-Star for a trip like this (2½ days, 2 nights), I opted for the eBags TLS Mini 21 to put some real world miles on it.

For now, a few quick photos I took as I packed.  Below, socks and underwear placed into the voids caused by the trolley system:

A Pack-It 18 went in next; I’d wrapped a pair of khakis around the folder:

I loosely folded a black blazer and placed in on top; power warts and my dry toiletries were placed on the left (bottom) of the bag:

In the main compartment, a folder and an envelope with my badge for the conference:

On top of that, the Kiva keychain pack with my iPod Touch, a book, Bose headphones, Canon S90 (inside a couple of athletic socks), and a pair of SilentEar ear plugs…

Deciding to be a nice guy, I leave the netbook with my wife and put my ThinkPad on top.  I’ll pull it out at security, and when I replace it in the bag, I’ll pull out the Kiva pack so my onboard stuff will be readily available:

Finally, my 3-1-1 bag, iPod cable, and the sync cord for my camera in the “forehead” pocket:

That’s just about everything.  I weigh the bag:  22.6 pounds.  The bag itself weighs close to 9 pounds, but I’m not happy.  So…

• I ditch the Pack-It folder.  The khakis go on the bottom, shirts next, then the jacket; I can touch things up with an iron if I have to
• The ThinkPad stays home, and the Asus is in the bag.  This reduces weight and will make it easier if I have to gate check the bag, which is almost a certainty on my first leg

I re-weigh it, and it’s exactly 20 pounds.  As a guy who usually uses soft sided, non-wheelie bags, I’m still not too happy but it should work.  I’ll see if I can take a photo or two while traveling with the bag, and will do a brief follow-up post this weekend.