Road warriors and frequent business travelers need luggage that will see them through hundreds of thousands of miles and hundreds of hours in the air. You need something that will last for years and not fail on you at the most inopportune moment.
Travelpro Crew 11 Collection
So you may be interested in learning just how thoroughly tested the Crew™ 11 luggage collection is. Crew 11 is the sister collection to our FlightCrew™ 5 collection, which is made specifically for flight professionals. (Our founder, Bob Plath, was originally a pilot for Northwestern Airlines when he invented the Rollaboard Carry-on suitcase, so he understood what flight professionals put their bags through.)
As you would suspect, we have tested every element of Crew 11 with a series of machines developed to test the strength and durability of all our models. For example, the top and side carry handles are put through a jerk test by attaching a fully loaded bag to a machine that roughly lifts, drops, and jerks it, testing the handles as well as the screws that secure them to the bag.
Our high performance wheels are tested for mile after mile over multiple surface types to simulate road warrior usage.
We test the PowerScope Extension Handle by subjecting it to thousands of up and down cycles to ensure longevity.
We test zipper resistance by repeatedly opening and closing the zippers.
We test the fabric tensile strength, as well as the seams and stitching, by measuring the pounds of force required before they fail. The fabric is also tested for water resistance to make sure the Duraguard© coating works properly, and abrasions tests are conducted to ensure the fabric can withstand rough loading and unloading by baggage handlers.
Finally, the bag is put through temperature testing. It is loaded fully and frozen at negative temperatures in order to simulate cold conditions at 30,000 feet in the belly of an airplane. After its time in the freezer, it is removed and dropped multiple times on all corners, wheels, and handle systems to test how the components respond to the treatment when at their coldest. Whatever doesn’t pass doesn’t make it into the final production.
Ongoing, consistent testing is one of the things that brings about new innovations to our Crew collection. Each new generation represents the latest version of improvements, design upgrades, and new technologies that go into our Crew luggage line.
What kinds of changes would you like to see made to future collections? What’s the one thing you wish your bag had? Tell us about it in the comments below, on our Facebook page, or in our Twitter stream.