Weight of luggage

chickenlegs wanted advice as to what size of suitcase she should buy to accommodate 20kg of luggage.
Obviously she could not go into the shop with her gold bars or sack of feathers or whatever she plans to take with her on her trip, and try it out in the shop.
Most people take roughly the same sort of stuff on holiday (clothes, toiletries, books or devices) and these weigh roughly the same.
The link I posted was a rough guide to size/ weight/volume, not an exact definition of the density of suitcase contents!

Personally I would go for size down for the biggest - I would imagine that luggage space would be more limited on a train and you need to manoeuvre the case up and down the aisles.
I pay for a bag in the hold of the low cost airlines - I find the stairs to get onto the aircraft such as Ryanair incredibly steep and narrow and if you are going to a small airport - or indeed using Liverpool airport you have to climb the stairs carrying all your baggage!

The size of the case is an issue if you are using a courier service with train travel. This is due to the storage capacity. I have travelled all over the world on trains and have seen so many people fall foul of this ( I only Take a backpack it is more than adequate). The space reserved for cases is limited and on the trips I have been on people were only usually allowed overnight stuff in carriages, although obviously this depends on whether you are doing sleeper trains or not.

I suggest you go back to whoever you booked through and pick their brains a little until you have the answers you need.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Train travel is so relaxing and apart from Russia, I have seen cases unloaded by train staff rather than by my fellow travellers. Don't get expensive or heavy cases. Lightweight bags on wheels seemed to be the favourites I have seen. Enjoy!!!!!!

I am reminded of when we went with DD to buy a backpack for travelling in her gap year. She is petite at the best of times and was fine trying out backpacks until the shop assistant put some weights in one to simulate what it would feel like with average contents. If you have ever seen a Ladybird on its back struggling with its legs in the air you will get the general idea!!
Poor girl, it taught her that 1) she did not want the biggest and 2) she had to rethink her notion of "travelling light ".

I know that janeainsworth and you are right. I think I was just confusing the issue.

MawBroon I can imagine your DD as my (very) little DGD's school bag is bigger than her!

Gilly
Good advice from izabella OP re space for suitcases.
MrA and I took the midnight train to Georgia a few years ago (overnight from Washington DC to Jacksonville) and although we had plenty of assistance with our luggage, there wasn't room in the 'roomette' that MrA had booked for anything other than all overnight bags and it was booked into the hold for us.
The other feature of the roomette was that it included the toilet which was completely unacreened. MrA had to wait in the corridor while I 'went'
The alternative was to walk through six very long carriages to communal loos.
Enjoy your trip OP

If you do as Izabella suggests and go for medium size suitcases they should be plenty big enough and you won't be tempted to pack too much. The size issue is one thing but the weight issue is another on H&S grounds - some couriers will refuse to allow handlers to pick up over-weight cases.

MawBroon I have a photo of DD with her backpack on before she went off travelling - although she is not short she is very slight and the Ladybird analogy is very apt

I am fast going off the idea of a rail trip which is something we were thinking of
Toilets at 2 am could be a problem

Oh Jane how very romantic. I can just imagine it. Song playing in my head..... (in a nice way)

Did LA grow too much for the man?

gilly he was told in no uncertain terms that next time I want a proper room!
Yes very romantic. I'll never forget waking up, looking out of the window, seeing the low country and the pine trees and realising we were in Georgia.

What a lovely scene that must have been jane You could live on a happy memory like that for ever.

That sounds an amazing trip, Janeainsworth!

My bags always seem to be heavy, although that is in part because we take goodies to our son in America and Marmite, marmalade and Christmas cakes are rather heavy!

I think I'd buy a medium sized case for a 20k limit. The lower weight of a smaller case means you have slightly more weight to play with anyway.

Weigh your cases on your bathroom scales.

If you look at a couple of the Airlines' guides, they give weight and case dimensions. I would think that would give you a rough idea.

Well done ladies! Who needs Red Nose days when we have you. This'll keep me going all day. I so love spontaneous grinning even though those around give me strange looks and a wider berth. I can live with that and you're all well worth it when wit comes to the fore......intentional or not! Keep it coming, please.

Weighing cases on bathroom scales can be awkward so just weigh yourself then again holding the case - subtract one from the other and you have the case weight. Have to admit is was DH's idea! I agree with others a lightweight case with wheels, and if it's a softish fabric it can be squashed into small places.
Enjoy your trip

chickenlegs, you say suitcases are gauged in litres- How ridiculous is that! I had to google it to see if that was true and found it was. I understand that litres measure volume but have always thought it was for liquids only.
Never mind, hopefully, soon we can be looking at how many pints are in a suitcase!!!

If you google 'suitcase and litre' as I did, it tells you approx. how many shirts etc. you can pack in for different size cases.

I know if I can lift a packed case it will be OK for weight!

We used to do the weighing on the scales without then with the case but they are too heavy for us (well me) these days.

70cl in a bottle of , now how many can I fit in a medium sized suitcase
Perhaps it might be better to buy litre bottles or those wine boxes?
of course, it would mean abandoning all my clothes and shoes etc overseas

I always use the middle sized case which holds 15 to 17kg of normal holiday stuff, clothes, shoes, toiletries etc. If I can take more I supplement it with a cabin sized or small case, which I also check into the hold. Seems to work for me. The IT Luggage range has some super lightweight cases.

I concur with posters re: hand held weighing scales which are invaluable!! Also buy super lightweight cases. I find that keeping to a "mono" dress code helps reduce the number of items needed as you can co-ordinate many more pieces with fewer items or with the addition of a couple of e.g. red items to brighten up!Take travel wash and wash small items for re-wearing rather than take loads of same. Enjoy!!

You will get all your clothes into this
Capacity: 100 litres
Dimensions: Height: 83cm, Width: 50cm, Depth: 31cm
Weight: 3.9 KG

then weigh it.

If you have to take clothes out and it leaves lots of space you may want a smaller case. However on the way back from a foreign country airlines are often much kinder and some extra space means that you can get additional stuff in.

From experience, a filled 100-litre suitcase will be well over the 20-kilo allowance. My own suitcase filled with clothes, shoes and toiletries always ends up being between 17 to 19.5 Kilos.

It is a 66-litre suitcase. The dimensions are 67cm x 42cm x 24cm (extendable to 27cm if you unzip the top of the suitcase to give you more space).

Once I’ve packed my suitcase, I always put it sideways on my own weighing scales to ensure it is well below the 20Kg allowance. Otherwise you’ll find you have to pay a fortune at the airport for each extra kilogram. Of course, some airlines let you pay in advance at the time of booking for an extra 3Kg, if you know your suitcase is going to be more than the 20Kg allowance.

Generally the trains on the continent have luggage space above the seats and not at the end of the carriage like ours. Therefore you need to be able to lift your case above head height onto the rack and down again without knocking out any other passengers!
You may also find that cases with sticking out wheels may not fit on the rack.

This is the first time I can get back to the pc and thank you so much for so much advice.

As I mentioned, we are using a baggage transfer service - the case will be picked up a week before and be in our hotel when we arrive. So carrying it is not a problem and I want to get as near to 20kg as possible and get value for my money. )

I didn't make it clear that I have to buy a case, so I need to know what size, either in centimeters or litres. The very useful conversion from Jane is good and the actual size and weight from Riverwalk too.

Many thanks for all the excellent help.

One thing I did was buy a lighter case, which is half the weight of the case i usually use. I weigh mine on the bathroom scales by weighing me, then the case and me and finding the difference.