Crumpler luggage — Freestanding Edwardian

Like many, I love to travel. A wonderful benefit about being married to Lou is that many of our trips are combined with adventure. We cram a lot into our outings and that means cramming a lot of gear into our bags. Thus, packing is a challenge for me. Hiking gear, backcountry skiing gear, swim kit, bike stuff, clothes for social events…my suitcase is always bulging. I’ve made it a goal to streamline and to help me out, Lou got me a Crumpler Freestanding Edwardian roll-around full sized luggage to test. (defunct link removed 2015)

Crumpler luggage goes where WildSnow goes, in style.

The Edwardian is a winner. It’s midsize with clean styling, yet it seems almost bottomless. Not only that, but it lacks the extra foofoo zippers and stuff on the outside of much luggage — junk that just catches on things in airplanes and gets wrecked. Real luggage should be clean and smooth on the outside. Edwardian is.

Last weekend at Gateway resort I brought gear for hiking, biking, swimming and too many clothes. It all fit well without becoming an overstuffed cement block. The bag is cleverly designed to be reasonably wide, yet deep so everything fits, nicely.

Crumpler Freestanding Edwardian, the undone buckles are a built-in luggage strap system for total insurance against zipper failure.

Construction is stout without making the bag too heavy (it’s actually quite light for its volume). The rollers are set apart widely for stability and the handle extension is sturdy. While the Edwardian is indeed sleek on the surface, there are a few trim outside pockets for easy access. Another nifty feature is a dirty clothes compartment. The outside buckles are strong with an incorporated top sheet to secure contents in case the zipper breaks (a substitute for the ubiquitous luggage strap you should use with most suitcases, but is often forgotten in the last minute rush. That said, the zipper on this thing appears to be strong enough to contain a nuclear explosion — or at least stuffing a few extra sweaters.

In all, I couldn’t really find any real downsides to this, except perhaps that it’s rather pricey compared to the Walmart junk we usually travel with (and watch fall apart after a few trips). All in all, a great piece of luggage that I look forward to using again.

4 Responses to “Crumpler luggage — Freestanding Edwardian”

1. Paul Beiser October 24th, 2009 2:40 pm

   Thanks, only found 1 site that sells this, ebags. Looks like a great ‘throw everything in it’ travel bag. It is a bit heavy at 12+ lbs, but I really like the design and simplicity of it. Possible Xmas item!

2. Lou October 24th, 2009 2:46 pm

   Yeah, the Crumpler stuff really is quite good. A bit on the heavy side like all luggage, but it seems like most luggage companies have not caught on to the cost of excess baggage fees.

   The Crumpler camera bags and messenger bags look great. Some of the colors are too bright for my taste or for low-key safe traveling in rougher parts of town, but they have mellow colors as well.

3. Paul Beiser October 24th, 2009 2:53 pm

   Looking at the Mock Tudor, a little bit smaller 2.5 pounds less. As for camera backpacks see also http://www.fstop.gear, I just got the Tilopa :biggrin:

4. Mark October 26th, 2009 5:10 pm

   Great products, weird names, odd marketing.