Why Frequent Fliers Will Appreciate the Toughest Carry-On Suitcase, Ever

I’ve been roller bag carry-on curious for years. But until now, I just couldn’t find a piece robust or convenient enough to justify switching away from my tried-and-true backpack. Then I saw Pelican’s new ATX range of hard-sided luggage, and it’s already saved my bacon.

Going into this review, I was planning to try and demonstrate just how tough this new luggage is. I thought about dragging it behind a moving truck off-road, or throwing it off my roof, or driving over it in my wife’s 6,000 pound Land Cruiser, or cutting it in half with a chainsaw.

But all of that just seemed superfluous. Anyone who’s ever traveled with camera gear, or shipped sensitive electronics, or flown to hunt knows and trusts Pelican cases already. What’s new here, versus existing Pelican cases, are four wheels rather than two, a multi-position trolley handle, soft-close grab handles, and interior organization features oriented more toward clothing and toiletries than lenses and camera bodies.

So my question is less about how tough this thing is, and more: Why would anyone need such an indestructible spinner bag?

I found out the first time I flew with it.

The Pelican ATX Carry-On in Action

Last weekend, my wife and I flew to Cincinnati for the annual Exploring With Grace 5K. Despite the fact that we attend every year, we didn’t get around to booking the flights until the last minute and ended up traveling on separate planes as a result. After dropping her off for her flight, taking the dogs to the kennel, showering, jamming a bunch of clothes into the Pelican, then driving myself back to the airport, I was running pretty late. But I had to pee. So I rushed through the crowded airport here in Bozeman and ran straight to the wall of urinals. That’s when I noticed the smell, and looked at the floor.

One of the toilets was overflowing, spreading a pool of raw sewage across the bathroom floor. And I’d just dragged my brand new $499 roller bag right through it.

“Shit,” I thought. Literally.

I grabbed a wad of paper towels from the dispenser, wiped the worst off it and my boots, and ran to catch my flight. I gate checked the Pelican to avoid dripping sewage all over the plane’s passenger compartment, and relaxed in the knowledge there was no way the airline would manage to damage my luggage.

My flight landed about 11 P.M., and it was an hour ride in an Uber to the Marriott Courtyard in Blue Ash. I needed to be in my running clothes and at the race by 10 A.M. the next morning. There was no time find a laundromat, nor to run out and buy new gear. Over a tiny bag of savory snack mix and a can of warm beer, I formulated a plan. If ever there was an argument for a fully-submersible carry-on, this is it.

The Specs and What’s Cool About the ATX 22

Like every other Pelican case, the ATX 22 features two injection molded polypropylene half shells that pivot around metal rods to seal onto each other via a rubber gasket. Strong metal clamps replicate the design of the polymer hinges on regular Pelican cases, squeezing the case shut on the gasket to create an impermeable seal. A little disc of Gore-Tex waterproof-breathable membrane material let’s a little air travel both ways, in and out of the case to equalize pressure at altitude or under the sea, helping to keep the case firmly sealed against all dust and water.

Because you can fully submerge a Pelican case to a minimum depth of one meter for at least 30 minutes, I figured you could also wash one off with the provided all-in-one body wash and shampoo in a hot hotel shower, all without exposing any of the contents to poop, or soapy water.

It must have worked, because I’m writing this on the laptop that was sealed inside the Pelican right now, and no one turned their nose up at any lingering stench throughout the rest of the weekend.

Would I have had to deal with raw sewage if I’d just stuck with one of the backpacks I’ve carried since I started flying a bunch when I was a kid, three decades or more ago? (My dad was a diplomat.) I used some of those free sanitizing wipes the flight attendants hand out to clean off my boots, and I guess with a shouldered pack that would have been the end of the ordeal. But I wanted to switch to a roller bag partially out of convenience, and because I’d grown jealous of my wife’s nice titanium Tumi.

Why the Pelican ATX 22 Is Carry-On Worthy, To Me

I should add that this is hardly the first time I’ve flown with a Pelican case. Working in media for 23 years now, I’ve dragged them all over the world for photo shoots, and have a pile of them stacked up in the back of my garage, sized for different rifles, handguns, car parts, and power tools. And having learned to rely on them across deserts, jungles, oceans, mountains, and the arctic tundra, it’s hard to look at other hard-sided suitcases and not find them lacking. That titanium Tumi, with its textured waves and leather handles sure looks nice, but it’s never going to protect its contents as well as a Pelican, even at six times the price. And while traveling, even articles as humble as a nicely-fitting pair of jeans can prove mission critical.

I’d actually thought about buying one of the existing carry-on sized Pelicans last year. But with interior options consisting of pick-and-pluck foam, or nothing at all, and with only two wheels dictating a single direction of pull, I wasn’t sold. To justify the upgrade from a backpack, I wanted the ability to organize and compress folded clothing, manage small items like cables, passports, toiletries and flashlights, and access all that without dumping my things all over the floor.

That’s what Pelican’s new ATX-range of luggage delivers: all the robust protection of a Pelican case, combined with all the convenience and organization features of high-end travel luggage.

The case boasts Hinimoto wheels—a Japanese maker of the highest quality luggage rollers—carry handles that fold themselves back to flush on dampers, a four-position trolley handle mounted to the exterior of the case to maintain waterproofness, TSA locks, and a ripstop-nylon interior organization system that includes zip-pockets on one side and a clothing compressor on the other.

This 22-inch version is sized to comply with international carry-on size restrictions. But if you’re one of those travelers who thinks every inch of the overhead bin belongs to you, you could probably get onboard with the ATX 25 without too much hassle. The 30-inch should wheel its way off the checked baggage carousel for decades.

Worth the upgrade? For this frequent flier? Absolutely. Even though I hope to avoid raw sewage on my next trip, I’ll still feel safe in the knowledge that everything I bring along will be as protected as possible, no matter what, all in a carry-on it’s easy and comfortable to move through an airport.

Get the Pelican ATX 22 Carry-On