Atlantic Eternity 3 30 Expandable Upright Pullman - Everything plus the kitchen sink
Written: Nov 10 '02 (Updated Nov 10 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: A million pockets and hidden storage areas, easy to pull, holds everything on extended trips
Cons: HEAVY, one of our wheels broke, too big for shorter trips
The Bottom Line: This a great bag and I would recommend it to anyone that needs a larger suitcase.
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| twunschl's Full Review: Atlantic Luggage Expandables III 30" Upright Pullm... |
When we were planning our trip to Tahiti., everyone said not to bring too many suitcases. I didn’t want to have to deal with a lot of bags, but since we would be gone for two weeks, I knew that we would have a ton of stuff to bring (especially since I wasn’t about to do laundry). I searched the ebags.com website and found the Atlantic Eternity 3 30 Expandable Upright Pullman.
The Exterior
The bag only comes in three colors: Undistinguishable Black, Equally Undistinguishable Forrest Green and Too Feminine for My Husband to Carry Tapestry. I decided on the Forrest Green since it would match our carry-ons and tied a bright pink ribbon to the handle. This was so helpful. Even though this bag is different than others since it is so big, it looks like all of the others going around on that belt. It was the first time that I had tied something to our bag, but I will never go on vacation again without doing it.
The exterior material is that waterproof, impenetratable material that not even Superman could see through. It is technically called 1800 denier Poly-Ballistic™, but whatever it is, it works. We even had honey, yes you read it right, HONEY, spilled all over our bags and it did not get inside of the suitcase. (The ironic thing is, I actually had a jar of honey inside of my suitcase too. But at least mine didn’t leak.) After traveling over 8,000 miles, our bag still looks like new, it is just a little sticky.
The Pullman and Handling the bag
This is by far one of the easiest bags that we have ever carried and pulled. The wheels on the bottom are about three inches in diameter and one inch thick. They are set on the far edges of the suitcase at about eighteen inches apart. This makes the suitcase stable and it doesn’t tip or get stuck in cracks. Opposite the wheels, there is a long bar that I guess you could call “Stabilizing Legs”. This is a nice feature that prevents the bag from tipping over like my other bags do.
The pullman is located on the top of the suitcase and is concealed in a little zipper compartment. You simply unzipped the secret hiding space, push the large button that reads PUSH and pull up the long handle. Even large hands can easy grasp the handle since it measures seven inches across. If you are in an area were you can no longer pull the bag, there are two different handles on the bag, one near the top by the pullman and one on the side to carry the bag traditionally.
One minor mishap that we had was when we had to carry the bag up some stone steps. Since the bag is heavy, my husband ended up slamming it up each step and we broke one of the wheels. Even though we were abusing the bag, I don’t think that it was enough that it should have broken it. The wheel still turns but it sort of sticks when it rolls.
Inside the Atlantic Eternity and the Secret compartments
While packing, and even while unpacking, I continued to find tons of storage and secret hiding places. The main compartment of the suitcase is a deep nine and a half inches and measures 20 by 28 inches. I easily fit enough clothes for two weeks plus our snorkels, batteries and lots of other things in here. There is one pocket that runs the width of the bag on the inside. The bottom is padded and the waterproof lining zips out for easy cleaning. There are also two straps inside to hold your clothes in place. This might come in handy if you don’t have enough clothes to fill the space.
The lid of the suitcase holds most of the secret compartments. There is a flap that comes strapped into the suitcase. The front of it has two pockets. The one on top is see through mesh and zips closed. The pocket on the bottom is the same waterproof material that is in the bag and it has elastic to keep the pocket shut. I put our water shoes in this pocket to keep them away from the clothes and in a place that I didn’t mind if it got dirty. The zipped mesh pocket made a great place for zip lock bags (I always carry some while traveling for things that might leak) and also for paper brochures. If you unlock the strap that holds this large flap in place, you find a whole wonderful new feature.
Once you have the strap undone, you will find the suiter. This is like a mini closet that keeps your suits and other wrinkable, hangable items safe. There are about a million little straps to hold everything in place. There is a strap at the top for holding your hangers and a strap that goes across to hold your clothes in place. Next there are two different straps that all I can figure, is that they are to hold the suiter in different opened positions. One strap is near the middle and when hooked together, you can easily leave your suitcase propped open. The other straps are smaller and near the top. I think if you hook these together, it helps to hold all of your clothes inside when you open up the suitcase. Hidden away in the suiter section is another large mesh pocket that zips closed that measure the entire area of the suitcase. If you decide that you don’t like the suiter feature, the flap zips out near the bottom.
The Not-So-Secret compartments and the False Bottom
Like most bags, there are some pockets on the outside of the bag for easy access. On the front there is a large pocket that zips with a lock. It measures 20 inches wide and 17 inches tall. It even has a gusset inside to make the pocket expandable for shoving lots of items inside. Above this pocket, there is another one that also zips and locks, but it is only about five and half inches tall. It also has a gusset inside for expansion and I found that it is a great place for paperback books.
While on vacation, I finally discovered the “Luggage Locker”. It is located in the false bottom of the suitcase. You unzip a flap and two straps hold the flap in place so that it doesn’t fall to the floor. Inside there is a wet items bags and another waterproof large pocket. This is a wonderful feature for those trips where you go someplace wet. We put a few wet items in here and it was great. There isn’t much from though, maybe about an inch, so you can’t fit too many items in here.
You say that you still need more room?
Well, you are in luck. This suitcase also is expandable and will expand by another three inches. There is a zipper that runs along the entire outside and expands in the area of the suiter. I would have to warn you though. If you were to expand this bag to get more things inside you are A) Packing WAY too much and B) You are probably going to pay an Over Weight fee at the Airport.
My One Big Complaint
This bag is REALLY heavy. Empty, it weighs a whopping 20 POUNDS. Now that might not sound like so much, but by the time you fill it up, it is really heavy. We were a half a pound under the limit when we left for vacation and going home, we were two pounds over. I knew that we would be close to the limit, so I threw a lot of things away. Luckily, the people in Tahiti did not charge us, but I had to do some rearranging in Los Angeles so I wouldn’t get charged for our flight home.
My Other Complaint
This bag is a little too big for the average vacation. It is perfect for longer extended trips and will hold anything that you could think to bring.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
twunschl
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Location: Wishing I was back in Tahiti
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 68 members
About Me:
Our Tahiti pictures and video are on-line. Go to www.tahiti.wunschl.com
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