Hardside and Softside Luggage Comparison

Comparison between Hardside and Softside Luggage

Is Hardside or Softside Bags and Luggage the best?

The answer to that question is entirely dependent on how you travel, what and how much you decide to pack and what your personal preferences are.

Like most things in life, both Hardside luggage and Softside bags have positive and negative points, in this article we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.

While deciding between softside and hardside luggage is largely personal preference, there are a few guidelines that can be used to help you decide.

Softside Luggage is the clear winner in both flexibility, maneuverability and weight savings.

Softside bags are considerably lighter both empty and full than comparable hardside models. Most new softside luggage is also at least slightly expandable as well.

Softside luggage is also typically easier to store in overhead compartments in airplanes and buses due to its ability to conform itself to irregular shapes spaces.

The disadvantages to softsided luggage is that they are less water/moisture resistant than hardsided bags. While they can often stand up to a bit of rain, any significant time spend in contact with water will likely leave the contents slightly damp or worse.

Softside bags also do not protect valuable or breakable items as well as their hardsided counterparts due to their inherent flexibility and squeezability.

Hardside Luggage wins the durability contest hands down. They are less likely to break, tear and otherwise come apart than comparably priced softsided bags. That additional durability and strength come at a cost of additional weight however.

Hardside baggage also trumps softsided when it comes to protection of valuable items and water/moisture resistance. There are many models that are virtually waterproof to everything but being submerged or dunked in water.

Hardside bags do have the disadvantage of being heavier than similar sized softsided luggage, they are also more difficult to pack into cars, buses and airplane overhead bins where they must often times be squeezed in to tight spaces.

There are less choices for exapandable hardside luggage as well, but there are some manufacturers that do offer that option.