Traveling can be a big hassle for anyone, especially if you have crappy luggage. Making a solid, long term investment in travel bags usually isn’t a top priority for most folks. I mean, how often do you travel anyway? You can probably get by with the $20 rolling suitcase you picked up at Ross, right?
Well the thing is, crappy travel bags don’t reveal themselves right away. You’ll be on like three or four trips before disaster strikes. But when your cheap bag goes, it goes bad quick. A busted wheel. A broken zipper. It could be a simple, how-the-hell-did-that happen rip, but before the end of your trip, you’ll be cursing the fact that you took such a low budget approach to your travel needs.
We’ve all been there. So when we got our hands on an Ogio travel bag for review, we accepted gladly. I’ve had some pretty sorry luggage in my day, so I was curious to see what these guys had to offer. Ogio sent us one of their
OGIO Layover travel bags, and we tested the thing out.
The first thing you notice is that the bag looks like it’d be in the closet of a BMX biker or professional Moto racer or something. There’s a reason for this. Here’s what Mark Kuryak, Vice President Global Action/Performance/Sport had to say:
“OGIO’s designs are inspired from the various sports that we actively participate. We seek the input of our athletes so that can design uniquely styled collections that are both rugged and intelligently designed with features that help them in their lifestyle. The layover is a prime example. While it is part of our travel collection,” Kuryak said, “the styling of this bag comes from our roots in Moto.”
We looked up this connection. It turns out that Ogio produced a motocross film called Global Addiction in 2002 that featured some of the biggest names in freestyle MX like Travis Pastrana, who continues to work with the brand. Ogio produces high performance bag gear for a variety of uses. When designing these gear bags, the company gets a ton of input from top athletes in moto, BMX, skate, snow and surf.
“Most of all our bag features and unique styling comes from our top athlete input,” Kuryak said. “They use OGIO products on daily basis thru toughest conditions which is our best testing ground for superior quality and inspiration for new features and designs.”
That input is evident when you put the Layover bag to the test. The thing just looks rugged and sporty, and those wheels aren’t going to crap out on you while you’re running through the airport.
“The lines are fast and unique,” Kuryak explained. “The materials that we use are tough to stand up to the most grueling conditions, the sled and wheel system is a reflection of the SLED system of our acclaimed 9800 Moto Gear bag. And the organization compartments allow our athletes to stay in control of their travels while they are on the road.”
That SLED system is legit. The Layover bag has these gliding, urethane wheels that rest on a heavy duty chassis. It doesn’t matter what kind of terrain you need to drag this thing through, those wheels can power through anything.
“The SLED technology feature is on many of our top selling gear bags came right from our athletes,” Kurayk told us. “They wanted the most durable/heavy duty wheeled bag that would survive all rider conditions – practice, race day, and travel.”
That’s the main take away from this Ogio operation. They design their gear for extreme use, but it’s the everyday utility and surefire functionality that appeals to average consumers.
When asked about other athlete-inspired features, Kurayk mentioned all the compartments the bag has. These “intelligently designed compartments” were crafted for “organization of all gear – from helmets, gloves, goggles, lenses, apparel, and now neck brace compartments for easy access,” Kuryak said.
“Each pocket is specialized to protect their valuable equipment.”
So in addition to the sleek styling, you get extreme usability and convenient storage features. Not bad for a bag that retails for $199.99. You probably won’t need to pack for the X Games or some other extreme sports event, but if your bag can handle the needs of top extreme athletes, it’s going to work just fine for your weekend trip to Vegas.
