A walk with the lightest suitcase on earth

Let’s put the question in the simplest terms: Why should I spend P27,800 of my hard-earned money on a piece of luggage? (If it weren’t hard-earned money this would not be an issue: Buy it now. In three colors.)

All right, it’s beautiful. The Rimowa Salsa Air has a sleek, elegant design which, by some osmosis, makes the bearer feel sleek and elegant. Walk through an airport with one of these, and everyone else will feel like they’re dragging balikbayan boxes mummified in masking tape. It’s so distinctive, it doesn’t need a screaming logo.

The Salsa Air comes in three arresting colors: Ultra Violet, Inca Gold, and Aquamarine. Imagine yourself standing in the baggage claim area with dozens of tired, bleary-eyed passengers, and your fabulous luggage arriving on the conveyor belt. What an entrance. Your fellow passengers will be trying to conceal their own bags, which suddenly resemble large cardboard boxes bound in rope. You don’t have to scrutinize every piece on the conveyor belt, you immediately know which one is yours. And you need not worry about accidentally getting someone else’s suitcase; in the distant event that two of you are on the same flight with the exact same model and color of Rimowa luggage, it can only be kismet, fate, destiny. Cue violins.

But there must be other reasons for buying this expensive luggage, even if inspiring awe and envy in others sounds pretty convincing. (If you don’t need another reason, buy it now.) Let’s be more specific:

Why should I buy expensive luggage that will be thrown around, maltreated, and dented by grumpy airport baggage handlers?

Because it is practically un-dentable. The Rimowa Salsa Air is made of polycarbonate, the same nearly-indestructible plastic used for manufacturing helmets. Rimowa polycarbonate is impact-resistant so dents pop back out by themselves; your suitcase keeps its elegant shape. (Those of you who prefer the dented, beat-up, grizzled war correspondent/swashbuckling archaeologist look should look up Rimowa’s lightweight metal suitcases made of aircraft structural aluminum.)

To test this claim, I asked the salesperson to jump up and down on a packed Salsa Air. And he did. True, Eman is very skinny, but he wears sharp shoes. He trampolined on the suitcase for a full minute, then we studied the damage. None. The Salsa Air just lay there, taunting us to do our worst.

For all its sturdiness Rimowa polycarbonate is also very flexible:

Erica demonstrated this by bending the shell of an empty Salsa Air.

The material simply popped back to its original form. The manufacturer is so confident about its product that if your Rimowa suitcase gets cracked or broken in transit, they will help you file a claim with the airline.

But are beauty and near-indestructible durability enough reasons to shell out so much money for the Rimowa Salsa Air? After all, there are perfectly decent suitcases on the market for less than half its price. So I took the luggage out for a walk.

First I asked Eman to pack a 77-centimeter bag to capacity, as though the owner were going on a one-month trip. The Salsa line of cases launched in 2000 is the lightest in its category, but the Salsa Air is by far the lightest. At 3.7 kilos, it is 1.8 kilos lighter than its predecessor the Salsa De Luxe — a considerable advantage given today’s strict airline baggage allowances. Simply put, you can carry more stuff.

Instead of fussy padlocks or combination locks the case has a recessed TSA combination lock with an ABUS lock cylinder — the first of its kind in the luggage industry. The zipper handles go into the slots, and pop out when you turn the key.

The inner lining of the case is as light and hard-wearing as parachute silk. Even if you’re inept at packing and your suitcase is a mess, the netting inside the Salsa Air keeps everything in place. After Eman had filled up the case with his dad’s clothes, we weighed it: 22 kilograms. Then I took it for a walk around the mall.

As I was leaving the store I tilted the suitcase and pulled it behind me. This would’ve been a literal drag until Erica pointed out that since the Salsa Air has the Multiwheel system, I could just put a guiding hand on the handle and the suitcase would roll next to me.

Four-wheel drive! 360-degree turns! The Multiwheel system makes the Salsa Air seem even lighter. You don’t actually carry this suitcase — unless you’re lifting it onto a table or conveyor belt — you just put your hand around the mono-telescopic handle.

How do you take 22 kgs of luggage onto an escalator in Greenbelt Mall at the peak lunch hour? Very easily — I was almost disappointed at not annoying mallgoers or running over their toes. It was almost as if the bag was moving on its own power, with minimal guidance. I ran into two people I know, and their only reaction upon seeing me with a Rimowa Salsa Air packed to capacity was, “Sosyal!”

Rimowa luggage has been around since 1898, when suitcases were made of wood. Even then its founder, Paul Morszeck, was aiming for the most lightweight case possible. In the 1930s his son Richard found the material that would bring them closer to his father’s dream of the perfect suitcase: aircraft aluminum. Rimowa produced the first overseas trunk made of lightweight metal in 1937, and the first aluminum suitcase in 1950. The grooved metal surface made the suitcase lighter yet more stable. In the 1970s the company started making lightweight watertight cases for cameras and other equipment; in 2000 polycarbonate changed the face of luggage.

To recap: Why should I spend P27,800 of my hard-earned money on a piece of luggage that will be maltreated by luggage handlers when there are decent suitcases to be had for less than half that cost?

Because it’s beautiful, sturdy, virtually indestructible, amazingly light and stable, carries more stuff, packs neatly, and barely has to be carried. Sold.