Budget airlines are now extremely strict on the size of the baggage we are all allowed to take on the plane. They are not so worried these days about the actual weight so long as you can actually lift it into the overhead lockers.
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For example, the easyjet rules say that you can take
one piece of hand baggage into the cabin with you; maximum dimensions are 56 x 45 x 25cm. Hand bags, briefcases, laptops and laptop bags are all counted as one piece so if you have a hand bag and a laptop bag for example, you need to put one inside the other because they will take one of them off you and charge you for putting it in the hold. And the later they catch you the more it costs, so at check-in desk it's £25.00 and if you manage to sneak it past them until you get to the boarding gate, it will cost £40.00. I've sat at the boarding gate watching desperate ladies trying to squeeze their handbag into their luggage and gents trying to talk their way out of having to force their laptop into their case but getting nowhere.
Apart from not wanting to pay for a baggage in the hold, the other thing, of course, is that who wants to wait at the carousel when you arrive at your destination. A decent bag suitable for the cabin avoids both of these.
So it's important to try to make the most of the limited allowance. The Cabin-Zero backpack meets the size restrictions and gives 44 litres of useful packing space. (It's actually purposely designed to be just a little bit smallet than the allowed dimensions so that if you really jam it full it will still fit the allowance). This ultra-lightweight (630g) is strong and made from water resistant materials with padded shoulder straps, carrying handle and additional side compression straps.
I've used one and it takes loads of stuff - easily enough shirts, socks, pants, toiletries for several days away. The multiple pockets are great for keeping things sorted and the padded straps are comfortable even when it is full to the max!
According to a new survey (and we all know how reliable those are!), some of the most important travel essentials packed by Brits are teabags and Marmite.
We've just got back from a few days abroad and the baggage carousel at both ends of the trip made me seriously think about luggage identification and protection.
Watching the bags go round is obviously a wonderfully fulfilling experience (not!) but it was clear that the vast majority (90%+) of bags have little or no additional identification on them other than their own colour/shape and the airline tags, which are of course all the same. 
Standing back from the crowd it was clear that most people were having trouble identifying their bags. Ok, you might think that's their problem and just why don't they strap it or tag it boldly? Well actually as I watched it dawned on me that the fact that others couldn't identify their bags was also my problem if I hadn't marked my bag. Why? Well so many people took the wrong bag off the conveyor only to realise that the bag wasn't their's and they had to put it back on again. It was then that it became clear how others could quite easily take the wrong bag by mistake, or at the very least remove it from the carousel on the opposite side from you and not bother to put it back on again! 
