Every time my rollerboard goes in regional airline cargo it gains 6 months worth of wear and tear. Mainline seems to put much less wear and tear on it.

LW all the way. I have had mine for over 6 years, and commuted most of that time. I have not even had to change the weels. It is starting to get a little beat up, but that is part of the character of it.

Thanks for the replies. I think I'm gonna go with the Plastic LW. Seems like it is still strong enough to hold up and the lighter weight seems worth throwin some extra money on a new handle every 4 or 5 years. Especially since my flight kit is super heavy, I don't think I want to lug around the super heavy metal one as well....I have to go up and down stairs quite a bit so the few extra pounds would suck.

I talked to two pilots this week about the PLASTIC roller boards. They showed me the bags. They both were trashed. The handles were broken along with the frames. I would strongly tell you to steer away from the plastic one.

I thought you marines were tough:p

Get an LW. They are the best. They are heavy but were not sissies, are we?

Any idea how long these guys had their bags? I talked to 2 guys that had to plastic ones this week. I flew with the first guy and was surprised how light it was when I pulled it out of the closet on the 145. He has had his for about 1 year and the other guy was in the crew room he said he had it 3 or 4 years. Both were happy with the plastic and liked the lighter weight. And said they thought it was probably just about as strong as the metal one.

However I've been doing some "scouting" around the airports the past week or so and it seems like the metal one is more common.

One guy was/is a Midwest pilot (who kept his bag up in the cabin). His was aprox 1.5 years old. The other guy is all "regional" guy (whose bag goes in/out of the belly four times per day) whose bag was barely one year ole. His grip handle "pulled" out on one end. The frame was broken down by the wheels. The "lip" (which keeps the bag upright stable while standing) was bent over and no longer did the job it was intended.

Both rollerboard handles were severely bent. I don't know why. I'm not sure if they use a different kind of metal on those particular handles or not.

Overall, the people I talk to that have the plastic ones are not happy due to the abuse our bags take on a daily basis in this regional nightmare. They just don't hold up as well as the metal ones in their opinion.

If you're gonna get a PNT/LW bag, get a heavy metal one. If you don't, you might as well spend less money and get a Samsonite/Costco/etc. bag.

You'll ***** about the weight of the Stealth, but you'll love its toughness and its longevity...especially the first time its dropped out of a hotel van, off a jetbridge or out of a RJ cargo hold.

I was asking the same questions a couple of years ago and I decided to go with the Strong Bag. Wish I hadn't. I've had the same issues as the other guys with the zippers and wheels. Good customer service but what a pain...

I have a strongbag. I've had some issues but nothing I can blame on the bag. I've commuted since day one and show no mercy. I did manage to break a wheel but once again I blame myself for it. However they still sent me free replacements in the mail.

I might try lugging around a LW for a week. I like how their sides aren't hard so you can cram a little more in them. The wheel design on the LW is better. There were some issues with the SB due to faulty fiberglass but they've corrected that by going with composite and frankly you aren't breakin em. As much as I like the soft sides on the LW for room reasons I really dig the solid frame on the SB. I've seen a lot of LW bags rolling around bent and since I'm always swinging mine over and into the back of my truck I know i'd bend it in no time. Considering the price Strongbags are great I just wish their model was about an inch or so wider.