I have some more business travel to India coming up, and I think I want to get a bit more efficient about my packing for this kind of trip. On my recent swing around the world, I took the wrong mix of stuff. There were some items that I wound up not wearing, but I still needed a mid-trip laundry drop for things that I’d under-provisioned or had got particularly dirty. Or wet. And that was another thing: I’ve found that a soft-sided roller isn’t particularly waterproof.
Anyway, I’m thinking of going rigid, and getting myself a couple of Pelican cases: a 1510 carry-on and a 1490 laptop case. Waterproof, o-rings, reputedly indestructible. However most of the reviews are from photo buffs and other gadget freaks who use these cases to transport cameras, lenses, and so forth. How are they for clothing, shoes and books? And how heavy or awkward is the 1490 compared with soft laptop bags? (I rather like the look of the new Belkin messenger bag…)