With my family all living in Germany the kids and myself travel quite frequently back there to visit whenever we can (which is mostly in the holidays) but then there are some special occasions like last weekend when my brother said ‘I Do’ where they whole family is travelling together for just a couple of days. Going only for the weekend meant that we tried to book the cheapest fair to fly which of course is hand luggage only. Once we where all booked I decided to look into the weight limit and sizing allowance for the airline and it turned out that the 4 of us are only allowed to bring a bag with 8kg each on board! Considering most hard suit cases have a weight of 2-3 kg on its own already I was in for a tricky task of fitting all our overnight clothes, wedding outfits plus presents for my nephew and the happy couple in 4 small bags without exceeding the weight limit. Thankfully Cabin Zero came to the rescue when they got in touch to see if I would like to try out their range of Ultra-light Cabin Bag who has a weight of only 760g so there was still 7kg and 240g weight left over for our stuff!!
The first thing I did after unpacking and admiring my new navy ‘Vintage’ Ultra Light Cabin Bag from Cabin Zero (and take a picture or 2 of course) was to head to Okoban.com and register my bag with code found on the tag attached on the side of the bag it was done in a couple of minutes and next to adding your code you can also upload a picture of your bag as well as what colour and brand it is! Pretty handy stuff if you ever loose it or it gets stolen you can then trace your bag with the help of the Okoban Global Luggage Tracker:
The Cabin Zero Bag features a high quality eco-friendly bottom and front detailing. It has a large 44 litre capacity and as I mentioned above it only weights approximately 760 grams which is pretty good! The outside of the bag is made out of waterproof polyester which is always handy and I love the thick added shoulder straps who make it very comfy to wear even filled up to the max! The measurements are 55 x 40 x 20 cm as you can see below it fits perfectly fine with some space left into the sizing frame at the airport:
So far so good from packing the bag to the performance on the airport and on the plane I was pretty impressed and seriously can’t fault anything about the bag so I have asked Mr. C. to give me his feedback too. He wasn’t too keen on using it as “his” bag to travel with when I told him a few days prior to our trip. Even though he mostly uses a normal backpack to store his things inside which he needs for the flight his first impressions were that it’s a way too big looking backpack. To be honest this is one of the first times we have been travelling with cabin bags only as a family of 4 so it’s all a bit new too us because let’s be honest you never pack light when it comes to travelling with kids! But just before boarding he told me that he has changed his mind and was pretty happy with how comfortable it still was to carry despite it being very full! I guess the turning point was the moment when Molly-May decided pulling her new suitcase is boring and she rather hold Daddy’s hand instead! He was able to carry her suitcase and hold her hand with ease thanks to the Cabin Zero bag:
I like the fact that you can carry it in multiple ways as a backpack (which is the easiest way if you have children travelling with you) to holding it on either the side or the top handle of the bag which is padded to give it comfy grip! The extra straps on the side can be fastened or widened as needed for a secure hold of the items inside the bag. I love the front zip which is just the right size to store Mr.C.’s shoes inside (he didn’t wear those for the wedding btw I just thought they make a better example picture!) and the main compartment also has a zipped pocket plus a mesh compartment which is handy for little things like a charger, sunglasses or other small items:
Just to give you an idea what Mr.C. packed inside the Cabin Zero Bag for the weekend:
His washbag, smart shoes, a suit, 2 shirts, 3 t-shirts, 3 warm jumpers (don’t ask! He is a overpacker) 1 jeans, 1 shorts, hat, gloves, underwear and socks, plus a travel game of battleships and he still had space inside the bag as Molly-May kindly pointed out here:
The Cabin Zero Bag even looks good on the red carpet don’t you think? Travelling with kids means we got to use the Family Lane and even dodged the weighing of our cabin bags which was pretty handy because I put both kids coats into the bag before arriving at the airport and maybe a few other things which took it over the 8kg allowance oops! but then there is so much space in the 44L bag you just want to fill it up:
The Vintage Ultra-Light Cabin Zero Bag sets you back £70.00 which seems quite a lot for only a cabin sized bag but I am pretty sure the years and flights you will get out of the bag will make up for the price tag plus you get a 10 year warranty with it (which can be upgraded to 25 years if you ‘like’ the Cabin Zero Facebook Page!) They do say buy cheap buy twice for a reason so I wouldn’t hesitate recommending this bag to anybody looking for a flexible, good sized and comfortable backpack style cabin luggage. I can see this being my new favourite overnight bag even if we aren’t flying and just heading to visit the family in London for the weekend!
The lovely people over at Cabin Zero have given me a special 10% code for my readers (valid until 28th December) use ‘CZGERMANWIFE’ at the checkout!
Disclaimer: I have been sent the Vintage Ultra-Light Cabin Zero Bag for reviewing purposes, but all thoughts and opinions are mine.