The most popular color is black, chosen for 70 percent of luggage purchases. It hides wear and tear better, retailers said, but its main advantage is that it will never be discontinued or out of style. Finally, assess the individual features of the various brands and styles. Here's what to look for. What Cordura Plus does best is resist abrasion, those scuffs and scars that can result when a bag is tossed into a baggage cart, slid across the floor of a cargo hold or dropped onto a conveyor belt.
Some manufacturers also make bags from ballistic nylon, the fabric used in bulletproof vests.
The key to choosing the strongest polyester is to look at the fabric's denier, a term that refers to the density of the weave. Six hundred denier is not as durable as 1200, and 1800 is more durable than 1200. Wheels Ten years ago, suitcases had four wheels and were pulled along with straps that looked like leashes. It seemed like a wonderful system, even though the bags often tipped over and the wheels often got knocked off. All that changed when Bob Plath, then a Northwest Airlines pilot, came up with a better way.