Magmatic Trunki Luggage for Little People

'''INTRODUCTION'''


Anyone who has a young child (or two) will be intimately familiar with the keenly felt frustration that all parents experience at Heathrow after a long flight. You exit the gate, the moving walkways are out of order, you are saddled with various hand luggage and duty free bags, and your tired, sleepy and grumpy little so and so decides they’re not walking for love nor Smarties (I would say money, but chocolate ...
...our many trips out to Cyprus, the airport staff at Larnaka never seem to have any problems delivering strollers and push chairs to the base of the stairs from which you disembark the aircraft, but such common sense and practicality seems anathema to staff at most of our British airports. In fact, you’ll be lucky to collect your property in one piece - if you’ve managed to negotiate the labyrinthine and never ending corridors of Heathrow’s terminals ... more

INTRODUCTION

Anyone who has a young child (or two) will be intimately familiar with the keenly felt frustration that all parents experience at Heathrow after a long flight. You exit the gate, the moving walkways are out of order, you are saddled with various hand luggage and duty free bags, and your tired, sleepy and grumpy little so and so decides they’re not walking for love nor Smarties (I would say money, but chocolate is the preferred currency of bribery at that age). On our many trips out to Cyprus, the airport staff at Larnaka never seem to have any problems delivering strollers and push chairs to the base of the stairs from which you disembark the aircraft, but such common sense and practicality seems anathema to staff at most of our British airports. In fact, you’ll be lucky to collect your property in one piece - if you’ve managed to negotiate the labyrinthine and never ending corridors of Heathrow’s terminals without breaking your back, or suffering a hernia. On this trip, anticipating the same sort of treatment before our two week jaunt to Cyprus this summer, we decided to leave the buggy at home and take matters into our own hands by investing in a Trunki.

WHAT IS IT

Simply put, the Trunki is “luggage for little people” - a regulation carry-on sized bit of colourful kiddie-orientated luggage with wheels, handles and a strap, that a young child can either use as a self-propelled ride-along, or a parent can safely pull along, making arrival gate frustrations a thing of the past. The Trunki is one of those “now why didn’t I think of that” type ideas. Designed by a chap called Rob Law, it was - incredibly - turned down by Theo Paphitis and crew on the Dragon’s Den because the pull along strap broke on the prototype demonstration model.

EXTERIOR

The award-winning Trunki comes in various colours and models. Our version - a limited edition bright orange, black and white number called “Tipu the Tiger” - is the first model which has two carry handles. The previous models only had one handle, asymmetrically placed on one side of the top opening on the luggage. It is made of sturdy, hard plastic and has two “horns” or “ears” at the front end for the child to hold onto when pushing it along themselves or being pulled by a parent. There is a continuous one piece metal hinge on the bottom, and it is opened - clamshell style - by releasing two simple, lockable fasteners on each end. The soft rubberised edges where the luggage closes at the top are a nice touch, as they protect against any little fingers that may get caught between them.

INTERIOR

Inside is fairly plain and functional, with a blue elasticated fabric compartment for little things, and the main compartment, which has two white elasticated straps with orange fasteners to keep clothes and belongings securely in place. One annoying little niggle is that the elasticated fabric comes off its clips a little too easily and is fiddly and frustrating to get back on (at least for my podgy fingers).

HARD STATS

The Trunki measures 46x20x32cm, weighs around 2kg empty and is hand luggage approved on all major airlines. It has a capacity of around 18 litres with a maximum load of around 50kg. This luggage is meant to go into the aircraft cabin and is not robust enough to survive the hold. We bought ours from Amazon for £34.99 (with free delivery included in the price). We also bought (as an extra) a set of Trunki stickers to allow our daughter to personalise “Tipu” but these are entirely optional. It arrived in a sturdy corrugated cardboard box, which when opened, revealed a well-packed Trunki with a colourful cardboard wrap around label advertising its main features. Also included is a “Trunki passport” with instructions on how to use it, and a help-line number you can call which promises that “we will always endeavour to repair your Trunki should you accidentally break or damage it”. That’s a generous sounding guarantee if ever there was one.

OUR EXPERIENCE

I was pleasantly surprised with how effortless it was to pull my daughter along. The fully adjustable black pull strap has clips at both ends to attach to eyelets on the Trunki so you can sling it over your shoulder, but one end also has a loop, allowing you to easily grip it in hand for the pull along mode. This excellent, innovative bit of kit instantly made the trek from the arrivals gate to baggage reclaim an adventure instead of a chore, with my daughter begging me for a ride at every available opportunity. The only drawback was that its not that easy (or safe) to use as a pull along in very crowded areas, as people don’t tend to look down and can easily bash your kid’s head with hand luggage. Also, the strap, when fully extended can be a trip hazard if your kid drifts off to the left or right (instead of travelling straight) as they are wont to do. That said, on balance the Trunki was a godsend and a fantastic investment that was well worth the money. We used the Trunki for spare clothes (in case of in-flight accidents or emergencies), snacks, colouring books and crayons, favourite small soft toy and various other bits and bobs to entertain our daughter on the flight. My wife had the excellent idea of packing the stuff my daughter would want to entertain herself with in a smaller plastic bag so that it could quickly be taken out before we stowed the luggage in the over head locker – where, incidentally, it was a perfect fit.

VERDICT

The Trunki fulfilled its main purpose – getting our daughter through the airport with the minimum of fuss – superbly. It is practical, easy to use, a hit with the kids and a boon for parents. In short, when used with a modicum of common sense, it is arguably one of the best child orientated travel products I have ever had the pleasure of using. For that reason, I would recommended it unreservedly.

© 2009 Hishyeness - previously published on DooYoo under the same user name.
 

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