Last weekend I had the opportunity to go on a little road trip to Montreal with my friends, Wayne and Megan. It has been almost a year since my last vacation, and this was definitely needed. I took this opportunity to take my Away luggage and Monos luggage for a test comparison.
Like most things that look similar, we tend to overlook the small details that could potentially set them apart and make them stand out from the rest. Simply looking at the two luggages, they look pretty similar in term of design and structure. While both brands offer an appreciation for minimalism, Monos take it a step further. Monos is actually inspired by the Japanese concept of “mono no aware,” which is, loosely translated, the appreciation of the impermanent.
On the outside, both brands use the same polycarbonate shell; Away has a more textured finish, while Monos has a more soft textured and matte finish to it. Next comes the standard telescopic handle. What Monos did differently here is that they re-engineered the whole structure of the handle. They used thick, high grade aluminum for the tubes and they custom designed them at a 45 degree angle. Combined with design and materials used for the handle, they greatly reduce the flimsiness and shakiness of the handle. Another thing they did differently with the handle is that they put the handle release button on the bottom of the handle, which makes the overall design more streamline and clean.
Over that weekend, I took both luggages out for a spin, so that I could test out some of the features mentioned about the Monos luggage. The first thing I’m most excited to test out was the handle on the Monos luggage. Even with the 45 degree angle handle, I still found it a little bit wobbly, albeit not as much as the Away luggage. I also found that I had a bit more control over the handle when rolling the luggage on an uphill street. My hand didn’t feel strained as the weight of the luggage was evenly distributed. With the Away luggage, I had to keep on adjusting my handle, or at times the luggage when rolling it on an uphill street.
Next, we have the wheels––both companies use the same high-end wheel manufacturer, however Monos opted for the more expensive Lisof Silent Run model. Monos claims that this model is significantly quieter when rolling the luggage. When rolling my Monos luggage on the street, I did find that it didn’t make a lot of noise, especially when rolling it on uneven pavement. Where I found a significant difference was when I rolled the luggage on smooth surface like ceramic floor or marble floor. The wheels glided so smoothly and not a lot of force was needed to roll the luggage. The luggage didn’t make any noise, and at one point I almost didn’t notice that I was rolling a luggage.
Moving on to the interior part of the luggage, Monos luggage opted to use a luxurious 350 denier fabric that has a silk-like feel to it. The interior fabric is also waterproof, which I find very useful especially on those rainy days. Another great feature is that the interior fabric is anti-microbial, which means no stinky luggage and no more germs. Each Monos luggage also comes with one laundry bag, two shoe bags and one leather tag. The laundry bag and shoe bags are also anti-microbial.
Compared to the Monos luggage, the Away luggage only comes with a water-resistant nylon fabric on the inside and one water-resistant nylon laundry bag. To test out the anti-microbial claim by Monos, I put 2 pairs of my dirty socks and underwear in the laundry bag during my travel in Montreal. I took them out from the bag when I got home from the trip––this was over the span of two days. When I opened and took the dirty laundry out of the bag, there wasn’t any bad odour, which was impressive.
The detailing on the Monos luggage doesn’t stop at just the design, as they colour-coordinated the zippers and the outside rubber tubing, which makes the overall design a much cleaner and streamline look.
As someone who’s trying to help the environment every way that I can, I’m very happy to see that Monos uses eco-friendly materials where possible. The rubber tube that goes around the case where the zipper is located, is made of TPE material, which is not only eco-friendly, but also easy to recycle.
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