Hard shell suitcase or soft roller? I am flying out of San Francisco with layover in Doha then to Harare. How worried would you be about soft luggage being vandalized? Only about 13 weeks until departure!

In my experience, harder is always better.

But in terms of luggage, I have come to believe that it doesn’t matter.

More important is where you go and where you avoid.

Where you avoid is Johannesburg, unless there is absolutely no other way.

Hard shell luggage is harder to break into, but not charter plane friendly. I just don't put anything worth stealing in my duffle.

Hard shell every time. Last time I used soft side luggage with zippers it was broken into between Vic Falls and Joburg. In fact, every single person on the plane had their soft side luggage with zippers rummaged through and items pilfered. I personally lost a number of items. When I returned to the States my wife and I switched to hardside Samsonite luggage with built in TSA locks and had no problem after that. In fact, I subsequently flew into the Zambezi Valley with hardside luggage in the charter plane with no problem at all. Currently, we use and fly with the Pelican Air hardside luggage.

I take both.

But, we fly directly to our destination.

Having any stop over is a challenge.

And if at all possible avoid Johannesburg!

The shithole of African airports as far as breaking into luggage is concerned!

GaryG,

More and more hunters seem to be going toward hard sided such as Pelican. I’m getting a Pelican 1615AIR case for an upcoming hunt in the Selous. I expect that case will be perfect for my needs.

One thing about your upcoming flight…. I expect you’ll be fine flying Qatar Airways out of SFO. They’re very gun friendly and I highly doubt you’ll have any issues at all.

Pelican 1615 AIR. Bullet proof.

Mark

I use a lockable hard case. Anything with a zipper is easily opened in seconds!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5mvvZl6pLI

Perfect timing to see this. I'm leaving in 10 days and hadn't even thought about the hard vs soft. I was planning to just use my Travel Pro roll around. Switched to my Pelican hard sided and bought another Pelican 1615 for the kids luggage.

Especially since we're flying through jo-burg multiple times and visiting Vic Falls