Luggage That Fits Into the Post-Sept. 11 World

Getting through airport security these days can resemble the “I Love Lucy” episode in which Lucy and Ethel frantically chase down candies on a fast-moving factory line. Juggling carry-on bag or laptop, purse, airline ticket, shoes, jacket and ID, we fling our belongings on the conveyor belt and race to the other side of the X-ray machine, hoping to catch up with them before some stranger does.

“Lucy” was funny. This is not. Especially, as happened to me recently at LAX, when you’re called aside for a more thorough security check while your belongings (including a tiny wallet-purse) pile up on the belt.

The nation’s luggage makers are churning out new products to try to ease our passage through the post-Sept. 11 world. Many were designed in a flurry after the attacks; others were already under development but took on new value after Sept. 11.

Here’s a sampling of what’s out there now or will be soon:

Double-duty carry-ons: Most airline travelers are confined to one carry-on plus a personal item such as purse or briefcase. What if you also have a laptop or other items?

The Dual-Access Rolling Computer Case ($95) from Magellan’s, a mail-order company, is a carry-on with a compartment for overnight clothes plus a computer-carrying sleeve that you can open from either the top or side. It lets you show your laptop to security guards without showing off your underwear too. (800) 962-4943, www.magellans.com.

Magellan’s was developing the case before Sept. 11, says spokeswoman Lynn Staneff. But industry giant Samsonite had to scramble to produce its 700 Series Silhouette 7 Instant View Professional Carry-On ($250), which made its debut this month with an overnight-clothes compartment and a computer sleeve. A version with a side-loading computer compartment ($400, 835 Series) will enter the marketplace in August. (800) 262-8282, www.samsonite.com.

“On Sept. 12, the design team sat down with the product manager, and they began coming up with ideas,” recalls Nora Alonso, Samsonite marketing coordinator.

Hartmann, a luxury-luggage maker based in Lebanon, Tenn., has a new Overnight Business Traveler ($525) with separate sections for clothes and business materials, plus a computer sleeve.

By fall, Hartmann plans to market a line of totes for women called the Career Collection, offered in several sizes and priced from $195 to $435. The line has a business case plus, in most styles, a detachable handbag inside and a padded computer sleeve that also can be carried separately. (800) 331-0613, www.hartmann.com.

Airport security guards often fixate on laptops, Staneff says. At the Vancouver, Canada, airport last month, “I was even asked to say what brand it was,” she recalls. “Do I look like a terrorist?”

Manicured for security: Many of us have been scrutinizing our personal-care travel kits for scissors, metal files and those other small tools that may cause big security hassles.

Now Tweezerman, the Glen Cove, N.Y., makers of you-know-what, offers the Airline Security Carry-On ($10), stripped of forbidden items. It comes with a fingernail clipper, toenail clipper, grooming brush, hand sanitizer (to be replaced in August by a small flashlight), nonmetal nail file, a Tweezerette with smooth tips--and a money-back guarantee if the kit is seized by airline security.

So far, the company has sold about 12,000 kits, of which only four have been confiscated, says spokeswoman Jeanine M. Boiko. (888) 647-7377, www.tweezerman.com.

Magellan’s offers a similar item in a leather travel pouch, called the Travel-Safe Security Friendly Manicure Set ($19.85), containing a chrome-plated plastic file, a nail clipper and rounded-tip tweezers--”less threatening than a pen,” its catalog boasts.

Nothing to hide: Vista, Calif.-based Eagle Creek Inc. was ahead of the game with its prescient Pack-It System of mesh-fronted envelopes and cubes that contain clothes and accessories.

The mesh lets inspectors peek at your belongings in tidy packages nestled inside your suitcase instead of “strewn across the counter,” says spokeswoman Jenny Finney. Despite the travel slump, sales of Pack-Its have increased at least 15% since Sept. 11, she estimates. Prices vary by size; the 18-by-12-inch Pack-It Folder 18 is $28. (800) 874-1048, www.eagle creek.com.

Other luggage makers are also going transparent. Travelpro, the Boca Raton, Fla., company that pioneered wheeled carry-ons, is switching from opaque to clear vinyl for luggage compartments and adding mesh panels as part of a “running change” to its full line, says Marcy Schackne, vice president of marketing. (800) 741-7471, www.travelpro.com.

Samsonite’s 700 Series Silhouette 7 Instant View Bi-Fold Tote ($130) touts “clear and mesh dividers that provide easier view at security checkpoints.”

Show me ID: Keeping a perpetual grip on your driver’s license, ticket and boarding pass while running the inspection gantlet can be challenging.

Magellan’s new Leather ID Holder ($12.85) is a pouch that is worn around your neck. One side holds your license, with a Velcro-secured cover that hides it until you need to show it. Your boarding pass slips into a slot in the back. “It went out the door like nobody’s business,” spokeswoman Staneff says of this item. “We were scrambling just to keep them in stock.”

Hartmann has a similar item, the Travel ID Case ($50 to $70, depending on the leather), which adds slots for credit or frequent-flier cards and a zip pocket for money and receipts.

Meanwhile, at Travelpro, where Schackne says the staff “worked a lot of overtime” to get out the new products, the company noticed a bump in sales of larger bags after Sept. 11. “The leisure traveler is carrying a bigger bag and not carrying on as much,” she says. By contrast, business travelers are typically “trying to pack everything into their 22-inch carry-on,” she adds.

Vacationers may be trying to avoid extra security hassles that come with carry-ons. On a recent trip between Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Washington, D.C., Schackne says she overheard an airline agent at the gate instruct an inspector to “pick out someone with luggage” for a more detailed search.

Also, with all the other delays, “people don’t get as ruffled if it takes an extra five minutes to get their luggage,” Schackne says.

Whatever the rhyme or reason, there’s plenty in the new world of airport security to keep luggage makers working overtime.

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Jane Engle welcomes comments and suggestions but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail jane .engle@latimes.com.