Halfday made an impression with travelers and the media when they introduced a two-in-one garment duffel in 2020 as a more affordable option to premium carry-on garment bags. Despite the popularity, customers soon began requesting the addition of wheels for navigating long treks through airports and the company responded by introducing the Carry-On Garment Roller in May 2025.
While the new bag has room for several days’ worth of clothing, could it meet the demand of holding 10-days’ worth of clothing on a trip to England?
After buying the new bag as soon as it hit the market and putting it through domestic and international travel consisting of over 16,000 miles on six flights, two train rides and a driving trip, the answer is…sort of.
Making an impression
At first glance, the roller bag is certainly an upgrade over the duffel, with a couple of short comings.
Along with the solid, much-demanded wheels, the bag is constructed with heavier fabric, has an improved internal structure and could qualify as carry-on size (more on that below). Thankfully, Halfday also carried over from the duffel design the critical storage space for a pair of shoes.
On the flip side, the two outer pockets are too small for anything of substantial size, and the overall dimensions potentially limit the amount of clothing for trips longer than a few days.
Additionally, the $248 price tag is quite an increase from the garment duffel ($150 more than the 40-liter entry-level bag and $80 over the 45-liter premium duffel).
Ten days of clothes into a five-day bag
The company markets their bags as a solution for destination weddings or short business trips where dress clothes are a must. The first experiment was an overnight trip carrying a suit and the bag was perfect with plenty of room to spare.
The gauntlet of a longer trip consisted of two domestic flights, two international flights and a round-trip journey by train. Finally, the third test was a round-trip flight to the east coast followed by a couple hours by car.
As far as clothing for the 10-day international trip, the strategy was to pack three pairs of shorts, four t-shirts, a pair of jeans, a suit, two dress shirts, a pair of dress shoes and more than enough socks and underwear for each day of the trip. I also took two travel-size cans of the Faultless ReWear Dry Wash Spray to keep the clothes fresh.
I’m a huge proponent of packing cubes for clothing and compression bags for socks and underwear to maximize space and they were critical for this trip. After a little Tetris-like arranging, everything fit and the bag closed easily without straining the zipper.
To check or not to check
Advertised as “carry-on friendly for most U.S. airlines” and measuring 22.5 inches long, 14 inches wide and 9.25 inches high, the bag on was right at the limit for American Airlines’ overhead bins for most of the trips, stepping just over the line on one flight.
Boarding all the U.S.-based flights, the bag rolled right onto the plane unchallenged, just fitting into the overhead bin space. Although there wasn’t a bag size requirement on the train, the bin for luggage was small and it was a tight fit for the roller, but not a major issue.
Leaving England, the gate crew immediately tagged it to be checked for a flight that was nowhere near full. At baggage claim in New York, though, many of the suitcases tumbling onto the baggage carousel appeared to be carry-on size, so the fact it was checked could have been an anomaly.
For the record, Halfday does have the usual disclaimer that travelers should check the airlines’ size requirement, which is fair enough.
And the verdict is…
Like the duffel, this is a well-built bag that has the potential to stand up to years of travel. Halfday suggests the roller can be used for trips of up to five days, but the packing cubes made all the difference in being able to carry enough clothing for the duration of the 10-day trip.
The all-important garment bag portion of the roller did its job well on all the trips, resulting in a couple of minor wrinkles in the suit and shirts, but nothing a quick ironing, steaming or simply hanging up couldn’t take care of.
Other shirts for the shorter trips required little to no attention. Most garment bags I’ve used required the same type of follow-up care, so this is par for the course.
The high-quality wheels really are a huge improvement and go a long way in justifying the upcharge from its predecessors. It will be interesting to see how they fare in the long term.
Some users have already started requesting a four-wheeled spinner model and while that would be nice, the two-wheeled version works well. Upgrading the wheels could also mean sacrificing several inches of internal storage space.
An unabashed fan of Halfday’s products, I had high hopes for the carry-on garment roller and it certainly delivered, even though the amount of clothing for the longer trip pushed the bag to the limits for capacity. A few more pockets with significant storage would be great, but it’s still a winner, even when stretched well past its suggested capabilities.
Side trip…
The good:
- Wheels that many users demanded
- Close to carry-on size
- Heavy fabric
- Improved structure the duffel was lacking
- Two small pockets for storage
- Halfday carried over the space for shoes from the duffel
The not-so-great:
- Carry-on size also means a limited amount of clothes
- Not guaranteed to be allowed as a carry on for all flights
- The price: At $248, there is a considerable price difference from the garment duffel ($150 more than the 40-liter entry-level bag and $80 over the 45 liter “premium” duffel)
- The garment portion of the bag may not completely protect clothes from wrinkles
This was the first time using the Faultless ReWear Dry Wash Spray, which one online review describes as “…dry shampoo for your clothes.” Sold in various sizes, including a travel-friendly 3 oz. spray can that fit easily into a side pocket of my backpack, the spray is meant to eliminate wrinkles and odor.
While no substitute for laundry service, the product performed as promised and dried fairly quickly after being applied.
Discover more from Words, Photos, Music & Travel
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Words, Photos, Music & Travel 