Hasta La Ideas

This Velo expandable suitcase was designed for trips where you expect to return with more than you brought, or vice versa.

At its smallest, the hard-sided case collapses down to smaller-than carry-on size, at 16″ tall. It can be expanded to 22″ and 26″ heights. (Note that those dimensions are actually for the case, not including the wheels.)

The company lists the attendant capacities as follows:

I like the concept, and don’t doubt that the designers had to overcome multiple challenges to get the thing to work. That being said, I wouldn’t gamble on one of these until reviews started coming in; the object is being Kickstarted by a startup also called Velo. How durable is this thing? What recourse do you have if the mechanism(s) break? Will the company last long enough to honor a warranty claim?

Over 3,000 backers do not share my skepticism. At press time the Velo suitcase had been successfully Kickstarted, with over $820,000 in pledges on a $10,000 goal and five days left in the campaign. Buy-in starts at $239.