Zips, wheels and the two parts that fail first

When a bag is retired it is almost never because the fabric wore through. It is because a zip stopped closing or a wheel stopped turning.

The zip

A zip fails when the slider is forced along a track it cannot close — usually because the bag is overfilled and the teeth are pulled apart sideways as the slider passes. The slider spreads slightly, and after that it will not close cleanly even on a half-empty bag.

Two habits prevent most of it: close the zip with one hand steadying both sides together, and store the bag empty rather than packed.

The wheels

Wheels wear at the edge because a case is pulled at an angle behind you. Hair and thread wind around the axle and act like a brake. Every few trips, tip the case over and clear the axle. Lifting a case up a kerb is kinder to the housing than dragging it — and the housing is the part you cannot repair at home.

Storage between trips

• Store empty, zip closed but not strained, handle retracted.
• Keep it off a damp floor; a cupboard on an external wall can sweat during the monsoon.
• Leave a silica sachet inside a closed hard case — a sealed shell holds humidity for weeks.

What a return covers

Wear from use is not a fault and no return policy covers it, ours included. What we do cover is an item that arrives damaged, faulty or not as described — open the parcel when it arrives rather than a month later.