Monos Luggage Review: Should I Get A Monos Luggage

By Last Updated: December 13th, 2022Categories: Equipment & Bag

A suitcase is nearly the must-have kit for trips. We can’t just warp our pants and shirts with a piece of cloth like our ancestors did in the Middle Ages.

Now, thousands of luggage brands are available in the market, big and small, famous and unheard of. Recently, there’s this luggage brand – Monos that has been discussed and tagged multiple times. If you see Monos’ posts or ads online, you may be surprised by its easy and elegant design. However, we shouldn’t just buy something just after seeing their look. We need to go deeper – is it really durable and high-quality like it boasts?

So, here it is, we’re going to unveil everything about the Monos Travel and Luggage products for you. You can decide whether you buy one or not after reading the introduction below. Stay tuned!

What Is Monos

Full name Monos Travel & Luggage, the Monos is famous for its easy design, high-quality, and durable suitcases.

The brand was established in Vancouver, Canada in 2018, based on the concept of a Japanese idiom “mono no aware”.

Tip:

The “mono no aware” idiom was picked up and used by Motoori Norinaga in his literary criticism of The Tale of Genji, the most famous masterpiece of the 18th century Japan Edo period.

The idiom can be translated and known as “the pathos of things” or “an empathy towards things”.

Due to this concept, they value simplicity and eternity. On their luggage and other travel-related products, you can’t see any complex design.

Also, they claim that their carry-on bags are “made to last” with the best quality materials from the world. When there’s no satisfying supplier to offer qualified components, they will stop searching and turn to make the items with the experts’ help.

Monos Luggage Review

What Does Monos Offer

The main business of Monos is to sell suitcases.

Travel bags, clothing, and accessories like water bottles, UVC sterilizers, luggage covers, etc, can be found on their shopping page as well. But the suitcase is the ace for sure and we will focus on this more.

On the homepage of Monos, we can find 11 suitcases in 4 sizes:

Carry-on

  • Exterior measurements: 22″ × 14″ × 9″
  • Interior measurements: 20″ × 13.5″
  • Weight: 7.01 lb, 7.8 lb & 8.81 lb
  • Volume: 39.9 L & 36L

Plus

  • Exterior measurements: 23″ × 15″ × 9.5″
  • Interior measurements: 21″ × 14.5″
  • Weight: 7.38 lb, 8.38 lb & 9.25 lb
  • Volume: 48 L & 43L
Monos Luggage Review

Medium

  • Exterior measurements: 26.5″ × 18.5″ × 10.5″
  • Interior measurements: 24.4″ × 17.7″
  • Weight: 9.59 lb & 11 lb
  • Volume: 70 L

Large

  • Exterior measurements: 30″ × 21″ × 11″
  • Interior measurements: 28″ × 20.5″
  • Weight: 10.58 lb &13lb
  • Volume: 99.2 L & 97L

And 4 categories

Carry-on

  • Size: Carry-on & Plus
  • Color: 10 colors
  • Price: $245 & $265

The Monos Carry-On suitcase is the basic version of the brand. It’s designed for short trips – within a week. And you can easily the luggage into any overhead bin of planes.

Monos Luggage Review

Carry-on Pro

  • Size: Carry-on & Plus
  • Color: 10 colors
  • Price: $285 & $305

The Pro version is similar to the Carry-one one. It has an additional front compartment where you can have quick and easy access to some of your gadgets like your laptop, charger, power bank, boarding pass, and more when emergencies happen.

Check-in

  • Size: Medium & Large
  • Color: 10 colors
  • Price: $345 & $315

The Check-in Medium and Large suitcases are perfect for long trips. You can put a whole week’s luggage inside.

Hybrid

  • Size: Carry-on, Plus, Medium & Large; Trunk
  • Color: 3 colors
  • Price: $325 – $425; $445

When all the other three categories are outfitted with polycarbonate shells, a high-tech compound plastic material, Monos Hybrid suitcases are equipped with aluminum as corner guards. Thanks to the light and strong medal, the luggage is much more sturdy.

More than that, there’s this Hybrid Trunk ($445) case that is built specifically with a taller frame. You can put bulkier items: helmets for hockey, baseball, or soccer, etc.

What You Can Find In Monos Luggage

To ensure you have a perfect trip throughout the whole journey, Monos has put some very considerate designs on their products. Check these highlights:

  • 360° spinner wheels: Every suitcase has this, but Monos make their wheels more quiet and durable than others.

  • Telescopic aluminum handle: Unbreakable and adjustable, depending on your height, reset the handle anytime you like.

  • 350D anti-microbial interior polyester: Soft and smooth. Bacterial and stains are hard to exist. To clean the fabric, just wipe it with a wet cloth.
  • Ultra-microfibre vegan leather details: “Smooth” is what pops out on your mind when you lay a hand on them. Also, no animal-derived materials and chemical addition reduce the risk of allergy.
  • TSA-approved combination lock: Is there anyone who can open the case? No, it’s just you.
  • YKK reverse coil zippers: Extremely smooth zippers that can be used 1 million times.
  • Anti-microbial laundry bag and two shoe bags: Your concerns about packing shoes before the trip and washing dirty laundry during will be eliminated.

Is Monos Luggage Really Durable

Durability is a very important factor that determines whether we should have one of the Monos’ luggage or not.

First of all, let’s take a look at the shell of the case. For all the luggage of Monos, you may think it’s just plastic and nothing is special. Actually, it’s special.

Unbreakable Aerospace-grade Shell

The shell is made of Aerospace-grade and water-resistant German polycarbonate. According to Google, polycarbonate, PC for short, is a group of thermoplastic polymers containing carbonate groups. This material is largely used in:

  • Car: bullet-proof “glass”;
  • Aircraft: cockpit canopy of the  Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor jet fighter;
  • Constructions: Teller’s windows; barriers in banks;  roofing sheets and sound walls.

It has a very high resistance to heat, flame, and impact. You can’t burn it and it won’t melt as regular plastic does. If you hit it with a hammer, throw it from the rooftop, and run over it with a car, the case will deform to avoid cracking, and recover right away.

Monos Luggage Review

40 Quality Tests Of Monos

When scrolling on Quora, a post describing the quality testing of Monos caught my eye. I visited the homepage of Monos. And if they were not lying (this is almost impossible unless they want to bear a ticket of millions of dollars due to false promotion), the standards of their products are shocking.

To ensure the highest level of durability, their cases run 40 tests and I will introduce one below, for more, you can visit this page: Monos Quality Testing.

Drop test

A case is stored at -12°C for 4 hours, then loaded with up to 55 lbs inside, and finally dropped on each surface, edge, and corner from a height of 30 inches multiple times.

To be honest, after reading the details of the test, I made an order right away even if I already have two cases. It’s very thrilling.

Is Monos A Good Luggage Brand

To be honest, Monos is a very responsible company that produces high-quality suitcases and other products.

Impeccable Quality

The quality of Monos luggage is indeed surprising. They’re durable and can be used for years. From the shell, and handle, to the wheels, from every buckle to every stitch, you can see the passion and consideration of the company.

Monos Luggage Review

Great Responsibility

You can’t see any animal leather on any cases, bags, and other products. All leather is made of ultra-microfibre materials and high-grade polyurethane resin. It’s smoother than animal leather, and also, more recyclable – all this leather is compostable. No animals’ lives are involved nor is the pollution.

Also, Monos is one of the first travel and luggage companies to be Climate Neutral Certified. They’re committing to reducing emissions within the production, delivery, and sales process.

Being a member of 1% of the Planet, they will kindly give out 1% of their sales to the community to help others in need.

Is It Worthy to Buy Monos Luggage

Of course, Monos’ luggage is worth the price.

For this quality, you only need to pay around $ 260 to $450. While compared to other luxury luggage that may cause you around $1000 or $800, Monos is so much cheaper. But the quality is equally competitive, even the Monos suitcase is more durable.

However, when you’ve paid for the suitcase, you may need to pay an additional $50 for a cover.

Monos Luggage Review

Still remember to polycarbonate shell of the Monos luggage? It’s indeed highly resistant to hitting and cracking, but it can be easily scratched. To protect that “fragile” shell, you’d better get a cover to make sure the printing remains intact.

It won’t crack or break, but it scratches. That’s why we can see a lot of people asking “Does Monos luggage scratch easily?”. The answer is yes.

Tip:

If Monos luggage really makes you compulsive. You may order two suitcases at the same time, one small and one big. So, the Monos can put the smaller case into the big one and ship them together to you. Perfect for shipping!

FAQs

Is Monos as good as Away?2022-12-13T09:23:47+00:00

Monos has better quality while the suitcases from Away are slightly more expensive, like $50. As for the look of the two luggage, it’s hard to tell though since different people have different preferences.

Does Monos luggage have Prop 65 warning?2022-12-13T09:23:00+00:00

None of Monos’ products has a Prop 65 label. They’re all eco-friendly and you can buy them with total relief.

2022-12-13T10:02:19+00:00