The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[Dindrane]

Dark hair and pale skin makes you a really good candidate for laser treatment, too, for hair removal.

I've had laser hair removal elsewhere...and I love it!  The results are outstanding.  I guess if I want that smooth look I'll have to save for more.

I shave in all four directions, so I guess it must be my skin/hair.

I shave in about six directions (up, down, and all the diagonals) and still can't get a close shave. I just have to take comfort in the fact that my hair isn't super dark, I always wear sleeves, and my husband mostly doesn't care.

[Slartibartfast]

The best (only?) way to get a shave so close you can't see the hair is to use photoshop 

[elephantschild]

I feel so silly asking this.

I haven't been on an airplane in eight years. Neither has my husband. We're going on vacation with the boys in April, a 2 1/2-hour flight.

I was reading our airline's website to be sure I knew about everything that had changed and got to the bit about luggage. That's changed a lot in eight years!     We do get one checked bag each, but it has to be within certain dimensions. (I'm sure the frequent fliers out there are rolling their eyes at me! )

The height, width, etc. are fine, but ... how much does the average, good-sized, fully packed suitcase weigh? I have no idea. We don't have a scale in the house right now. Getting hit with one (or three!) of those hefty overweight baggage fees would really start our vacation off on the wrong foot. We'll just have clothes/toiletries, etc. and some souvenirs ... nothing too hefty.

Is this something I should be concerned about? 

[Mental Magpie]

I feel so silly asking this.

I haven't been on an airplane in eight years. Neither has my husband. We're going on vacation with the boys in April, a 2 1/2-hour flight.

I was reading our airline's website to be sure I knew about everything that had changed and got to the bit about luggage. That's changed a lot in eight years!     We do get one checked bag each, but it has to be within certain dimensions. (I'm sure the frequent fliers out there are rolling their eyes at me! )

The height, width, etc. are fine, but ... how much does the average, good-sized, fully packed suitcase weigh? I have no idea. We don't have a scale in the house right now. Getting hit with one (or three!) of those hefty overweight baggage fees would really start our vacation off on the wrong foot. We'll just have clothes/toiletries, etc. and some souvenirs ... nothing too hefty.

Is this something I should be concerned about? 

You'd have to have that thing stuffed full of clothes and other heavy items for it to be overweight, at least in my experience.  Seriously, I could barely close one of mine and it was about 5lbs underweight.

[MrsJWine]

We overpacked a suitcase once, by about 5 pounds. It was a pretty big suitcase, and we had it PACKED. We shuffled some things around into our carry-ons and personal item bags, and it worked out, but man was I sweating bullets (we lived 2 hours from the airport and were already cutting it kind of close).

ETA: It won't be as accurate, but if you have a bathroom scale, you can get an idea of how heavy your bag is if you weigh it on there.

[2littlemonkeys]

and I think you can pick up one of those luggage scales at pretty much any store that sells anything related to travel for a couple of bucks.  There are basic ones for 10 bucks or so. 

[magicdomino]

Do you have access to anything with a similar weight?  For instance, if the weight limit is 40 pounds, pick up a 40 pound bag of cat litter, bird seed, or fertilizer.  Pick up the loaded suitcase.  Which weighs less?  I'd make sure the suitcase weighs obviously less, just to make sure. 

I know that I have trouble carrying a 40 pound bag of whatever.  So, if I can easily carry my bag up the steps to the rest of the house, then it is within the checked bag limit.  Can I easily lift the carry-on above my head?  If yes, then it is fine too.

[Thipu1]

You can certainly get a luggage scale.  You can also weigh yourself on a standard bathroom scale and then weigh yourself holding the bag.  We've always been well within the weight limit using this method. 
 

[Hmmmmm]

You can certainly get a luggage scale.  You can also weigh yourself on a standard bathroom scale and then weigh yourself holding the bag.  We've always been well within the weight limit using this method. 
 

Yep, this.  I've only once ever come close to being over the weight limit and that was when I was checking my huge pullman that had 10 pounds of weights in there plus full packed with clothes, shoes, hairdryer, and a lot of  books.  I only got up to 32 pounds.  I just put the bag on the bathroom scales to check the weight.  Ours is digital and is pretty good to the pound.

[Outdoor Girl]

The only time I got close to the weight limit was when I was packing ski boots in my suitcase.  If it is just a regular sized suitcase, one size up from the one that can be a carry on, you shouldn't be able to pack it so full that it is overweight.

I've also done the bathroom scale method to weigh myself then myself plus the bag.  It is much easier to do with someone else to look at the scale.  It is hard to see over the bag to see the scale yourself.

[elephantschild]

Hey, thank you all. I'm pretty sure we're good, then. I do not actually have a bathroom scale in the house right now, and I don't want to buy a luggage scale if we might not fly for another eight years! (Should buy a new bathroom one, but ...  )

magicdomino, amusingly, we do have something that weighs about 40 pounds. The boys!

[Slartibartfast]

A reasonably-sized suitcase packed with normal travel stuff (i.e. mostly clothes) will probably be in the 25-30 pound range, maybe a little more if you roll your clothes instead of fold them.  You can easily get toward 40 pounds if you are hauling two or three textbooks, a laptop, heavy souvenirs, etc. on top of an already-full suitcase.  This may have been more of a problem for those of us who went to college a thousand miles away from home and had to cram all our worldly possessions in our bags to come home on break 

If you're worried about it, my advice is to leave space in your carry-on and to stick the heaviest stuff at the very bottom of the suitcase near the zipper.  Then if your suitcase is overweight, you can easily get two or three things out and carry them by hand instead.  It's not as fun if you have to haul a heavy carry-on with you, but it beats paying extra fees!

Oh, another piece of advice: now that airlines pretty much all charge for checked bags, the situation with carry-ons has gotten even worse.  Don't assume you'll be able to put your carry-on in the overhead bin, especially on a full flight in a large plane if you're not one of the first ones on board.  I like to use a small duffel bag or shoulder satchel for a carry-on, because I can stuff it under the seat ahead of me if I have to.

[Bethalize]

I don't know how you all get such light suitcases. Maybe I'm just a rubbish packer.

[ScubaGirl]

I don't know how you all get such light suitcases. Maybe I'm just a rubbish packer.

Agreed.  We did a 2 week trip to Hawaii over the summer.  We used our largest suitcases (measurement-wise it was the largest allowed before extra fees would be applied).  We were barely under the weight limit.  But, you also have to consider the weight of the bag itself.  We purchased our bags in 2005 and they weigh nearly 14 pounds empty.  The next big/long trip we take by plane we will probably donate our old bags to GoodWill and purchase newer, lighter weight ones.

We were a little nervous about our bags on the flight home because of the souveniors we had purchased so we went to the post office and shipped home some clothes in a flat rate box - saved us 8 pounds.

[magicdomino]

I don't know how you all get such light suitcases. Maybe I'm just a rubbish packer.

Experience.  After you've hauled suitcases by yourself across huge airports, up and down stairs, and down streets when you've gotten off at the wrong stop, you learn to cut the weight anyway you can.