Axio BeatBox DJ Bag

With all the gear in the bag, weight distribution when carrying is an issue. The bag itself weighs about 11 pounds, so it's quite substantial on its own. Standing on its own, its difficult to make the bag tip over. Its weighted and designed to stand at an angle. The bag can be carried with an underpadded handle or trolleyed with a built-in expanded handle. On low end luggage, the expandable trolley handle is always the first thing to go, so I did some torture testing - opening and closing the handle over 5000 times over the course of a day (my personal trainer said this would count as an arms workout) - and the handle was no worse the wear. The same cannot be said for the wheels as after a few weeks' usage they shifted a bit out of alignment and had to be nudged (banged) back into place. They also experienced a bit of wear. This would be interpreted as normal wear and tear especially since I dragged the bag over sidewalks and paved highways.

To test the ruggedness of the bag, we devised a few tests. Its been a wet couple of weeks here in Nashville, so using the bag to get from the car to the club through a long parking lot was a good test in itself. The outside of the bag would get wet but the inside contents were safe through the rain (and puddles). I repeated the same test used on the UDG Producer bag, using a water hose with the bag stuffed with towels to record moisture. The shell of the bag repelled most moisture but retained some in the exterior shell, but after dousing the bag for several minutes, the contents were still dry.

Next, to test the padding, I loaded the bag with "simulated gear" and a few eggs, strategically placed. I dropped the bag from different heights, raising a foot each time until an egg broke. Although not the most scientific method, the eggs were safe until 7 feet. The eggs in the internal compartments lasted longer. I interpolate from the test that gear in the bag will be safe from drops and kicks that bags might take during normal transit. I would not recommend dropping a bag full of gear from a height of ten feet, but then again, that is common sense. I would also recommend packing the most fragile gear on the interior of the bag rather than the exterior of the bag.