New airline restrictions on carry-on luggage and fees slapped on checked bags haven't sent baggage designers back to the drawing board — yet.

Steve Geller is the general manager of Airline International Luggage Inc., a 30-year-old El Paso, Texas, retailer and repair shop for a half-dozen airlines. Among the recent innovations he's seen are a computer bag by Paragon that folds open and saves you from removing the laptop — but it depends on the mood of the security-checkpoint agent. Also new is a laptop sleeve by Tumi that protects the laptop on the conveyor belt when it's being screened.

But the Transportation Security Administration will have to modify some of its stringent regulations before you see radical new bag designs. Plus, before traveling to Moscow or Mozambique, where English isn't spoken, you should consider the difficulty you might encounter trying to clear security with creative carry-on bags.

"Everyone wants lighter luggage and there are plenty of brands and designs already in the marketplace," says Geller. For example, he said, Landor & Howa introduced lightweight but protective hard-sided luggage a few years ago that starts at $99.

But size really matters today. " We recommend not buying luggage bigger than 27 inches for check-in, or more than 22 inches for rolling bags for carry on," he adds. "With bigger bags, it's a natural tendency to pack heavier."

Airline International Luggage isn't a high-pressure retailer, probably because it has a longstanding baggage repair department that works for airlines as well as passenger. I consider them a straight-shooting source for finding the toughest, best-made, problem-free brands of luggage. With so many names and claims out there in stores and on websites, whom can you believe?

Over the years, airlines come and go but at the moment Airline International Luggage is fixing or replacing broken bags for Southwest, United, American, Delta, Continental and US Airways.

So who makes the best bags?

Geller continues to claim Briggs & Riley and Swiss Army "make the best luggage. Their ballistic nylon material holds up very well."

Briggs & Riley still has the best warranty in the travel goods industry. Early on, if any Briggs bags were damaged, even by an airline, it would repair or replace it — no questions asked.

That is no empty promise. An outside pocket on my Briggs & Riley garment bag was torn off on an American Airlines flight from Brussels to Chicago and a new one was sewn back on so skillfully I couldn't see the original tear. And there was no time-wasting hassle of filing a claim with the airline.

However, that superb customer service has a new wrinkle. A few years ago, venerable U.S. Luggage bought independent Briggs & Riley. "They now want to see the bag and if it's really pulverized, they want the customer to file a claim with the airline," says Geller. However, the brand will repair any Briggs claim up to $40 "in-house."

Geller says Southwest is the best airline to deal with on damaged luggage but he would not divulge the most difficult carrier. (A luggage retailer in Los Angeles who didn't want to be identified gives that dubious honor to American Airlines. "They'll resist but you have to be persistent, let them know who's boss.")

But they'll come through, says Geller. "One customer came in with a Briggs & Riley bag that looked like it had been dragged across the tarmac and it was replaced. He was thrilled."

Despite the difficulty in getting an airline to repair or replace a bag today, travelers should press on if they thinks they are in the right.

"Most of the damaged bags we see occur when the luggage is unloaded (from the belly of the aircraft) and falls off the conveyor belt or off the cart," said Geller. A fall can break the wheels on an upright rolling bag or the 'feet' on non-wheeled bag. "Most of the problem," he adds, " is just carelessness."

Airline International Luggage carries the best-known and established brands. Besides Briggs & Riley and Swiss Army, which has a lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects in workmanship and materials but excludes airline damage, International also sells Tumi, Hartman, Delsey, Skyway, and the Mosaic and ProLite lines made exclusively for members of the National Luggage Dealers Association.

Geller, like other retailers, claims the action today is in travel accessories. They're not pricey but essential, especially for road soldiers.

"We sell the daylights out of Easy Go, Swiss Army and Eagle Creak, who make 'neck safes' to 'waist safes' for hiding money and travel documents on your body, out of sight and out of the reach of skilled pickpockets," Geller said.

Geller is a huge fan of Eagle Creek Travel Gear's line of zipper mesh bags for your gear, electronic plugs and anything small. Eagle Creek also offers a packet system for rolling up shirts, jackets and slacks, then unrolling them wrinkle-free at your hotel. There are now different travel accessories for computers including a microscope that connects to your laptop and projects a slide show or Power Point program onto your screen.

Other gadgets? A camera that hooks on to your computer, a compact $13 power strip for when there are not enough outlets in your hotel room to plug in and charge a cell phone, BlackBerry, Ipod and laptop. They also carry a cell phone quick-charge power pack for $49.95 that can be rigged to recharge a laptop.

"Just know and observe the ever-changing security and airline baggage rules," sums up Geller. "On a trip back from New York, someone was trying to pile five pieces of luggage on the plane (presumably to save the new check-in fees). It didn't work."

Chris Barnett writes on business travel strategies that save time, money and stress. Reach him at cbarn@aol.com. To find out more about Chris Barnett and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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