The Swiss are genuis at design, the straps are completely removable, and a small handle clips to the top. The straps fit into the pack. And no, I am not goofy enough to use it as a carry on, its to large. I have another small bag, and a small fanny pack as a personal item. the bag(that is to the airlines carry on regs) will have socks and shirts, the fanny pack phone, charger, GPS, a book, and toothbrush. I have been told by a buddy that those look ok to him, and he flys a lot. To save all hassle, there will be no lighter.

Good point about the metal frame though, but at this point as I said I am thinking about mailing all the metal camping gear in a flat rate box and leaving the trecking poles.(everything will fit into a five dollar box without the poles, even my two tent stakes) I will miss the poles in the swamps, but can live without or find a stick.

Looking into a duffle for everthing that will not be be over sized, 62" total, thats something that I had thought of, but its been hard to find so far. Good suggestion.

The bag is an interesting choice I know, but it will stand up to the rigors of the backpacking trip I am taking. This route, the trail breaking, and being passed from boat to boat in the wet has destroyed a Marmot, and really torn up an Osprey pack.

At this point I have been messing around, and have figured out how to get away from the actual compression sack. Gotten everything into regular rolltop bags.
Its full, but conceivably a TSA agent could repack it. The only thing other than fabric at this point is an unopened tube of foot cream, as my feet will be really abused and wet for long periods of time.

And for what its worth, I will not be useing the swiss bag to do the bike tour portion. My bike bags are going empty inside the big bag.

And I also figure on getting to the airport two hours early or so to deal with everything.