Hard vs soft luggage matters less on a mixed trip than the rules of each leg, since the Indian Railways page lists suitcases for AC 3-Tier and AC Chair Car at up to 55 x 45 x 22.5 cm and says nothing about shell type.
Domestic airlines work on weight and total size. Akasa Air and SpiceJet list one checked piece of 15 kg, IndiGo’s page lists 20 kg, and the first two both state a limit of 158 cm for length, width and height added together.
Which leg sets the limit
A family that takes a train for one stretch and a flight for another has to buy a bag that satisfies the stricter leg. On the railway page, the free allowance and the maximum in those two classes are both 40 kg, which is well above what one medium bag will hold.
Size is the tighter line. A medium bag of 64 to 69 cm is longer than the listed 55 cm on paper, whichever shell it has, and the smallest measure printed on each of the three bags below is above the listed height as well.
Samsonite India shows a similar spread in its own size chart, with a medium checked bag at 61 x 41 x 30 and a large one at 71 x 46 x 30, though the chart does not label which number is which edge.
The railway page also labels its three figures as length, breadth and height without saying which edge of a bag each one means. It does not say whether the same size applies in Sleeper or other classes, so a traveller who rides those classes would need to confirm the rule with the railway.
For flights, the page figures give the VIP bag a total of 140 cm, and the Safari and Mokobara bags 134 cm each, which is our arithmetic from the listed sizes. All three sit under the Akasa Air and SpiceJet limit.
Other classes carry different limits on the same railway page. AC 2-Tier is listed at 50 kg free and 100 kg at most, and Sleeper at the same free figure as the chair car with 80 kg at most. The page lists the weight allowance by class, and the size line is given for the two classes named at the start.
Neither brand page lists dimensions with the expander extended, so the total after expansion is not known.
IndiGo’s baggage page shows a size figure whose layout leaves unclear which bag it applies to. Akasa Air and SpiceJet add that no single bag may exceed 32 kg under airport restrictions, and Akasa Air lets a student fare check a single bag up to 25 kg.
What the empty weight leaves
A bag that weighs more when empty leaves less room for clothes inside the allowance. The Safari Select Panorama medium lists 2.90 kg, the VIP ALFA medium lists 3.6 kg, and the Mokobara Transit lists 4.06 kg.
On the lower airline allowance, that leaves about 12.1 kg of contents with the Safari, 11.4 kg with the VIP and 10.9 kg with the Mokobara. These are our subtractions from the listed weights.
Capacity runs the other way, so the lightest bag of the three is also the largest by volume. The Safari lists 82 L, the VIP 68 L and the Mokobara 65 L.
Expanders add to this. The Safari page says its expander gives up to 25% more packing capacity, and the VIP ALFA page lists an expander too, though without a capacity figure. Nothing on the Mokobara page mentions one, so its capacity is the listed figure alone.
What each shell offers
Travelpro, a luggage brand, says hard side bags offer maximum protection for the contents and can withstand rough baggage handling. Its page adds that they cannot be compressed, which can make them harder to fit in crowded overhead compartments.
Soft side bags are not as rigid, according to Travelpro, but are easier to stow as carry on. Samsonite India recommends soft sided carry ons that have a rigid structure, since they expand and contract more freely than hard shells, and it makes that statement about carry ons only.
Materials differ within each type. Travelpro calls polypropylene the lightest hard material but not as rigid as polycarbonate, and says polycarbonate resists cracks, scratches and impact while costing more and being more difficult to repair.
Among fabrics, nylon resists tears and abrasion better than polyester on the same page, and ballistic nylon is named the most durable. Polyester is described as lightweight, flexible and durable. These are manufacturer statements, not test results.
The three medium bags
Mokobara makes the hard bag. Its Transit page describes a German Makrolon polycarbonate hardshell of 64 x 43.5 x 26.5 cm, with eight Hinomoto wheels, a one push TSA approved lock and a 3 year warranty. The page does not list exclusions for that warranty, and only the airline damage cover has an exclusion list.
A separate 1 year airline damage cover applies to this bag. It excludes theft and loss, overpacking, wear and tear, scratches and scuffs, heat, fire and chemicals, and commercial use.
VIP sells the first soft bag, a polyester ALFA medium of 69 x 42 x 29 cm with a flushed combination lock and 360 degree wheels. Its page lists 2 compartments, 1 pocket and 3 zips, and mentions a croc teeth zipper in its feature text.
The VIP page gives two different warranty terms, so neither is stated here. Its rain cover field shows a spreadsheet error, and no water resistance claim is repeated for this bag.
Safari sells the second, a Select Panorama medium in polyester of 67 x 41 x 26 cm, which the listing describes as water and dust resistant. It has a TSA approved lock and dual wheels.
The Safari page gives no warranty period in text, only a link to its warranty policy, and its title tag and meta text on the page disagree on the range of sizes. Whether it could be ordered was not shown when the page was read in November 2026.