Fly By: Horizn Studios Airport Survival Kit

by Cam Hassard, January 21, 2020

Travel

The dreaded airport security line. We all know it well: that final gauntlet before a glossy trove of duty-free booty and fresh foreign adventure. Widely loathed, there’s no getting around it, yet there are ways of mitigating the sweats to make it all a little bit less stressy.

Riffing on their line of sleek carry-on and check-in strollers, Berlin-based Horizn is one of the latest crews to bust out a range of new airport-enhancing (and security line smoothening) accessories. Wrap your eyes around the Horizn airport survival kit.

The survival kit comprises two units: a transparent Liquids Bag, and a Top Case that sits on the top of the Cabin M like it was born to.

After giving their best-selling Cabin M stroller a run through Mad Max’s Australia and beyond two summers ago (after which I destroyed the telescopic handle due to my own incompetence), Horizn were kind enough to hook me up with a replacement M, and a supply of these fresh airport-friendly goods.

To give them a decent test, I took a return leg from Berlin to LA via Amsterdam, running the customs gauntlet through two major international airports, not least of all the big kahuna at LAX.

The two items worked as a sleek power team: a double act, each in charge of their own division, yet super complementary when in tandem.

The Liquids Bag

If you’re like me, ziplock liquid bags are the bane of your travel existence, and a low-laying source of acute worry 24 hours before a trip. I never seem to have one on hand, and always forget to pick one up prior to leaving. No worries, right? Just get one at the gate. Well, you never really know who or what you’re going to get at security; some airports dish them out freely, others don’t, usually at the expense of your Old Spice and artisan beard oil.

However, with this transparent bad boy on hand at the line, I was sitting neat, sans worries, imbued with an unfamiliar feeling of smug preparedness.

The bag is spacious enough to handle a tube of deodorant, cologne, a few replacement contact lenses, toothbrush and paste (and a bunch of pilfered hotel shampoos and conditioners from various parts of LA and Beverly Hills). All in all: an ample, neat, robust and ultra-handy package.

The Top Case

The second part of the act is the liquid bag’s traveling pal and housing station, the Top Case: a waterproof ballistic nylon unit that sits perfectly on top of the Cabin M stroller. Comprising one large zipped interior compartment and a zipped mesh pocket for earphones and cords, etc., it stuck tightly to the main unit through a reinforced, elasticised strip, which slides on and tucks over the telescopic handle.

This thing was a super neat unit, not only for my liquids bag but also my passport folder, a busted old travel agent itinerary wallet that’s been with me since my first backpacking jaunts.

With passport and liquids stashed together in the one unit, airport life became incredibly smooth: the important stuff easily graspable during security line scrutiny, while cutting down the faff during the additional wrestle for belt buckle, electronics and boots.

Once on board, I was able to slide the Top Case off and take all those important pieces with me to my seat without that elbow-to-the-face scrimmage prior to jamming your stash in the hold and strapping in for the ride. The Top Case rode seat-side each time, and it felt good having it there.

The Lowdown

From Tegel to Schiphol, Schiphol to LAX and back, my transit was made all the more steady and stress-free for having these two units on hand.

These new luggage pals are total godsends – vital additions to the cabin bag mix: simple, well made, sans flashy bells and whistles, and tough to the test.

If you’re the type who could do with a little less heart rate at the customs desk, Horizn’s new deuce is a fine sweat-free step in the right direction: to duty-free and beyond.