The ultimate in lightweight travel is the carry on, if you can fit all of your clothing and other needs into a carry on sized bag you will get the advantages of not having to pay checked luggage fees, no chance of lost luggage, speeding through your destination airport without waiting around for your suitcase to appear and of course the freedom of not having to lug a heavy suitcase around with you.
But with that said many will still need to go with a full sized suitcase and with ancillary fees for checking luggage, lower weight limits and higher excess fees becoming more common minimalist or at least lightweight travel makes more and more sense.
Luggage weight limits can be as low as 15Kg these days and when your average suitcase weighs in at more than 5Kg taking up to one third of your limit it is not surprising that people are looking for ways to make the most of their allowances.
Packing lightweight items will probably make the biggest difference but the suitcase or bag you choose is also worth considering.
But just what is lightweight when it comes to suitcases? 4-10 lbs is the kind of weight we are talking about, the most choice comes in the 6-10 lbs range.
If you go with a bag instead of a suitcase you frames and wheels and can make a considerable weight saving in doing so but if wheels are something you don't want to compromise on there are a some good lightweight options out there.
Choosing hard or soft luggage doesn't really matter all that much but you should expect to pay more for hard luggage that won't collapse or crack on your first trip, many soft cases are actually more like semi-soft anyway and offer good protection if that is the reason you might prefer hard luggage.
Soft luggage made of cordura will last longer than ballistic ripstop materials even if ballistic ripstop does sound like it is something made for the military.