Limited baggage rules by airlines can be a pain especially when they restrict carry-ons by weight rather than size. Many bags are at half the weight limit even when empty. Add a camera, laptop and chargers, and you max out without even considering clothes, reading material, and other items.

I am a huge fan of multi-pocket clothing for both its practicality on travel days and when sightseeing. The Otigear line of products was new to me, but I quickly enjoyed discovering all of the pockets where I could stash heavier items when passing by the airport counter and boarding gate where eager agents can be waiting with their scales.

Traveling with both the jacket and the pants gave me even more space. The issue for the style-conscious is whether you will be bulging in all of the wrong places as you swagger (or stagger) through the airport. The fabric on these products stretches with a Spandex stretch material to fit to what you are carrying and looks sleek at the same time. There is a great zippered pocket in the front of the pants and within the shirt for important documents like a passport or credit cards.

The shirt and pants each have a pocket for a pen while the pants have an opening to store a cell phone or camera securely. In the back, the pockets are intentionally off-center so you are not sitting on a thick wallet or pointy-edged camera. All of the pockets have a solid lining to keep them from developing holes.

In the jacket, it was a nice surprise to discover a hole for your headphones to loop through so that you can listen to music as you walk with your iPod tucked safely into a pocket.

The Crossover is a casual traveler line, but there are other design lines including one that caters to athletic pursuits when an iPod or cell phone may accompany you and another that is more formal. Otigear is available online at www.Otigear.com with price points that are more competitive than other similar jackets on the marketplace making this an ideal gift for those who multitask when they travel. Pants can retail for $95 while jackets are a bit more at $129.

For now anyway, these products are nearly impossible to find anywhere else: think of Otigear as another Tom Bihn or L.L. Bean – you’ve got to seek them out to cross over. Skipping the middleman usually keeps costs lower though, so take advantage of the good values.