The Best Travel Duffel Bags

We reviewed our seven favorite travel duffel bags and compared them head-to- head in five different categories. Before reading further, you may want to first check out our Duffel Bag Buying Advice.

But first a little history: the name comes from Duffel, a town in Belgium where the thick cloth used to make the bag originated. People also refer to them as duffel bags, duffle bags…all the same. Of course, duffel bags are now made of a much different cloth as you will read below.

Ease of Packing
We liked the big D-shaped openings of the The North Face Base Camp, Patagonia Black Hole, Helly Hansen and The Gregory Alpaca duffel bags because their even sides made digging for items easier. Ahead of the strait zipper duffel bags, but a step behind the D-shaped opening models, were the Mountain Hardwear Expedition and the Black Diamond Huey. We found the Expedition and Huey slightly more difficult to zip closed when they were packed full.


We also really liked the Cilo Gear duffel's straight zipper; it was easy to pack and we could zip it shut even when the duffel was brimming with gear. We didn't love the Wild Things' straight zipper at first but it didn't matter for the smaller volumes and it didn't prove to be as big of a bummer as the Gregory Long Haul in the larger sizes. We did like that it was the longest in the review and was the only duffel we tested able to fit two-section trekking poles. The Gregory Long Haul duffel was not exceptionally hard to pack, it just wasn't as easy as the other models.

Ability to Carry and Transport
Nearly all the duffels with backpack straps were fairly comfortable to carry. A couple of standouts were the Gregory Alpaca, which has a removable single shoulder strap in addition to its backpack straps, and the Patagonia Black Hole duffel that featured the most comfortable shoulder straps. The least comfortable of the backpack-style duffels was the Mountain Hardwear Expedition. Its shoulder straps were the least comfortable for long periods due to the short distance between attachment points of the straps.


We liked the North Face Base Camp and Gregory Alpaca duffels' small side daisy chains to facilitate lashing to yaks, trucks or whatever else you might need. This feature is what helped the Base Camp and the Alpaca rank a hair above the others in this category. The Helly Hansen Duffel had a cool feature: the shoulder straps tuck away in a pocket like a haul bag.

Durability
While all the duffels we looked at were tough, the Black Diamond edged ahead as the toughest, with the surprisingly light Cilo Gear Duffel not being far behind along with the The North Face Base Camp and the Gregory Long Haul and Alpaca and Wild Things series of duffels were just behind. They all feature the burliest material, big overlap stitching and YKK #10 zippers. The Wild Things Mule and the Cilo Gear Duffel had some of the nicest construction and was the only duffel made in the USA. Toughness was a prerequisite for this review and each of these duffels is bomber enough.

Weight
The Cilo Gear Duffel, the Wild Things Mule and the Gregory Long Haul were the lightest: 2.5 pounds and 2.75 pounds, respectively, for a 5000 cubic inch model. They were both over a full pound lighter than any other model we tested. The Mountain Hardwear Expedition was heaviest at nearly five pounds for a comparable volume. If you are someone who is regularly battling with the 50-pound weight restriction of the airlines, then these duffels could give you a few more pounds of gear.

Weather Resistance
Besides using them in the field we put dry towels inside and sprayed them with a hose in our driveway. The result: the Black Diamond Huey, the Cilo Gear Duffel and the Mountain Hardwear Expedition duffels are the most weather resistant with all the rest close behind.

Bottom Line
Our overall favorite burly duffel bag was The North Face Base Camp Duffel, edging out the Gregory Alpaca Duffel. While the North Face Base camp was our OutdoorGearLab Editors' Choice and remains a duffel against which all others are compared, it wasn't a runaway winner. There are slight advantages to some of the other duffels we tested, like the length of the Wild Things Mule, the light weight of the Gregory Long Haul Duffel or the toughness of the Black Diamond Huey Duffel. But the North Face Base Camp finished at or near the top in every category. It was one of the nicest to carry, one of the nicest to pack and also one of the most weather-resistant and most durable. It also was almost the lightest duffel to feature a D-shaped opening and backpack straps.

The Patagonia Black Hole was a close second and was nearly our Editors' Choice. It finished near the top in nearly every category and was the most comfortable duffel to carry because of its awesome and easily removable straps. The Black Hole is lighter than most duffels we tested and it was the lightest duffel we tested to feature padded shoulder straps. The only thing that kept the Black Hole from being our Editors' Choice is durability. The Black Hole Duffel is tough for sure, tougher than most duffels and plenty durable for most users for many many years. However, after using it on several expeditions we didn't think it was quite as tough as a few of the other models we tested.

The Helly Hansen Duffel gets our Best Buy award. It has many of the features of more expensive duffels such as backpack straps, external side compression straps and a D-shapped opening, but was only $100. It was nearly $60 less than the nearest duffel to feature backpack straps or a D-shaped opening and was the lightest duffel to have these key features.