I have spent many years of my life (I’m serious, I obviously have a problem) looking for the best weekend duffel bag, what is often referred to in travel-specific jargon as – for obvious reasons – a 48-hour bag.
If you too happened to do such a search, hopefully shorter for you than mine, you certainly came across The North Face Base Camp Duffel Bag. Of course, it happened to me too; but my thinking was that no, everyone has this one, I want the best one (Microsoft Word has it too and it is far from being the best), I can’t just stop at the easiest choice.
And so the search continued and I spent several hundred euros on objectively very nice duffel bags of very high quality. I remember how ganzo (I actually wrote that) I felt with that beautiful Brooks England waxed duffel bag. Yes, that’s right, those of the saddles that cost a kidney, so you can imagine how much I paid for the item in question. I would like to put the link, but you know what? They no longer produce it. And do you know why they don’t produce it anymore? Because it was as beautiful as it was nonfunctional, darn me.
So I began to ask myself two questions and speculate that maybe the Base Camp Duffel was not as bad as the Office package (okay, I can save just Excel). Indeed, if practically every brand related to the outdoor world produces one like it, there must be a reason, but Base Camp was certainly one of the first. In fact, it was born in 1986 and has remained virtually unchanged since then, except for some improvements in the materials used.
The Base Camp is a duffel bag with one large available compartment, an interior zippered mesh pocket, a small exterior pocket, two indestructible handles on each side, and two shoulder straps that allow you to wear it like a backpack. Is that all? All here. But you can be sure that is all you need: nothing more, nothing less. A recycled PVC frame with a water-repellent treatment and a well-reinforced bottom round out the mix.
I abuse it on a daily basis like few others. Rain, mud, sun, grasshoppers. And if with the old Brooks duffel bag I was careful where I put it down, this one I bang it everywhere heedlessly and after years of heavy use it is still as good as new.
Base Camp is produced in six (sic!) sizes: XS S M L XL XXL. In my opinion, the most versatile size is the S: 50 liters capacity, certified as carry-on luggage for air travel, perfect for a weekend and even more. Whenever I have a race in the mountains, I overwhelmingly fill it with my entire outdoor wardrobe, from tank to thermal shirt, from poles to trail running shoes. In the XXL you can probably sleep comfortably curled up in it.
Then there is a very wide choice of colors: except for a few long sellers, the others are renewed every year. Fine quality, fine functionality, but I could never buy a duffel bag of which I could not choose the color-you will agree with me that this is a key parameter. If you are not one to mind these things you can:
- Abandon reading this column immediately.
- Easily find unsuccessful colors (can you hear the sound of diplomacy?) at steep discounts
So yes. This is THE duffle bag to purchase. For your races, for your weekends, for your vacations, for your wedding: I couldn’t do without it anymore. I’m crazy about this color, and I’m beginning to convince myself that after all, even if I already have a Base Camp I definitely need another one.