The North Face  Base Camp Duffel - Large

I have had a couple of these for several years. After reading some of the reviews, I feel I need to clarify a few things. No, they are not water *proof*. These are not dry bags, they have zippers. Dunk them in the lake and they will get a little water in them (we did exactly this to test for a canoe trip, a little water got in but not that much). But for rain and such they are great. Leave them outside in a rainstorm or in the back of your pickup when it rains and your stuff should stay fairly dry. The material is very sturdy and the bag seems very well made. I wish they had a shoulder strap like most duffels, but other than that I have no complaints.

Snarky's Musings on the "The North Face Base Camp". I bought this bag in person from the Westheimer REI in Houston. They had a display with stuffed Base Camp bags, so you can see what they look like full. The red doesn't really look like it does on the website, it's a bit more muted. Perhaps if you oiled it, it would look that saturated. The expense of this bag is what you would expect from TNF, but it does deliver as a surprisely durable, good looking product. Also surprising: it's fairly simple without a bunch of useless internal pockets nothing you own would ever fit into. I use the internal mesh pocket to hold the duffle's backpack straps. I would say that there are three things it is missing (that aren't deal breakers): 1. A normal shoulder strap. 2. Taped seams. 3. A water-resistant zipper. I use this bag for holding camping gear on my motorcycle and sometimes truck. Here's an example of what is in mine right now for an upcoming trip: 1. A 2 person tent with rain fly. 2. A mummy sleeping bag (long enough for a 6'1" male). 3. A small pot and an enamel cup. (dromedary hydration tube, spices, and a jar of coffee crystals stored inside these) 4. A small box of (~36) alkaline batteries. 5. A small LED Lantern. 6. A bag full of four (2-serving) freeze-dried meals plus granola bars. 7. A whisperlite stove and a fuel bottle. 8. A mysterious blue foam sleeping pad (stakes and tent poles rolled inside it). 9. A rolled up 10L Dromedary bag. 10. A tool roll with various camping implements such as knifes, tent goop, flash lights, utensils, fire starters, rock hammer and water tablets. 11. A small inflatable pillow. 12. A sleeping bag liner. 13. A couple of rain ponchos. 14. Probably a few other things I can't think of. With all that stuff my bag weighs in at around 32 lbs (~14.5 kg). That fills this bag up to the point where there's still a little room left to stuff a few other things, like toiletries and the like. You could also use that little excess space for light weight dry bags to contain all your gear you want perfectly dry. That said, this bag does a pretty decent job at being water-resistant, without the annoyance of being a fully submersible dry bag (difficult to open and close). I point the zipper away from driving rain and stuff stays as dry as it needs to be. You can always cover it in a plastic bag if you need it to be 100% for equipment or samples. This bag has allowed me to free up pannier space for other things which is great. It ties down easy to my bike due to having lots of webbing loops. This also works the other way and you can strap a full dromedary to the top of it. The zipper is lockable. I run a light weight steel cable through two of the web loops to the lockable zipper, and down to something to lock it to. I use two small, similar keyed locks. One locks the zippers together and to the cable, the other locks the cable to a fixed object. As with anything, if someone wants to steal your stuff, they will, but it gives piece of mind in keeping honest people honest.

I bought this before a seven day whitewater trip down the Snake River. It is larger than is practical for anything but car camping or rafting but -- for either of those -- it is phenomenal. On my rafting trip, I ended up letting other folks borrow my two 45 L dry bags because I didn't need them. This thing fit my tent, dry bag full of clothes, sleeping pad, etc. Wouldn't be practical for an actual hike as it isn't designed as an actual pack but, for the water, was perfect! Everything stayed dry and it was great to have all my gear in one place. There was a lot of 'bag envy' on the trip. Highly recommended!

We have a total of 4 bags in 3 different sizes. 2 of which survived a 2 1/2 month, 20,000 mile motorcycle trip and barely look worn. I would say that they are very water resistant as after 4 hours at 55 mph in a torrential downpour the items near the zipper were only a little damp. I like that they have added new colors. we have 2 black and 2 red and may add 2 more Green ones.

I bought this one year ago and I use it for everything. I work out of town 4-days a week so I live out of this bag 200+ days a year. I also use this to haul gear and clothing while camping too, and it has yet to look like it is wearing at all. Packing through the rain? No problem. Setting it down on some rocks? No problem. The shoulder straps work well and are comfortable for packing this short distances and the daisy chains are good for lashing other equipment to it. I recommend this 100%. It is tough and rugged... if you respect your stuff it will last a long time.

I work year-round on the Himalayan Plateau conducting climate change research and environmental technology development. Over the past five years I've owned six Base Camp duffels from The North Face, sizes medium to extra large. Out of these, two have been unusably destroyed on their first flight from US to China (I recognize this may be entirely United's fault, but it at least says these bags are indeed "destructible"). I recently purchased my 7th duffel and took it home only to find the shoulder strap was not sewn, leaving the trim and outer nylon unattached and exposing the white foam padding. I called customer service and their warranty department and explained the situation. To consider this support case they require me to pay for the shipping to send in the shoulder strap. I find it completely ridiculous that I am fully responsible for the time and money required to fix their QA problem that should have been stopped before the bag left the factory. Since I work regularly with manufacturers to produce my products in China I understand how something can slip past QC, however, I would have hoped The North Face offers better customer service. If I needed a repair or this was a well-used bag, I can understand paying the shipping cost, but for a brand-new product I'm flabbergasted. Since this mishap and the bag failures I've experienced in the past, I've switched to Patagonia Black Hole duffels and I'm so far satisfied. Additionally, I already work with a factory that produces these so I can personally speak to the high environmental and social standards employed to produce this Patagonia product. I don't know as much about TNF, but on all matters of my experience with the company and its products, I hope my opinion can be somehow changed for the better. Otherwise, I see this as a harbinger for any future interactions with The North Face. I don't support companies that are careless about their customers.

This is simply the best duffel I have ever used, period. The material is incredibly burly. The PU-coated nylon is basically waterproof - it just doesn't have taped seams or waterproof zippers. When canoeing in rain and with some splashing, it was absolutely perfect. Nothing got wet. The backpack straps make it easy to haul on your own, or use the side grab handles with a friend for extra heavy loads. All of the webbing is super high quality and the stitching is bombproof. It's not nearly as heavy as you would expect from the construction. The cinch straps work great at compressing the bag when you don't need the capacity. The big, chunky zippers have generous pulls and glide easily. I highly recommend it - I also bought the XL!

this bag, along with its smaller sibling (duffel small), has already been around the globe in the few short months since they were picked up in CO. It only took on airline to take the sheen through means of being stuffed in the cargo hold of a grubby plane. At time of writing it is sitting filled with tent sleeping bag and stovetop expresso maker on the tarmac of a very small outback Australian airport, waiting to be loaded onto yet another plane to be jetted off to the Dolomites and then the Alps in France. This bag has an opening that can be filled with what ever you want and sufficient zippers to close it providing it is not over filled, and straps to compact, straps to carry and straps to put on your back. Its durable and will scuff up like you have had it for years in a short time (if those sort of things worry you). I dont normally fill out these reviews but I am bored while waiting on another plane. Get this bag or any of the larger or smaller ones and you will be very happy (though it is just a bag and if you are relying on a bag to make you happy maybe you should spend the money of going to see doctor or psychiatrist)

These bags hands down have got to be the best duffel bags I've every used…The durability of these bags on five trips as been Awsome one stands out to mind with lay over in UTAH. My last trip to Cabo San Lucas, I had the opportunity to see my bag from the window of the plan getting tossed into the luggage carts and cringed, as I thought the gifts I bought were surly broken. (They were not thankfully) To makes matters worse there was a complete down pour of rain during our lay over, and even though a short distance from the conveyer belt to the luggage carts every thing was soaked. Waterproof was a huge plus in this situation, as I saw people check their bags as soon as they had them in their possession. Some helpful tips for people interested in these bags: I have two of these bags and the L with backpack straps gets to be pretty heavy if you fill the bag, so pack it evenly. Tighten the backpack straps or else you'll have the hunch back walk about you. This is a good size bag, so if you want a carry on for the plane or overnight getaway I would suggest the medium size depending on how you pack. Happy travels to all….

hopefully this holds up. i bought one of these a few years ago and it's great. it's been through airports, roof racks in the rain and strapped to mules. it has held up great, no zipper trouble, no holes or rips, basically it's almost bullet proof. so needing another bag, this was my first choice. we'll see how it goes. i think TNF is getting cheap on us. the material is thinner and they got rid of some interior pockets. i hope i'm not editing this review after my next trip