Best American Duffel bag #4
Best American Duffel
Best American Duffel bag #4
First off let me say if you do not have a subscription to
Overland Journal, you should if you are into exploring the great outdoors.
The OJ is written by a staff that camps, overlands, and goes on expeditions, so they test a wide variety of gear.
The 2009 Gear issue came out a short time back, and I saw an article in it by executive editor Jonathan Hanson.
The article was on duffel bags.
There were quite a few tested, but one I really liked was made by BadBags, or Best American Duffel.
Turns out they are made in American in Seattle, WA. a short distance from me.
Jonathan Hanson mentioned in Overland Journal that owner Malcolm Vetterlein would more than likely answer the phone if you call, and sure enough he did.
By telling him what duffel I currently owned and how long I might stay out, he recommended the #4 duffel.
I ordered up the #4 size which is 25”x16”x13”, and equates out to 4200 cu in.
A little smaller than a Cabelas Ripcord duffel I bought last year, but this one is way more durable.
It has a carry strap on the side, two full zip external pockets on each side, two internal zipped pockets that float away free from the bag inside, and a horseshoe shaped zipper on top to load/unload your contents.
It also has two compression straps that use the Fastex buckles, and you can cinch the bag tight to make it smaller after you stuff it.
While this is a little smaller than my Ripcord duffel, it is still plenty big, big enough for this packrat to take along a weeks worth of clothing and other gear such as flashlights, bathroom kit, and much more as you will see in the pictures below of all the stuff unloaded.
As you can see the duffel can hold a lot of clothing for an extended stay somewhere.
Mine will be used exclusively for camping/overlanding.
Long long ago I use to use the soft sided suitcases to take car/tent trailer camping, but then I found a duffel that is around fifty years old or so that was my parents.
I used that a lot when my kids were growing up on camping trips, but it is a little too small to hold a good weeks worth of clothing and gear.
This new BadBags #4 duffel will fit the need quite nicely.
Here is a picture from Best American Duffels website.
Here are a few pictures of my bag loaded and and the last one showing all what was stuffed into it.
The socks were put into one of the internal zipped side bags, and the undies where put into the other internal pocket.
I did not have to use the compression straps in the second picture, but I did just to show how they work.
There was still plenty of room left over for more clothing inside.
I did not even use one of the external pockets, so there was plenty of room left for more gear.
Here is what I stuffed into the bag minus my undies which I put back into my drawer
Top row left to right
six pairs of socks
nylon pullover
Boeing sweatshirt
five shirts
extra pair of shoes (they include a stuff sack for shoes or whatever you want to place in it)
Bottom row left to right
Jansport toiletries case
hooded FJ Cruiser pullover
two pairs of pants
Rest of the items in the bottom row were in an outside pocket
eyeglass case
Black Diamond LED headlamp
Gerber Covert FAST tactical knife (to defend against killer chipmunks)
Gerber mulititool (Recoil model, discontinued, best one they ever made IMO)
earplugs
Garmin GPS
What I forgot to pack for this test was a few pairs of shorts.
But there was still plenty of room left over inside to pack them in on top of the pants below the shoes or the toiletries case.
The bag is very high quality and also comes with a shoulder strap to carry the bag that way.
I am looking forward to many years of service from this duffel, and I can not wait to test it out on my next camping trip.
