The North Face would be the poster youngster of the Gore-Tex jacket that swept Nineties trend, but when it has an actual icon amongst its catalog pages, it is the Base Camp duffel bag. Introduced in 1979, the Base Camp duffel has undergone few iterations and adjustments. Somewhere alongside the best way, it turned Alaska’s third unofficial state image, alongside the grizzly bear and the bush aircraft. Yet that is extra a operate of how sparse the competitors is when it’s worthwhile to haul 130 liters or extra in a duffel and fewer a testomony to its options, that are sparser than its competitors.

The Base Camp shrugged off two weeks’ price of journey to and onto an Alaskan glacier prefer it was happening a Sunday joyride. Its toughness impressed me. It was a extra grizzled man of the mountain than any of us. But like a grizzled, outdated mountain man, the Base Camp’s toughness comes with an absence of some of the extra civilized touches and niceties of its opponents. To put it merely, until it’s worthwhile to carry greater than 120 liters in a single bag, we suggest duffels from REI, Patagonia, and Eagle Creek which have extra options.

A Big Gulp

The Base Camp is available in six sizes, from further small (31 liters) to extra-extra massive (150 liters). The small is ideal for a protracted weekend journey, capable of make it on board an airplane as a carry-on. At the hefty finish of the size, few corporations make a 150-liter duffel. Most of the competitors, such because the Patagonia Black Hole ($219), tops out at 100 liters. For really massive expeditions, the Base Camp has few friends.

I gave an extra-large Base Camp the job of hauling 132 liters of valuable mountain-climbing gear from New York to Seattle, Anchorage, Talkeetna, and the Kahiltna Glacier utilizing a hodgepodge of SUVs, airliners, passenger trains, and bush planes. I used it as an impromptu seating and kneeling pad on abrasive glacier ice and left it exterior the tent throughout a number of blizzards. You do not should get it in yellow like I did, but it surely’s the basic alternative. You may select from purple, black, seafoam inexperienced, and a few blues.

The yellow is straightforward to see whenever you drop it from a aircraft and get better it later, but it surely does get marked up simply. Every yellow Base Camp I noticed was blackened by the trials of air journey. Black streaks worn like face paint appeared after the primary time I checked the bag, and I’ve by no means seen a streak-less yellow Base Camp that wasn’t brand-new. I can not say why, however I’ve by no means checked a bag that ended up wanting so beat up after it reappeared at baggage declare, together with the opposite duffels I examined in my information to the Best Carry-On Travel Bags. Other colours fare higher: A buddy’s purple Base Camp on the identical journey did not present any related streaks.

Carrying the Load

Any humongous duffel bag must have backpack straps. Carrying them suitcase-style is just too unwieldy and uncomfortable when you load it up with garments and equipment. I’m discovering it tougher and tougher to suggest gigantic duffels that do not provide backpack straps. The Base Camp is likely to be gentle on auxiliary options, but it surely does not less than have straps.

They’re … OK. Slightly padded, they did not trigger any discomfort, however I would not name them snug; they merely did the job. The adjustable straps had a bent to slide in case you did not give them a protracted, lengthy tail, which obtained on my nerves. There’s no pocket to slide them into whenever you’re not utilizing them, in contrast to REI’s wonderful Big Haul Duffel (8/10, WIRED Recommends), so they only flop round and get in the best way.

The carry deal with is totally unpadded and extra of an precise downside than an annoyance. Putting something heavy within the bag, which is straightforward with one which measures greater than 100 liters, could make the deal with disagreeable to make use of. It’s a baffling resolution for The North Face to make, because it would not take a lot added materials to enhance the expertise. REI’s Big Haul does this higher, with a properly padded deal with that does not dig into my hand, even when I’ve loaded it with 40 kilos of substances.