The North Face Rolling Thunder Duffel Evaluation

Backside Line

For some journeys, a duffel that may haul extra gear than you need to carry in your shoulders known as for. Like when you could have a protracted airport stroll forward of you or greater than a compact carry-on’s price of substances. That’s once you attain for The North Face Rolling Thunder Wheeled Duffel 28”. 

Extra of a soft-sided suitcase than a duffel, it nonetheless has pliable however sturdy duffel-like materials on the entrance and high, nevertheless it’s paired with a extra inflexible again and sides for simpler packing. That function, along with exterior compression straps, makes it simple to pack greater than you would possibly in a standard duffel. For instance, when testing the bag on a latest journey to Argentina and Antarctica, we may cram a number of parkas, digicam gear, clothes, and lots extra within the spacious fundamental compartment.

Add a slew of inside and exterior pockets, compartments, and dividers, and also you’ve bought a profitable baggage mixture. It’s one among our favorites among the many many duffels we examined.

Carry Consolation

There is just one solution to carry this rolling duffel-style baggage: roll it. It doesn’t have backpack straps or over-the-shoulder straps, however that’s OK as a result of at this capability, once we packed it full, it was too heavy to take action, anyway. However the rolling motion was easy. Our solely nitpick: the deal with requires pushing a button on the aspect of the deal with to increase it as a substitute of the highest. A button on high is extra frequent and feels extra pure, so this took some getting used to.

It couldn’t be referred to as a rolling duffel and not using a few seize handles on the edges, and it has a number of. They’re good and squishy and cozy, so even once we had the bag totally loaded throughout a visit to Antarctica, loading it and unloading it from baggage carousels didn’t damage our fingers. As an added bonus, a sherpa strap tucks into the highest pocket so you’ll be able to strap one other bag or pack onto the highest or entrance of the bag for simpler carry.

Compressibility + Packability

When packing this duffel, there’s little or no to not like. In any case, it’s a behemoth of a bag. It’s tremendous simple to pack, due to a number of pockets and compartments (however extra on that in a minute). As for packing, we stuffed it to the brim, and it held loads, together with two parkas on high of clothes for an almost two-week journey. And it was all held in place in the principle compartment due to an inner compression panel you could safe over (or underneath) your clothes.

When not in use, the bag can’t be folded up and packed away like a standard duffel, although. Alas, the onerous again and partial aspect stop that. However as a result of the entrance is made from extra typical duffel materials, it does collapse a bit, which means it takes up much less area in a closet than a comparable hard-side piece of baggage. The webbing compression straps on the surface of the bag must be uncliped to entry the principle compartment. We didn’t thoughts because it’s not the form of bag you are inclined to require common entry to (like a carry-on duffel).

Sturdiness

The recycled material the Rolling Thunder is made from is extremely sturdy. Throughout testing, we tossed it onto baggage carousels, loaded it onto planes, rolled it down stairs, and thru the grime. By all of it, it suffered a number of minor scuffs and picked up some grime, however was simple to scrub.

Naturally, a rolling duffel means there are extra elements to interrupt, however the {hardware} appeared strong and prefer it was all repairable in case one thing did go unsuitable (which it shouldn’t for an excellent lengthy whereas). 

Many of the zippers appear sturdy, particularly the massive and easy fundamental compartment zips.

Climate Resistance

Sadly, the duffel’s climate resistance efficiency was a bit beneath common. After we uncovered it to regular rain for an hour, the paper positioned inside was fairly damp, and a lot of the zippers let in sufficient water to dampen the inside. The primary zipper doesn’t have any storm flaps. However when the bag was simply splashed with water or bought caught in a fast bathe, it fared advantageous.

If you wish to be sure contents are protected, your finest wager might be to pack any clothes or delicate gear in their very own protecting climate resistant cubes or luggage.

Group

This duffel retains issues organized very properly. A technique is through a number of pockets. There are 5 in complete: one fleece-lined pocket within the high, excellent for journey paperwork or sun shades, one giant entrance pocket with a side-access zipper, one giant mesh pocket on the underside of the lid that’s extra of a compartment than a pocket, and two mesh zippered pockets on the divider panel.

Those within the divider panel are finest for small objects like gloves, hats, and many others., since they’re flat and don’t develop a lot. The entrance pocket is handy for objects you want fast entry to love snacks or journey paperwork. The compartment on the within of the lid is loads spacious for an insulated jacket or two and a few pairs of footwear. All in all, it was simple to search out locations to stash and safe objects, although because the bag is so huge, it nonetheless took time to open it up and find every thing. Extra so than in a standard duffel.

Ought to You Purchase The North Face Rolling Thunder Duffel?

If you happen to’re out there for a sturdy, dependable duffel with loads of organizational alternatives and tons of area for all of your clothes or gear, this bag is a strong selection. We weren’t fearful about it getting broken when it bought knocked round and there was a spot for every thing, even small objects. It’s a superb selection for the form of huge journeys and adventures that require greater than a easy change of garments.

It’s not a finances bag, and definitely not the least costly we examined, however these open to creating the funding will seemingly discover a dependable companion for all their adventures for years to return. If you happen to choose to journey mild, desire a duffel you’ll be able to extra simply transport through numerous carry choices, or choose one thing with simpler entry to contents, chances are you’ll need to look elsewhere.

What Different [Category] Ought to You Think about?

If you happen to’re unsure The North Face Rolling Thunder Duffel is best for you in any of the out there sizes, chances are you’ll need to contemplate one of many different stand-out duffels we’ve examined.

Osprey Transporter Duffel Evaluation: Whereas it might not have wheels, this duffel remains to be simple to pack and unpack and will be carried as a backpack on excursions the place rolling baggage is much less appropriate.

The North Face Base Camp Gear Field Evaluation: In search of extra of a gear hauler than a standard duffel? Take a look at The North Face Base Camp Gear Field. It is available in a number of sizes and presents a superb solution to retailer gear at busy base camps or behind a car. It folds flat when empty and stacks simply when full.

Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler Evaluation: Manufactured from extremely sturdy supplies with good giant pockets for cumbersome gear like boots or helmets, this bag is straightforward to pack, loads spacious, and cozy to hold.