North Face Base Camp Review: The Truck of Duffel Bags

The North Face would be the poster youngster of the Gore-Tex jacket that swept Nineties style, 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 grew to become 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 you could 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 occurring 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 But like a grizzled, outdated mountain man, the Base Camp’s toughness comes with a scarcity of just a few of the extra civilized touches and niceties of its rivals. To put it merely, until you could 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 additional small (31 liters) to extra-extra giant (150 liters). The small is ideal for an extended weekend journey, in a position to make it on board an airplane as a carry-on. At the hefty finish of the size, few firms make a 150-liter duffel. Most of the competitors, such because the Patagonia Black Hole ($219), tops out at 100 liters. For actually giant 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 outdoors 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 might select from pink, black, seafoam inexperienced, and a pair of blues.

The yellow is simple to see if you drop it from a aircraft and get well 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 am unable to say why, however I’ve by no means checked a bag that ended up trying 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 pink 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 simply too unwieldy and uncomfortable when you load it up with garments and kit. I’m discovering it more durable and more durable to suggest gigantic duffels that do not supply backpack straps. The Base Camp could be gentle on auxiliary options, but it surely does no less than have straps.

They’re … OK. Slightly padded, they did not trigger any discomfort, however I would not name them comfy; they merely did the job. The adjustable straps had a bent to slide when you did not give them an extended, lengthy tail, which obtained on my nerves. There’s no pocket to slide them into if 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 solely unpadded and extra of an precise downside than an annoyance. Putting something heavy within the bag, which is simple with one which measures greater than 100 liters, could make the deal with disagreeable to make use of. It’s a baffling determination 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 gear.