carry

North Face Base Camp Duffel thoughts, part 1

Two well-used North Face Base Camp Duffels

This review is more than half a decade old. Perhaps it has been waiting for some unknown inspiration, or perhaps I simply forgot. The oldest of the three bags mentioned below was given away to a friend heading to Berlin years and years ago, in San Francisco. Otherwise every word holds true, and I publish it now for future reference.

I’m on my third. This is a statement of luxury and trust, because they haven’t died. The first one sits down in the garage, filled with cleats and hats, water bottles and discs. It goes with us to tournaments and is so often covered in dust that the black surface is permanently lightly textured.

The second one, also black, isn’t mine. It’s Tara’s, bought for a trip I can no longer remember. They’re not the same, these two black duffles with large silver logos on the ends. The newer one is the 2015 model, with no carry straps across the opening and smaller webbing handles and loops around the edges. It has an outside zip pocket at one end, which is transformative as the old version has only clip-on features on the exterior. Being able to stash keys, a transit card, headphones, a power cord, and an inhaler without opening the duffel makes it a much better backpack, and a much better single carry on. This goes hand in hand with the better backpack straps and the removal of the top carry handles which either dangled one on each side or rubbed in the middle of the back when the old one was used as a backpack. Filled loosely, as the one now used for cleats is mostly, that’s fine, but when traveling sometimes the bag is packed tight, and the carry handles made the shoulder straps harder to use. After a decade of promoting the bag for all purpose use the North Face designers decided to focus and optimize for the backpack carry rather than the single arm carry, and the bag is much stronger for their decision.

The third one, which sits above me in the economy class overhead on this flight to Shanghai, is gray with pink straps. In many ways it’s the accent piece to my travel gear, which is otherwise mostly gray, black, or dark blue. I have a bright orange Patagonia jacket that I mostly wear for ultimate that serves the same purpose, being by far the brightest thing I own. It’s immediately visible in a sea of players at a tournament, which is the point. Recognizable. The new bag is the same, bright and flashy while still essentially being a gray bag. It was a present from Tara in early 2016, before the spring travel season. I’ve checked it once, but mostly use it as a single carry bag, with pack-it cubes. Right now it’s filled with Amazon purchases for a friend in Shanghai, my wool hoodie, a spare pair of pants, and two cubes of t-shirts and underwear. On the way back it’ll be lighter, meaning I’ll conform to the rule of saving 10% for the journey, at least in one direction.

In a lot of ways this review then is about packing style rather than the bag. The details, the rough sketch of the bag, are important though: it’s very water resistant, and very dirt resistant. Most scuffs can be wiped or rubbed off with a dirt cloth. This is important when traveling in a lot of different circumstances with a bag on one’s back. If it looks beat to heck then so do I, because it’s as big as my torso. All 3 of our bags are the small size, 50 liters, which is really plenty for a couple of weeks on the road. If they were bigger I’d take more crap which would make them heavier which would make me want to travel less. The absolute number one rule I’ve learned these last few years is carry less stuff when on the road. It makes life a lot better, makes me more likely to explore, and makes me happier once I have done so. Backpack style travel enables faster transitions and better motion than wheeled luggage, with the trade off of one’s spine supporting whatever’s in the bag rather than the wheel. This is a good trade off in general, as it’s easier to change plans, to handle obstacles, and to blend in, but it’s a trade off that rewards packing light, as back pain makes me reluctant to climb stairs or explore alleys that I otherwise would want to.

The mesh pocket on the opening flap of the bag is great for pens, change, transit cards, and other quick access stuff. In the older version I used to leave my inhaler in there, which isn’t a good idea as the outside of this pocket is pressed against the center of the back when using the bag as a backpack. If the bag is full this meant the inhaler would jam into my lower spine. In the newer version the inhaler goes into the top zip pocket, which solves that problem.

The shoulder straps on the new version are wider, thicker, and spaced more naturally apart. They can also be used as a carry handle, grabbing both of them as a poor replacement for the old dedicated carry handle. Whether this is useful is a matter of opinion, but it’s not horrible. The side and end handles on the 2015 version are far superior. They’re slender, and there are handles on all four sides now, instead of just two. This makes a huge difference trying to get the bag fully loaded in and out of taxis, tuk tuks, and truck beds.

The big downside to this bag of course is the huge North Face logo. I’ve tried removing it, on my oldest bag, with very limited success. If anyone has a secret recipe that works and doesn’t damage the bag’s surface or waterproof nature, I’d love to hear it.

For those interested in the subtler color ways, there’s a genius black version that I’ve only seen in person in Bangkok but must be available elsewhere. It’s black, with a matte grey logo that blends in much better than the standard US version’s silver. Even better, the whole bag is lightly sparkled, looking like a star field at night. It’s just a tiny bit of flair on an otherwise very black bag, and a really wonderful effect.

I’ve gone with the pink and gray instead, because I mostly use this bag on work trips or on vacation, and it’s great to have an easily-visible piece of luggage after years of near-identical black gear.

All in all this bag is a steal at $120 US recommended retail, and I highly recommend it if this style of travel suits you. I’d get the newer 2015 version even if there’s a price difference, because the backpack straps and zip pocket are that big an improvement. And then I’d take it somewhere that it needed cleaning after.

Which is entirely the point.

Patagonia Stormfront Roll Top Boat Bag thoughts, part 1

For the past few years I’ve been packing ever less and traveling ever more. In this new life travel comes down to three things: what you need, what you have, and how annoyed by lugging it around you are. The challenge lies in minimizing the last while equalizing the first two. The key to all three of course is to minimize the first, need, which makes the resulting jenga algebra easier.

This review is about one way to do all three.

Duffels have made a comeback the past few years, often in the guise of a weekender. The premise is simple: a bag to hold some stuff for a short trip that doesn’t require much carrying. This means no hiking, though some duffels have backpack straps. This means no wheels. And, most essentially for the category, this means not much bag structure.

The poorly named Patagonia Stormfront Roll Top Boat Bag 47L focuses on this last element. The entire bag consists of a TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) coated nylon that is cut and welded into shape. The handles, shoulder strap attachment points, zipper pocket, and carry loops are all welded on. This is a common construction in the boat/wet outdoor market, and all the bags in the Stormfront line feature the same base materials. Sea Line also makes a great line of bags using similar styling and a wider range of colors.

The Roll Top Boat Bag (hereafter boat bag to save words) is unique to this line in both size (47 liters) and lack of structure. When empty it can be folded or squished completely flat. There is a stiff plastic plate at the bottom, which is very useful to keep some shape when packing, but can be removed as needed. There are two simple mesh zip pockets internal and one external. There are two loops for attaching sandals, towels, hats, or jackets that were probably intended for more specific fishing gear. And that’s it. Empty, the bag folds almost flat, and is incredibly easy to stow in a closet, a major benefit in small apartments.

The best feature of this bag is also it’s great weakness: the roll top. The roll top provides a simple, waterproof, and variable size closure system. The last part is the key. Open, this bag becomes a holding cube, able to contain and hide huge amounts of gear. It is ideal when staying somewhere for a few days, as it can be opened up and used as a staging area, like a set of drawers, for all one’s belongings. Better than a small suitcase in this regard. Two of us have operated out of one for a week, without much re-packing during that time. It’s cavernous when fully expanded, as the pictures on Patagonia’s site demonstrate.

Needless to say this style of bag requires pack-it cubes. The specific style doesn’t matter, but in a bag without structure, items need to be grouped to prevent everything becoming a stew at the bottom of the bag. And that stew headlines the second part of this review, the problems with this kind of bag structure.  First, roll top bags require a lengthy opening. Especially in the minimal style of the Stormfront, which features only one tiny exterior pocket, this means every interaction requires unclipping and unrolling the entire bag. This wouldn’t be such a burden if not for the second problem, unique to roll top duffels: shouldering it causes the closure to shift and gradually work it’s way open. This happens because when carried by the shoulder strap the two ends of the strap exert compressing pressure from the bag’s ends, which crunches it to the middle. The result is that the flat roll top becomes arched, and is no longer held flat and tight across the bag. Under this pressure the rolled portion, without something to secure it in the middle, will gradually work its way open. This is especially problematic when moving quickly while carrying the bag on one shoulder, but happens over time regardless of position or speed. Also, because the TPU coating on the Stormfront is quite slick, it loosens especially easily. Without some kind of anchor or strap though, I believe any roll top bag of this size will open eventually. On the Stormfront it means carrying the bag is an exercise in rearranging, as the top will gradually shift, which allows the contents to move. Without pack-it cubes, the entire bag becomes a stew of items. With them, it retains the structure of the cubes’ exterior, but slides uncomfortably on the back.

Thus, after a lot of use, this is an excellent bag at the destination, but a difficult bag to carry to one. If transit involves primarily driving, boating, or short airplane rides where it doesn’t need to be checked, this is an excellent bag. The light weight, collapsibility, and cavernous interior are strong recommendations. Given the lengthy name, this is precisely the market Patagonia is targeting, and probably a correct one. Unfortunately the roll top that gives it such amazing storage when open is incredibly finicky when closed, and requires patience to carry for any length of time. This makes the bag much less useful for long walks or active sports, which are my primary use cases. The rather poor shoulder strap on the boat bag does not help, as it is thin and shifts around during use.

Overall this is a very well-built bag for specific uses, and we love it for short flights or weekend trips to friends’ houses.

Unfortunately the shifting and uncomfortable experience of carrying this bag for several hours has soured me somewhat on roll top duffels, and so I avoid all thought of more expensive ones like this seemingly awesome Outlier bag. I’d love to hear from other folk who carry roll top duffels, especially on a shoulder for any length of time.

Picharpak Travel Wallet thoughts, part 1

I’ve been looking for a travel wallet lately. I’d like something that will hold a passport, a couple of different transit cards, money, maybe a spare SIM, a couple of business cards, and still fit in a back pocket. Over the past year or two I’ve started traveling with my passport tucked behind my wallet in my back pocket, so I know a wallet sized for the passport would fit my use cases. What I didn’t know was how well, or where to get one. Money too has been a problem, as most US-made wallets don’t gracefully hold larger bills. As someone who spends a lot of time in China, where the 100 RMB notes are large, this is an annoyance that grates. So I was looking for a wallet that fit a passport, fit in a back pocket, held Chinese currency, and possibly had a SIM slot.

While there are plenty of blogs devoted to frequent fliers, milage points, hotel reviews, two week camping trips, and non-tent sleeping options, the parts of travel that matter to me are surprisingly lightly covered. Traveling light but not backpacking, carrying as little as possible, carrying it in a way that allows for inconvenient travel methods and locations, and yet still being presentable for business meetings seems to be an under-served market. Or just a small one.

The only wallet I found that seemed designed around my needs was Bellroy’s Travel Wallet. At $120, it’s still on my shopping list, or Christmas list. The video though perfectly encapsulated my use cases. I don’t particularly care about the pen, as I have a favorite cheap pen on hand at all times, but the rest? It’s got a SIM slot, a passport slot, spare card slots for transit cards, and is big enough to hold boarding passes! If that doesn’t sound exciting, I’ve proven how specific the use case is.

For the last two years I’ve carried a Yasutomo 2020 wa-ben cuben fiber wallet. Like so many people, this was inspired by William Gibson’s interview. As someone who spends a lot of time looking at outdoor gear, fibers, bags, and clothing, I have been talking to and watching Jason’s company, now Picharpak Workshop, ever since. He’s been building a broader product base, and during a conversation one night in Hong Kong, I offered to test new products. For Christmas I bought my fiancée one of his limited edition hybrid wallets. To my my surprise an early sample of a travel wallet showed up in the package!

Built on the same idea as Bellroy’s, Picharpak’s travel wallet features a couple of extra card slots in the back and two spare SIM slots on the passport sleeve. It also has an extra slot for a touch pay transit card behind the normal card slots. Otherwise it resembles the wa-ben, with the same two slots for bills or receipts and the same cuben fiber construction. Like my original wa-ben, the travel wallet prototype is made of CT9.5, and so won’t offer good abrasion resistance. Jason’s newer hybrid wallets have different outermost layers and offer much better abrasion resistance. From the turfed-up photos of my 2 year old wallet it’s clear this is a serious design improvement. Along with the limited hybrid, I ordered one of the newer woven fiber cuben hybrids, to possibly replace my old wa-ben and to check whether the transparent options had been improved as well. They have, and the new woven cuben hybrid retains the old look while offering a smother and more durable outer shell. I’m all for it.

Testing has taken some time. A couple of day trips to Mexico in January provided the first opportunity. The wallet was a relief from carrying passport and wallet in the same pocket, l as I’d supposed, convenient and simple. Swapping wallets prior to travel was the only obstacle. After the second trip I considered carrying the travel wallet as my regular wallet. However on the second trip I learned that the slick CT9.5 slips out of pants with stretch. Not ideal, but I’d expect a full version to feature the hybrid construction. At this point I also switched full time to the hybrid wallet, and now can’t see myself returning to the CT9.5 construction full time. One of the early concerns, that the SIM card would slip out its holder, proved unfounded. My China Unicom SIM, seen in the photos, has been secure for the past three months.

Travel wallets like this may be a small market, but they’re an excellent idea. For those of us who travel lightly, frequently, and yet for work, the simplification is worth the wallet-swapping. I can’t wait for a finished version.