Mountain Hardwear Expedition Duffle
October 9, 2009
All ladies appreciate a good bag, right? Well, I was recently reminded of how much I appreciate this tough, water resistant, roomy bag that was part of my OR09 swag (thanks, MHW!) and which recently accompanied me and all my stuff out into the field for a week. You know how when you go on a trip, your stuff seems to expand and multiply even though it’s the same stuff you left with? Why a crumpled dirty sock takes up more room than a clean crumpled sock is a total mystery to me. Hmm, must be all that dirt taking up more space.
Anyway, as my trip progressed, I kept having to stuff what seemed like more and more things into the Expedition Duffle. While other bags that were along for the ride gave up the ghost, busting zippers and rendering themselves useless, the Expedition Duffle gamely accepted the overflow, which let me tell you was an incredible relief. Not only did the bag end up carrying all of its original contents, it also gathered up the contents of the broken-zipper bag (which I left behind in disgust) with a minimum of complaint. It turns out that no matter what, you can usually find another nook or cranny in this bag, and the clever design of the lid means you can always close the zipper, regardless of how full you stuff the bag. And the zipper is heavy duty, a big relief after having two zipper failures from other bags on the same trip.
An added bonus was the waterproof fabric. On the last day of the trip, we awoke to 6 inches of snow, and had several hours of work to do, meaning that our stuff was going to sit around and get wet. But not my stuff, since it was in the Expedition Duffle. All I had to do was brush off the snow. The zipper itself is not waterproof, so don’t go throwing your stuff into a river thinking it will stay dry, but the lid covers up the zipper well enough so that water and snow just roll off the top.
The Duffle comes in several sizes, and I’m not sure which one I have since I was so keen to use it I just ripped off the tags and sallied forth. I’m pretty sure it’s the small size, and to put that in perspective I packed for a week’s trip and then some and it all fit into the bag. I’ve seen the large size and I could pack for a month trip PLUS fit my own self into that bag, so choose your size accordingly. I also recommend the wheeled version for you heavy packers, especially if you’re going by regular airplane. And with that, I can finally get to the real reason for this review: it was all just a setup so that I can brag that I traveled by private helicopter so I didn’t have to worry about airline security, schlepping through the terminal, and all that tedious non-private-helicopter stuff.
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