I'm looking forward to using this bag for upcoming international travel, after my old duffle bag finally bit the dust. This bag has everything that I've been looking for--good shoulder straps, a hip belt that actually reaches my hips, it expands (!), the main zipper is protected when you're wearing the bag on your back, the material is water resistant, and the opening to the main compartment is wide and allows easy access. The only thing (there's always SOMEthing, right?) the bag is missing is load lifter straps. I'm contemplating taking the bag to my local repair shop to see about adding them.
I've been trying to find the perfect all-rounder big pack for a while. I want something that can compress down to fit on a plane and expand out to carry a lot of stuff comfortably. The everyday packs are too small.
The travel 45 I have is great, but its hard to fit lunch, drinks, work stuff, and gym stuff all in that one pack. I also find the travel 45 a little uncomfortable when loaded down.
I've been using the PD duffel for a while and like it a lot, but it sucks to carry when loaded down for long periods of time. Hmmm....
The duffelpack is straight up the best and worst of both worlds. It's far and away more comfortable than the travel 45 or regular duffel when loaded down. It even carries small and medium loads well. The straps are all super comfortable. It is perfect for what I need.
Access is not as good as in the normal duffel, which has long flaps that extend beyond the body of the bag and make stuffing it full (and getting stuff out when stuffed) really easy. This duffel also wants to collapse on itself when packing. In those ways, it's an inferior duffel.
There is no frame. You get some padding from the strap storage flaps, but the comfort of this bag correlates with your ability to pack it comfortably. Other backpacks have frames or rigid padding and you don't need to worry about that. There are internal and external partitioned and zippered pockets and they are nice, but I wouldn't call them spacious. This is essentially a big void for you to huck your belongings into. In those ways, it's worse than a backpack.
While not perfect, it is about the best possible cross between a duffel and a backpack.
The best travel bag I´ve ever had. I use it for all my travels of 1 weekend or more, even for 2 weeks. The only thing i think it lacks is an easy way to lock the zipper with a zipper padlock when i leave it in a hostal, hotel or other locations. With that it would be completely perfect.
This backpack is beautifully designed, and held up to a 3 week African safari adventure with the camera cube. Easily holds a professional mirrorless camera with a 190-600 zoom, along with three (3) more lenses, filters, and other camera accessories along with the Tech Pouch to store all the little things. Unqualifiedly recommended.