Customer Reviews The North Face Base Camp Duffel - Small

I've loved the classic base camp duffel ever since I saw them as a kid in various expedition photos and articles. To me they were always the true adventure duffel and while there have been imitators, none have managed to recreate the base camp duffel. I think everything about the most recent update to these guys were great, except the removal of the sewn in carry handles. M - XL have them and while I can see XS and XXL being left out, the small should not have had them removed. I understand that the backpack straps can be used as carry handles but they're awkward and not all that comfortable after a while in your hands. At 50L this pack should definitely have them, especially since the original small had them only to be removed in the latest update. Again, Super high quality duffel but this one will probably be returned and I'll continue using my old ones until these hopefully get updated again.

I really wanted this bag to work but the backpack straps are unbelievably uncomfortable. They're eay too wide for me to wear, significantly wider than my women's Osprey pack. If they had the option to switch strap size at no additional cost I'd keep it in a heart beat as the matetial quality, size and style otherwise were exactly what I wanted.

Great material but doesn't fulfill the purpose if you are looking for a duffle bag. It turns out that the only option to carry this bag is as a backpack. No option to carry it over the shoulder or just by hand like you would do with a normal duffle bag.

Bag is a nice design. Minus teo major flaws. No shoulder strap or hand carry handles. This should not be called a duffle but rather a large bookbag. Not sure when or why it was changed. But the bag would be much better if it had those two straps along with the bookbag carry straps it already comwa with

This is a new design of the classic NF duffle. But I can't understand why they call it a duffle anymore as it lacks two very fundamental basic aspects of a duffle. You should be able to carry a "duffle" by either a shoulder strap that attaches to the two opposite ends of the bag or, as an alternative, grab the duffle by the two handles in the middle of the bag and clench this with one hand. This bag used to have both; now it has neither. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. You can either use it as a backpack, which is not the best use of the design, or you can grab it by a single handle on the side, which makes for awkward unbalanced carry. I bought one from an online retailer and could not figure out how to carry it like a duffle - you simply can't.

My sister has an older version of these in S which has the long handles. I really like using the bag and wanted to get one of these for myself, but not having the long handles on the new version is a real deal breaker. I wish you hadn't removed the long handles.

Unfortunately it appears as if the north face design team was asleep on this item. To quote the description, "side zip pocket fits a phone, wallet or other small item". This is blatantly not true. It wont fit my iphone 4 with a case on it. Doesn't even get close to fitting an iphone 5 or 6 without a case. Clearly, this pocket is not designed for a phone, in direct contrast to the description. That's one misleading product feature that the north face should have verified before claiming. The second feature I have real issue with is the carry handles. The XS version is great for chunking in the trunk and grabbing it to toss around. The lack of a true top carry handle makes transporting this bag like shopping bag very difficult to impossible. The shoulder straps function well as shoulder straps but seem to fall short of useful when in the carry handle position. Maybe im not using them right but I cant find a way that they function well except as backpack shoulder straps. This is really only an issue on the xs as its so small you just want to carry it like a shopping bag often, doubt you would do this with the XL :). So overall im not too impressed with the design of the item partially because the north face made claims that are not true for the vast majority of the population IE - cell phone fits in pocket. Doubt I will be purchasing one of these again. Really sad because I had such high expectations that were simply not met. The lack of an appropriate carry handle is the real deal breaker as i'm frustrated every time I have to carry the bag out of my truck somewhere as I have to carry it by the side or end handle.

I bought this for a Christmas gift for my son last year. I didn't unfold it and take it apart when I received it. I would have returned it if I had. The description stated that there was a shoulder strap. It only has backpack straps, which are awkward for side carry. I was expecting a regular duffel shoulder strap. There aren't handles on the top for carrying either, and the zippers don't work smoothly. The material is substantial, but I expected a better bag for the price and based on the description.

North face, why would you get rid of the handles? it wasn't broken but you fixed it. Terrible

This bag is great except that the construction is pretty shabby. After 4 months of moderate use the zipper completely broke and rendered this a glorified tote bag. I'd go with another company for lighter and more durable bags in the future.

I have two of these bags in medium and large, love em. I'd buy four of these xsmall or small for my kids but not until... they add some "duffel" handles! As of now they are just round backpacks, not duffels... but that's just me, no wait there are like a ton of reviews asking for "duffel bag" handles, weird!

Because the buckle is attached reversely, the string to hang cannot be attached. I bought it while traveling, and confirmed it after returning home, so I can't return it. Even though I paid really high money, I was sent something that I couldn't use and lost my trust. Really disappointed.

I returned this product after living with it for a couple days. I packed it first so I could determine exactly what it would hold. I also wanted to see, once packed, how easy it was to work with since there was not middle handle, only the backpack straps and no strap for your shoulder. I found the lack of the middle strap to be a pain, especially when the bag was backed full. I could see moving the bag just across the room was a pain. I can inly imagine how difficult the bag would be to work with getting it out of the overhead on a plane. I believe NF missed the mark on this bag.

I've barely used this duffel and it's falling apart. The laminate is breaking from the outer material. At every natural fold is a hole. Great bag if you don't plan on using it. Definitely not durable or waterproof. It's an older design so hopefully the newer designs are better.

Was so looking forward to this bag. There are no handles on it. Seriously? Who makes a bag with no handles on it? No shoulder strap either. Would have been perfect if it had handles and a strap, I was disappointed to return it.

No better quality... unfortunately the new design falls terribly short with the elimination of the carrying handles. The size M on up has handles and are useful. The removal of handles on size small had me sell my north face and look to competing brands. Most times I travel with a backpack and a duffel. Unfortunately the backpack straps on the duffel does not provide a good fit. Please add back the carrying handles or sell me an old model that might be lying around the warehouse. If size small had handles - hands down 5 Star.

Super disappointed in the redesign! The best part about this bag were the handles, so the bag could double as a duffel and a backpack. Carrying the bag by the backpack straps when trying to carry it like a duffel feels and looks odd. I prefer my old one, it's such a shame they 'fixed' something that wasn't broken and made it worse.

The bag was perfect in all ways except... it has a shiny GOLD interior. This is not stated anywhere in the description. For such a bold (i.e. tacky) color choice, this should be shown in the pictures.

By changing the design they have ruined otherwise an almost perfect bag. There is no strap to carry it on your shoulder. There are no holes to attach a padlock. TNF - what have you done?

I was attracted by the videos and pictures from the description, but it turns out totally different with the product. The hand strap above the shoulder strap is totally missing, and the side zippers are also missing. the product is definitely another version of the bag. Quite disappointed to be honest.

I have two and I need more. I can't believe that you have removed the longer side handles. This makes the bag useless for carrying large, heavy loads. I have no idea who you surveyed before making this change to a classic, essential piece of gear. Just hang out at an airport any place with mountains and the choice is clear. Please fix this. In the mean time, I'll be looking for an older version. If you have one, please direct me to the place to buy it.

I've had many of these bags over the years and loved them all. Just got a new one and I'm going to be sending it back. Why remove the handles? I only use the shoulder straps if I'm going to be carrying it for a long distance, but I've use that handles 99% of the time. This makes about as much sense as removing the steering wheel from a car.

I have a previous version of this duffel bag size large and it is great but I needed something smaller for weekend trips. Unfortunately, someone on the design team decided that we do not need handles anymore. This decision was not thought through. It's the only way I carried my previous version and now have to find a way to rig some handles on it....I am not happy!!!