Light weight Duffle?

How light are you seeking?

I have probably eight duffle bags, and my observation is that the larger they are, the more durable the fabric is. One small (450 cubic inch) one is 10 ounces. The biggest one is large enough for me to crawl inside and zip it up, and it weighs a couple of pounds.

I've thought of checking myself as baggage on an airliner that way. Not.

–B.G.–

The lighter the better. :) would like to find something in sil that has a outside end pocket or two and is in the 1-2 pound range. The simpler the better though.

Whenever I have needed a basic and light duffle bag, I have purchased one from Campmor. They have all kinds, but the basic ones are made by Outdoor Products. Their duffle bag prices tend to be about $1 less than the same thing purchased locally.

The nice and heavy ones are made by Eagle Creek.

–B.G.–

Paul, go to rei.com and search under "duffel"

It'll pull up a a number of duffels including a couple 20 ounce nylon ones that are meant to store your pack (so that TSA machinery doesn't chew up all your straps etc). Not sure if they have a pocket on the outside, and sometimes the zipper can be in a weird location, but I think it might be your best bet. Check this one out for example
http://www.rei.com/product/804454

If you plan on checking the thing, I would highly recommend against silnylon. It will be shredded, period. Traveling can be much more punishing to a pack than hiking.

No checking, but not finding anything like that any place and have gone through the full range of manufactures with nothing even close to a ultralight design. Thought I would check here to see if anyone had seen anything like it.

Oh, you want ultralight?

I could probably sew one out of thin silk, but it would not be worth the trouble.

If duffle bags are made to be durable, it is probably for a reason.

–B.G.–

Depending on the use intended, the Osprey Airporter LZ might work for you. Specifications provided at Amazon:

36 x 13 x 13 inches
12.8 ounces

20 ounces Also at REI

http://www.rei.com/product/787296

Paul- Granite Gear now makes travel duffel bags, 50 liters under 2 lbs. Not sure if that's light enough but something to consider.

The North Face now do the Flyweight Duffel, a lightweight version of their Base Camp Duffel. I saw them in a shop for the first time today:

http://www.thenorthface.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=144347&storeId=207&catalogId=10201&langId=-1&from=subCat&parent_category_rn=24453&variationId=001

47 litre, 14oz and made of '70D Polyurethane (PU)-coated nylon ripstop'.

Paul, this exchange duffle http://www.briggs-riley.com/category/productDetail.aspx?id=Exchange-26-Duffle_BD126X from Briggs & Riley might do the trick for you. It has exterior pockets at the front and on the side and can even be expanded for additional packing capacity. Although it weighs a little more than what you want, you can convert it into a backpack for easy carrying. The only hassle is that the bag is yet to be launched. But if you can wait for a couple of weeks, I’d suggest giving it a shot!

MEC at http://www.mec.ca (no .com) Has a 55L duffle at 800g (about 28oz) They also have a pack overbag similar to the REI one that's a bit cheaper. The Medium says it will fit 40L or larger packs, but that thing is a monster. I can fit my 100L mountaineering pack in there, fully loaded, without really trying.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I will check through those and see if any will work :)

All good suggestions above. For lightweight pack protection I've just used the Outdoor Products duffels from Campmor – however, the zippers can't take much pulling apart so a) don't overstuff and b) use nylon webbing with buckles at the middle and each end to secure the contents in case the zipper busts open.

BTW, I'm selling an Osprey Transporter 95 new with tags still on for about 1/3 off. It's a very well designed duffel which can also carry like a pack, it's a little less than 6000 cu. in. in volume and around 2 lbs. You can find the sale thread in the Gear Trade forum or just PM me.

EJ, are the duffels from Campmor easy to pack inside a backpack? I'm headed to Norway and Iceland this summer, using my Golite Pinnacle smooshed down to a Jam size. I want to carry it on, but Icelandair only allows 13 lbs. I feel like I can get to that weight or less, but need a backup plan if I can't. I thought a cheap duffel would work, fold it up and use it on the return.

Any other ideas from folks would be nice.

I had purchased the Outdoor Products duffle in the size of 24" long and 12" diameter. I tested it by loading it up with some gear, and then I jerked the handles a bunch as a test. Nothing popped open.

Mine is too bulky to fit into a men's shirt pocket, even when tightly folded.

–B.G.–

The OP duffels are inexpensive and pretty light and because the material is fairly light and thin, yes they are easy to pack inside a backpack. My wife and I have carried medium-sized ones trips inside our carry-on travel packs as extra luggage if needed for the return trip.

The zippers won't pop open with casual use, but will pop open if under stress from overstuffing. My wife and I have used very large ones to check in winter gear including aluminum poles, snowshoes, etc., carefully packed of course to protect them and compressed with some nylon webbing straps to keep the load from moving around and from stressing the zippers. Once we blew the zipper on one bag during a move because we way overstuffed it and didn't throw compression straps around the bag.

Because zippers are often the failure point, tougher duffels have nylon webbing compression buckles to take the stress off the zippers. I may eventually sew on compression webbing straps onto our large OP duffels, but for now I just use webbing straps around each end and the middle.

Once I get the duffle stuffed, I will need to check it as baggage on an airliner. Now, I don't want anything to pop open, so I will tie a mesh of ordinary white parachute cord around it in several directions. Also, if the TSA inspectors scan it and see anything suspicious, they are entitled to cut the cord off to look inside. That's fine, and there is no harm done if it is ordinary cord. I've had bags with buckle straps that were removed and lost.

–B.G.–

EJ- good to know. I would put the pack right inside the duffel just for keeping straps and such from hanging up on conveyor belts and some protection to the pack. I can always sew some compression straps to the duffel if needed.