UKH

Hi All,

In need of a new exped. Duffel, I was shopping around for a replacement North face bag-which are awesome! But £75ish and stumbled onto a similar product made by Gelert that at £34 is really cheap! It looks ok as far as i can see from the picture. Does anyone have any experience of these? Specifically in comparison to the more expensive NF bag.

Thanks in advance.

In reply to CragRat_Trad:

Cotswolds have a sale on Mountain Equipment duffels on at the moment, same idea as TNF ones. I've no experience of the Gelert one, but I got the 100L ME one for £50, and in my opinion I'd save the extra £15.

http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/index.cfm/product/mountain-equipment-wet-dry...

In reply to MarkDH08:

Yeah i've got the 100L Rab Exped bag and i think thry're as good as the TNF one. Might as well save the cash and go ME or Rab.

In reply to CragRat_Trad:

TNF - durable, comes with rucksack straps
ME - durable, but a lot cheaper, no rucksack straps
RAB - cheap, but thinner material, so much lighter, not so durable, rucksack straps

Iain

In reply to CragRat_Trad:

Try 'Tatonka Barrel' - I've had a Tatonka barrel xl for years and it's been great.

In reply to Iain Downie:

We have ME ones and they came with detachable rucksack straps. Several airport visits later and they are showing some serious wear, this is purely airport machinery as we only use them for family holidays these days, not as if they are on the tops of 4WD, yaks and donkeys getting flung about in rough terrain. If I was buying again I'd buy TNF.

In reply to CragRat_Trad:

No idea about Gellert brand.

But I've got a few, some no-name stuff and a Tatonka Barrel, as well as handled friends Ortliebs and TNFs and whotnot.

Ortlieb seemed to be the most robust/handy I've seen. But really spendy.

The rest are pretty much the same, if the material thickness is the same... as in robust as hell. To be honest, you can't really fvck up a basecamp/expedition duffel, unless the material is too weak or stiching really crap. Both which you can easily check while having the bag on yer hand.

In reply to CragRat_Trad: The TNF ones are more robust than their counterparts IMO although the ME bags are good value for most uses but for intensive use TNF basecamp bags are far superior.

In reply to CragRat_Trad:

My 100 litre ME one is holding up very well after numerous flights and other abuse. They also do an even bigger one now for £60, but we just bought another 100L one to replace a lesser bag.

Superdry do a looky-likey, at an unsurprisingly inflated price, but with a zip borrowed from a child's day sack.

In reply to CragRat_Trad: Mrs Summitjunkie and myself use Vango Cargo 90s which have been on a couple of treks, handled by airport machinery, strapped to mules, hauled by porters etc., as well as being used to haul kit in the Landie on several camps and courses... all for the low price of just £28.95. Both bags still look fairly mint and can pack two weeks of trekking kit.

Check t'internet for latest prices.

In reply to CragRat_Trad: I've had a couple of the Gelert bags for 6-7 years. They've not been used for anything serious, mainly camping trips from the back of the car, flights to spain, family holidays etc. I bought them as a 1/2 way house between a rucksack and a suitcase. They've stood up to that very well and given the price I paid I'd say they've been very good value and seem well made. Having said that I don't know how well they'd take serious abuse/use or how they'd compare with more expesive brand.

In reply to CragRat_Trad:

I've used the big TNF bag for years and it goes where the shoulder straps attach to the bag (it was sent back to TNF to get fixed.) If I had to choose again, I'd go for something that is reinforced there.

In reply to CragRat_Trad: I've one from Decathlon, cheap & so far robust although its not really had much abuse.

In reply to CragRat_Trad: Thanks for all the responses on this topic-much appreciated! Will check out some of the suggestions!

Cheers

In reply to CragRat_Trad:
I've both the ME 70l and 100l bags and love them
Couldn't fault them for use

http://www.fishproducts.com/catalog/productlinefs.html

I have one of the fish bags basic but strong

In reply to CragRat_Trad:

Throughout the offshore industry we use bags from these guys:

http://www.montroseropeandsail.co.uk/

Ive had mine through airports about 30-40 times so far and no wear at all. Solid built and relatively cheap.

In reply to CragRat_Trad:

These look pretty interesting

http://www.rockrun.com/products/Rock-%252b-Run-Black-Box-65L.html

and made in the UK!

In reply to CragRat_Trad: Got a decathlon 120L travel bag. Same style as TNF ones. It was £30 and have it 5 years. Not a single problem with it. Been around the world couple of times. Get one.

In reply to CragRat_Trad:

i use the mountain hardwear duffles.

simple, strong, pack straps, less attention from locals...