(I never had a Marmot strap fail, I was just always worried that it would at the worst possible time.) Eventually I replaced my 90L and 120L Marmot bags with Patagonia black hole duffels in similar sizes. However, after traveling with the Marmot bags I found that the shoulder straps were very narrow and not comfortable when the bags were weighted down (more of an issue with the larger bags) and that the removable straps for the bags were connected via a small plastic latch that just didn't seem very resilient. Of the bags in this class, the Marmot bags were good for size and high quality construction. I evaluated both the "North Face Camp Duffel" bags (too round, not comfortable to carry), the Mountain Hardwear bags (too rectangular, not comfortable to carry with heavy loads), and the Marmot bags. It would have been nice to see metal side release buckles, but then again no one does that on generally commercially available bags. The straps attach via a plastic D-ring at one end and a plastic side release buckle. Zippers are not sealed - so yeah, in a fierce downpour, water will eventually get inside the bag. The zippers work perfectly well without them, as they were more decorative than functional. Minor gripe: the rubberized pulls for the zippers will come off after a few months. It could be an issue if you find yourself on the wrong side of a baggage Nazi. And while I've never had an issue, the dimensions are larger than the official measurements for cabin baggage for IATA in Europe. So I'm forced to nit pick to find issues: Cons: - The bag is about the same volume as a European IATA carry on. ![]() All in all there are very few downsides to this bag. The zipper tab holes will fit a smallish TSA lock - so if you have to check your bag, you can lock the main compartment. This is a big deal, zippers are often one of the first things to fail with heavy travel luggage and when they do fail, it sucks. (Although I haven't flown Ryan Air with this bag - all bets are off there.) - Zippers have held up well even when I've overstuffed the bag. European carriers don't have a problem with the bags size. The bag fits into the overhead on every commercial plane I've been on from small regional jets all the way up to airliners. I didn't go wading into the ocean with it, but so far the water resistance has been fine. (It also means that if you have a lot of small items, packing cubes are probably the way to go.) - The bag has held it's own in rain and snow. This allows you to organize the items within in any way you like. The bag is essentially an open rectangular solid devoid of any internal dividers. The carrying handles are sturdy and allow you to carry the bag even when it's overly stuffed. (I use the bag mostly in a backpack configuration, I'm 5'11" and the bag works perfectly as a backpack.) The Good: - The shoulder straps on the bag are comfortable and make it easy to use the bag as a backpack. ![]() I've been doing heavy traveling with this bag as my primary (and usually only) carry on item for the better part of 6 months so my analysis is based on travel as the use case. Shop Kate Spade New York Footwear Search Within Women Search
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |