Thule Chasm 70L

A great choice for a mid-large sized duffel. Durable, multiple good carry options, and some helpful internal organization. The shoulder straps are comfortable and pretty easy to remove. The top opening is particularly wide, which helps with packing. Only downsides? Fairly heavy and expensive.

BASIC DETAILS

The Chasm is a heavy-duty duffel line from Thule, a Swedish company I mostly thought of as a good roof rack maker. This 70-liter duffel weighs 3.9 pounds empty and is 27x16x12 inches. These duffels are made from 100% recycled materials and come in 30, 40, 70, 90, and 130 liter sizes. These duffels main bag is made of 900D laminate; the bottom is reinforced with textured polyester. 

FEATURES WORTH MENTIONING

Carrying larger duffels is a pretty important part of the equation. The Chasm has sturdy handles at each end, a pair of top handles that snap together, and removable shoulder straps. This is all typical for higher-end duffel bags these days. There are a pair of compression straps on each side that I’ve found useful making this look overhead-compatible on flights. Right near the compression straps, there are some small straps that keep the top handles stowed when you’re carrying via the shoulder straps. 

It’s important to think about how comfortable duffels are to move around, and how easy it is to get the shoulder straps out of the way—they can hang up and damage the bag in transit. Thule’s shoulder straps have good padding, ample adjustability, and they’re straightforward to remove—plastic clips at the bottom, metal bars that slide through fabric loops at the top. I’ve carried this on a number of trips and think it’s easy and comfortable to carry. 

Another consideration for duffel bags is how easy they are to pack and organize your stuff. Some bags are more spartan with very limited pockets and storage options; others are particularly well-organized inside. This falls somewhere in the middle. The large top flap has a couple of zippered mesh pockets, one small, one large, and it also has another zippered mesh section that hangs down from the top. This top has a particularly wide opening—you can see how the zipper goes around one end—which makes it easy to pack and access things. 

 Photo above shows the 3d internal mesh pocket hanging down. 

The duffel arrived with a separate zippered pouch that looks like it could hold a pair of hiking shoes. It’s actually storage for the duffel; I don’t like storing bags crammed in like that, but it can be a useful "packing cube" if you’re into that sort of thing.  

IS IT DURABLE? 

Duffel bags get beat up. We toss them in the back of pickup trucks, tie them to roof racks or four wheelers, send them into the meat grinder of checked baggage, and occasionally just drag them across the ground. Distinctions in durability take time to show up, but I’ve seen them in holes in pack material from getting dragged, handle stitching coming apart, zippers failing, and strap hardware separating from bags. Part of the high price of this bag and its competitors is the build quality, the materials used, thickness of the zippers, double and triple stitching at stress points. To some degree, you do get what you pay for with duffels.

From what I‘ve seen and experienced with this bag, it‘s high quality and should successfully endure decades of abuse. 

HOW I HAVE USED IT

This duffel replaced the 70 liter bag our younger daughter snagged for her study abroad program; I’ve used it for about a year and a half. It’s the bag I use to store gear for shorter (2-3 day) hikes in transit and my primary bag for weeklong vacations and work travel. I haven’t had occasion to drag it, but it has been tossed around, crammed into plane and train overheads, and stowed underneath many commuter planes and trekked through several airports, here and abroad. 

What I appreciate most is that the sizing and shoulder strap assembly make it pretty easy and comfortable to carry. The thick coated fabric mostly keeps things dry, unless it really gets inundated in a cloudburst that gets some moisture at the main zipper. It’s particularly nice to pack and unpack due to the wide opening. It compares well with a smaller North Face duffel I’ve had for years and a much larger Gregory duffel that mostly gets used for hauling my winter gear around. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

Worth noting I bought this around the time Thule discontinued this color scheme, so I saved some money. $169 retail is steep for a duffel bag, though if you amortize that over 30-40 years and compare to competing higher-end duffels, it's not too bad. Also, there are lighter-weight options. Competing choices I looked at, and they all looked pretty good, frankly, were The North Face Base Camp, Patagonia Black Hole, Osprey Transporter, and Gregory Alpaca. 

Background

Roughly 1 1/2 years of use for travel and getting my stuff to trips and vacations.