The 10 Best Duffel Bags You Can Buy on Any Budget

Budget Bags: Under $200Anytime budget is brought up, people on the Internet lose all decorum. That’s too expensive to be budget or This is a high-quality magazine, the budget should be higher; what happend to Esquire? In both instances, shut up. I’m setting the budget at $200 because that’s what I would have set it at when I was at my poorest. I've already written 1,000 words on this bag. The pitch, in short, is that it does everything you need it to do, and it does it quietly, without complaining. First, it’s in this new category of two-in-one garment duffels. It’s great if you want to pack a suit, some tailored jackets, or a spouse’s dress. The 420-denier polyester fabric is incredible for the price you pay, there’s a shoe compartment, and neat little spots for all your small stuff. You can easily pack a week’s worth of clothes into this thing, and you won’t look too bad carrying it.That said, the look is the only real problem I have with this thing. It looks a little too much like a gym bag. A secondary problem is that all the hardware is a bit flimsy. I’ve beaten a few of these bags up, and the hardware has never given—but it doesn’t inspire confidence.Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowProsJust about bulletproof I'm a sucker for that Summit Yellow colorMade of the old-school waxy polyvinyl fabricConsCreeping up near that $200 price ceilingIf I could only recommend one of these budget bags, it’d be this one. Every outdoor brand used to make duffels in this waxy polyvinyl material, but most others have switched to a more general purpose ripstop. I like the original, and The North Face still makes it.This bag is built for the abuse these brands used to design for—meaning mountaineering. Here, you get a 1,000-denier—meaning it’s way overbuilt for your surf trip to Costa Rica—polyester body with that easy-to-clean waxy PVC coating. I love the Summit Yellow because it feels especially hardcore, and it also is one of the better looking colors when it starts to get scuffed up. Duffel straps and backpack straps mean you can lug it a variety of ways, and the little waterproof is a nice spot for a luggage tag.All that said, if you care more about clothes or packing efficiency, go get that Halfday bag—just a better option for packing tailored clothing. If you want to buy something that’ll last the rest of your life, it’s this North Face.Mid-Tier BagsAt this tier, what you get over the cheap tier is a touch of style. You don’t have to buy poly-based fabrics, and you don’t have to sacrifice durability for style. Plus, you can start to shop made-in-U.S.A. at this price point.Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowI hold Steele Canvas in the highest regard when it comes to bags. The brand is best known for its industrial canvas laundry carts, but it has built out a nice little canvas bag offering. For only a little bit more than the price of a North Face bag, you get a lot more refinement. The handles are leather, the hardware is brass, and it’s made in the U.S.A.When I got married, I gave all my groomsmen Steele Canvas duffels, and I have seen four out of the five come to my apartment carrying clothes in them—can’t ask for a better endorsement.ProsMade in U.S.A.High-end on the leather and brass finishingWrapped handles give it a nice stabilityConsTriple the price of that Steele Canavs bagIf you want a U.S.A.-made canvas bag with a touch more finish, the option is obviously Filson. A lot of Filson’s stuff, like everything else, has been offshored, but a few core products are still done stateside. The rugged twill bags are one such product.So, what makes the finishing higher than Steele Canvas? It’s all the leather for the straps, all the brass for the hardware. These bags have a bit more structure, so they stand up on their own—whereas that Steele Canvas bag will hav a bit of slouch.The medium size is the bestseller, but if you want to go for duffel bag only travel, you should spring for the large.Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowProsNo nonsenseBallistic nylon fabric looks lowkey, is incredibly durableConsNot the most attractive of bags; form-over-functionThis is the upscale version of that Halfday bag. The two problems I have with the Halfday bag—the look and the hardware—are dealt with here. For the look, Briggs and Riley is decidedly a business traveler’s brand. That black ballistic nylon fabric and minimal branding screams pilot or guy who is knocking out emails at 30,000 feet. As for the hardware, the brand uses metal, which gives it a more premium feel and better durability compared to the cheap stuff. It’s all well worth the price you pay.ProsBeautiful cowhide bag for under $1,000High level of finish, will last a lifetimeConsStarting to get into luxury purchase territoryIf that Briggs & Riley bag is the elevated version of the affordable stuff, this Tecovas bag is the affordable version of the elevated stuff. The cowhide leather is nowhere near as high-end as the stuff you’ll see in the next section. But! It’s head and shoulders above what you have seen thus far.One of my style writers is especially fond of it. Besides sturdy leather that wears in well, the other draw is that Tecovas doesn’t skimp on the small stuff. The strap is made of the same leather, and the hardware is all brass. This bag comes in at under a grand, and it will easily last you a lifetime.Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowHigh-End BagsGloves off. This part just gets to my personal wishlist. These are the four bags I have lusted over in my life, from four brands I think produce some of the highest-quality products you can find anywhere in the world.As with most of these bags, we have already written about what makes us love Métier so much. Essentially, it’s that you are buying these bags for life. The materials—whether it’s an Italian suede or rugged canvas—are second-to-none, and the finishing is sublime. The interior is laid out logically, and every pocket has just enough slouch to drop stuff in easily without it rattling around in transit.For shapes, Métier does have a classic Weekender, but I find the Racer, especially in this largest size, to be the most practical travel bag in the lineup. First, there’s a wide-open top, which makes packing into a pretty vertical bag a bit easier. One front pocket can hold the essentials: your passport, family passports, tickets, wallets, what have you. The other front pocket can hold phones, headphones, snacks, hand wipes—all the fun stuff. The two hand straps are a convenient length, but you can attach a shoulder strap if that’s more your speed.As for the material, I just can’t get over this green suede, what the brand calls Suede Corfo. This sounds hyperbolic, but you really need to see it to believe it. The way it slouches, the way it catches light—divine.Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowOnce again, this is a brand we’ve written all about. The thing I love about Bennett Winch, personally, is that it has a bit of ruggedness that you don’t expect at this price. Though this might make me sound like a bit of a chauvinist, I feel that a lot of other designer bags aren’t as tuned into that side of a man’s brain. I want to be confident that I can toss a duffel around, and Bennett Winch makes bags that understand that.I’ve checked this suede duffel bag a few times (I like walking free through the airport on my way home) and every time it rolls down that conveyor it looks more beautiful than when I sent it off. When I’m packing a trunk for a road trip, my wife’s bag goes on top of this one; when we’re standing around waiting for a car, this bag goes on the street and hers on top of it. It has a refined ruggedness that I associate closely with the good half of masculinity.Bonus point: It gets compliments everywhere I take it. And if the suede is too rich for you, the canvas versions are just as high quality.ProsDetails all call back to Dunhill's accessory history Unparalleled level of finishConsBit more of a tote shapeThough I really adore the menswear offering at Simon Holloway’s Dunhill, the brand started with accessories—famously smoking accessories, but it has a longer history of car travel accessories. Recently, it has revamped its bags for this new age of travel. Bourdon is for the contemporary businessman; Alfred celebrates the house’s heritage; and Century calls back to that motoring heritage. For me, the Century line is one of the world’s best for travel bags.Though technically a tote, it serves the same purpose as the rest of these bags. For airline travel, it makes a nice personal item on top of hard-sided luggage. For car travel—which, like I said, is in the Dunhill DNA—it is the perfect size for a weekender. It holds itself up when you set it down, and feels incredible in the hand because of the hand-stitched steering wheel-style handles. There is a partial zip-top if you prefer to store it in a trunk or overhead bin. All the hardware calls back to the house’s design language, but practically you will most notice the four metal feet, which give it a satisfying clack when set down.Advertisement - Continue Reading BelowProsLeather is an absolute dreamThe fold-end design makes it significantly more stable when carryingReal show stopperConsI mean...the fact that it's ten-grand? Let’s say Métier is the laid-back Italian gentleman; Bennett Winch and Dunhill are the more structured British gentlemen. Lucchese, then, is the American—the Dallas oil man that’s at all the same properties as these European guys. He talks louder than anyone else at the five-star resort, and his wife jingles because she’s wearing so much jewelry.Jokes aside, I do think Lucchese fills a uniquely American void in the luxury market. There’s an ostentatiousness built into westernwear that’s just so American. That said, anyone, in any part of the world, would recognize the beauty of this giant gator duffel. It has that unmistakable look, but alligator leather—especially these tiles off the belly—is exceptionally soft while maintaining plenty of durability over the decades.As for practicality, these bags have fold-down ends, which gives you more packing space and makes them more secure. I love the leather handles, and the fabric strap is more practical than a leather one. It’s just a supremely gorgeous, American-made bag.