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North Face Base Camp Voyager 32L Review
Cost: $125.00
Capacity: 32 liters
Dimensions: 22.7″ x 13.8″ x 8.7″ (57.6 x 35 x 22 cm)
Style: Duffel
Weight: 2.0 lbs (0.91 kg)
Laptop: 15”
Materials: 840D Nylon; TPE laminate; YKK zips
Origin: Made in Vietnam
North Face Base Camp Voyager
The Base Camp Voyager is an upgraded version of the North Face Base Camp. This is a simple packable travel duffel with improved carry comfort, interior organization, and a dedicated laptop compartment.
Compare to Base Camp
The Voyager can be compared to the XS size of the regular Base Camp, which is 31 liters, while the Voyager here is 32L. The next size up of Base Camp is the small at 50 liters, which is too big for carry on travel
Dimensions
I have the smallest 32 liter version of the Voyager here. It also comes in two larger sizes, a huge 62 version, and 42 liter size which could also be used as a carry on. The listed dimensions are little larger than what the bag is. It’s listed as 22.7″ x 13.8″ x 8.7″ (57.6 x 35 x 22 cm). The length of my bag fully packed is closer to 21.5-22”, the width is accurate, and the depth is closer to just 8” instead of 8.7”
Materials
They advertise the Voyager as a durable “expedition” style duffel. And while they do use decent materials here, it’s really more of a mid-grade pack that uses 300D polyester, with a waterproof coating. This bag will hold up well to abuse, but the materials aren’t nearly as nice as bags like the Patagonia Black Hole, or the Thule Chasm.
Zippers and Buckles
They do use YKK zippers on the Voyager, but I think by looking at the buckles between some other brands you can see the difference in quality. North Face buckles are quite a bit smaller, less expensive Woojin brand. While Patagonia uses much larger, higher quality Duraflex buckles.
External Components
The Exterior of the Voyager has some upgraded features over the regular North Face Base camp including two pockets and several carry options as well as a water bottle pocket.
Top Slash pocket
There’s a small slash pocket on one end of the bag. It’s thin but takes up the full volume of the top. On the other side is a larger pocket that the bag folds into. It also takes up the full volume of the end of the bag but it’s quite a bit deeper. You can put shoes or dirty laundry in here, but only the middle panel is waterproof not the fabric around the sides. So anything wet in here could leak into the main compartment.
Water Bottle
The side water bottle pocket has an expandable button clasp. Unexpanded it will hold a slim bottle, and expanded it easily holds up to a 1L Nalgene.
Laptop compartment
One upgrade on the Voyager is a dedicated laptop compartment. Accessed from the exterior side of the pack behind the backpack straps which is also the lid. It is nice to have this feature but the padding on this pocket is a little thin .There’s no padding on the back and on the front is a very thin foam.
It’s also rather small. They advertise it as large enough for a 15” laptop, however my 15.5” Dell is too large to fit. Smaller 13” laptops will fit in here fine, but the mid-sized laptop may or may not depending on your model.
The seams will keep your laptop away from the sides of the pack. But because the padding is so thin, your laptop isn’t very well protected from the back and you’re going to feel it against your back when you’re carrying the duffel as a backpack.
Carry System
The Carry system on the Voyager consists of stowable backpack straps, 4 side carry handles, but no over-the-shoulder strap. The shoulder straps are decently wide, but slightly thinner than what I see in other packs. They also don’t come with a sternum strap but there is daisy chain webbing if you wanted to attach an after-market strap.
Stowability
The straps are removable with a hidden buckle on the bottom. The top attaches with an aluminum toggle. There’s no dedicated pocket for the straps, but you can completely remove them and store them in the main compartment.
Carry Handles
There are 4 carry handles on the Voyager and a thick double strap of webbing that goes all the way around the pack, adding a lot of durability. This bag doesn’t come with an over-the-shoulder straps, but there are daisy chain loops all around the webbing, so it’s very easy to attach an after-market shoulder strap in almost any orientation you want
If you did want to carry the bag this way, it’s rectangular. So, it’s going to work much better if you attach the straps on the side as opposed to the top ecause it will lay better on your hip.
Back Padding
And again the lack of back padding is almost universal on this style of packable duffel. Compare to bags like Patagonia Black Hole, Thule Chasm, and the Osprey Daylite.
Interior Design and Organization
One of the great things about the Voyager is the simple design and giant main compartment. If you don’t have anything in the two end pockets you basically have the entire volume of the pack in the main compartment. Like most of these duffels there’s a big mesh pocket in the lid. But you’re going to be competing for space with the laptop compartment which is directly behind it.
Packing the North Face Voyager 32L Duffel
If this bag has only one good quality, it’s the huge main compartment. With an adjustable divider, simple design, padded fabric panel that attaches with nylon toggles. You can either attach it in the middle, or off to the side, remove the top toggle and lay it flat, or just remove it entirely from the pack.
Considering that duffels are just a large pocket where your gear can easily shift around. I’m kind of surpriced more bags don’t use something like this. It’s an easy way to add some interior organization without adding much weight. And it’s removable if you don’t want to use it.
The North Face Voyager is very easy to pack. My standard set of cubes fits easily in here, one medium Eagle Creek Isolate, and a Clean/Dirty cube. There’s also plenty of room on top for more gear in the large shoe pocket and two other pockets for smaller gear
North Face Voyager 32L Duffel Summary
I like the design and style on this pack. It’s lightweight and holds a ton of gear, however I’m not convinced the price matches the quality .I paid $125 for this bag, and in that price range you could pick up the Patagonia Black Hole Duffel ,which uses much better materials. Also compared to a pack like the Jack Wolfskin Expedition 30 which uses much thicker fabric, better zippers and hardware and only costs $70 on Amazon.
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