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Patagonia Black Hole Duffel 40L Review
Cost: $129.00
Capacity: 40 liters
Dimensions: 21″ x 13.7″ x 10.6″ (53 x 35 x 27 cm)
Style: Duffel
Weight: 2.0 lbs (0.93 kg)
Laptop: None
Materials: 900D ripstop polyester; TPEU laminate; YKK zips
Origin: Made in Vietnam
Patagonia Black Hole Duffel 40L
With a simple design, bombproof materials and a huge interior compartment the Patagonia Black Hole Duffel the quintessential packable travel duffel.
Dimensions
The Black Hole Duffel comes in 4 size options. The one I have here is the smallest at 40L. However it also comes in larger 55, 70, and a ginormous 100L version.
This 40 liter size is the only one that will work as a carry on however. If you use one of the larger sizes you will have to check it. The 40L dimensions are 21 x 14 x 10.5 (53 x 35 x 27 cm). The depth is a little over max on many airlines which tends to be about 9”.
But this bag has no frame, so the actual packed dimensions is largely determined by what you put in the bag. And if you don’t pack it too full it will work fine as a carry on.
Materials
Patagonia’s Black Hole fabric is one of my favorites. It’s thick, durable, waterproof TPU coating makes it a little shiny. It’s very thick, but it’s quite a bit more flexible than fabrics with similar coatings. For example the bottom of the Timbuk2 Wingman also has a TPU coating, but it’s stiff and feels more plasticy than the Black Hole fabric.
Zippers and Buckles
They don’t cut corners with the rest of the hardware. With huge #10 YKK zipper main compartment, #8s on the front slash pocket and large name brand Duraflex shoulder strap buckles.
External Components
The Exterior of the Black Hole Duffel is very simple. With daisy chain webbing, removable backpack straps, side handles and one slash pocket.
Top Slash pocket
This is the only exterior pocket on this bag. It’s quite large because it’s also the bag that the duffel can fold into. You can see how large it is and how it can take up a large amount of interior volume. Really just a big simple pocket, but there is a key leash in here as well as a second zipper so you can get into this pocket from the inside of the pack.
Water Bottle
And worth mentioning are the features this bag is missing: Like a water bottle pocket, laptop compartment, and compression straps.
Carry System
These backpack straps are fairly simple. The Black Hole is really a workhorse duffel, it’s designed to be simple and rugged. But they did a decent job with these shoulder straps. They’re moderately wide, decently padded, with a good curve. There’s no sternum strap, but you could add an after-market strap to these daisy chain loops.
Stowability
The straps are also removable. You can detach from the bottom with a standard nylon buckle. The top is a little tricky, to remove them pull the buckle away from the D-ring, turn it sideways and slip it back through.
When you re-attach the straps you want the bottom side to be facing out. To avoid confusion they sewed in small letters on the top of the attachment point. Just line up the R’s for the right strap and the L’s for the left strap. Start by holding the buckle on the strap. Turn it sideways, and coming from below slide it through the D-Ring. Once it’s all the way through you can turn it back and it will stay in place. My How to Attach the Straps to the Patagonia Black Hole Duffel video provides a good explanation if you get stuck.
Carry Handles
The top carry handles are standard thick webbing. They attach together with an unpadded snap-buckle handle. Also, there are two thick double webbing unpadded side handles. These are more designed for pulling the bag in and out of places, rather than for carrying the pack.
Back Padding
And again, like almost all of these minimalist packable duffels; the Black hole doesn’t have any padding or air ventilation on the back. Which is very similar to bags like the Thule Chasm, Osprey Daylite, and North Face Base Camp.
Interior Design and Organization
The main compartment of the Black Hole opens from the side in a classic duffel style lid. And because the fabric is so thick the bag easily stands up on its own making it very easy to pack.
On the inside is the usual zippered mesh pocket in the lid, as well as that second zippered access into the gigantic front slash pocket.
Packing the Patagonia Black Hole Duffel
The Black Hole Duffel is very easy to pack. Just a big compartment with virtually unlimited packing options. To show you an example of what fits in here, I have my two standard set of packing cubes. They’re both Medium Eagle Creek; one compression, one clean/dirty.
They both fit nicely in the bottom of the pack and help give the bag structure. There’s plenty of room on top for smaller cube with socks and underwear, puffy jacket, pair of shoes in a dry bag, two pouches, one minimalist toiletry kit and anther pouch for electronics. I’ll use the zippered mesh pocket for thinner gear like a notebook, sink stopper, or it’s also large enough for a pair of sandals.
Carry Comfort
This is what the Black Hole looks like on me fully packed. I have it packed here at 7.1kg or about 15.8lbs. this bag isn’t going to win any comfort awards, but it’s decently comfortable considering there’s no back padding. The shoulder straps are about as good as you can expect from a pack like this.
I tried attaching a sternum strap from another pack and it definitely helps. Like I said before, this pack is designed to be a rugged minimalist duffel, thrown around, pulled in and out of overhead bins. Probably not a bag you’ll be carrying around all day.
North Face Voyager 32L Duffel Summary
In summary, Black Hole Duffel is everything it’s advertised as. They don’t cut corners with materials and quality, it’s rugged, durable, with a gigantic main compartment. If you like this style of bag this will likely turn into your go to travel duffel. And considering the quality on this pack, I think the $129 I paid for it is a very reasonable price.
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