I'm looking for a waterproof Duffel bag with perhaps around a 100 litre capacity.

Cotswold Outdoor are doing the Moutain Equipment 100 litre bag at £50 down from £90 and the North Face 90 Litre bag for £90

Is 100 liters big enough for a load of camping gear?

Which is more durable/waterproof/portable? Any experiences of either?

Have an ME one. Its brill and I'd choose it everytime over NF simply for the price – its a big waterproof bag, why pay loads more for a horrible big fat TNF logo? There are cheaper ones, too from a German company* which I forget the name of, but the ME deal at Cotswolds has been going on some time now and would be hard to resist.

*Something like Tonka??

I have a 90Ltr Gelert one, as far as I can tell its identical to the north face one but cost £30 instead of £90. Its bright red made from the same material as the north face ones. I would recomend it.

Second the Mountain Equipment one, great value.

I have a North Face one – it wore out a bit after one trip, holes in it and stuff although that was a big 6 month trip and it got dragged around a bit / chucked onto several planes, on boats, buses etc.

For camping gear, assuming I have to carry it anywhere, I'd always prefer a rucksack – I've got a 75 litre rucksack, which can carry a 2 man tent, sleeping bag, thermarest, food and clothes for a week etc. The duffel bag is an absolute nightmare to carry when it is full, even for 2 people.

100 litres is massive by the way – you'd get a real load of gear in it. It is easy to pack though – just dump everything in without worrying.

If I don't have to carry it anywhere, i.e. car camping, then I wouldn't bother taking a fancy waterproof bag, I'd just stick it in any old bag / in the boot – you can usually pick up big bags from the market / cheap luggage shop.

The 100L one would be a nice bag for sailing + camping – although it'd have to be quite a big boat to have space to stick that big a bag in it.

Joe

I have and ME one too, good piece of kit
All I'd ask is what extra are you getting with the TNF?
my answer's Nowt!

unless you just have to have that lable 🙄
I do have quite a bit of TNF kit myself btw but only buy it when I feel I'm getting something over the competition for the extra £'s or in sales

ME one has rucksack straps too + an internal dry bag to seperate kit

Gelert +1

Volume wise, I need to pack a tent, sleeping bag, biking gear and clothes. Would this all fit in a 90 litre bag?

Its for a supported bike tour where your bags are transported point to point.

Cotswold having been trying to get rid of their stock of ME bags for nearly two years now so I would be wary of calling it a steal at £90 down to £50. But a friend has one and it look s apretty good bit of kit and he's hard on his gear.

I've got the North Face large duffel bag (90L) which I bought for a climbing trip.

It's very durable – it spent 5 days on the back of a mule and once the mule crap was washed off it was as good new. They are standard equipment on climbing expeditions. You can get a lot of stuff in it.

The material is waterproof and the zips have a flap over them but they don't claim it's waterproof. The only thing that is 100% waterproof is a drysack. If you've anything delicate you should put it in a poly bag, otherwise you'll be fine.

Portability – it's a big bag full of heavy stuff. It's a travel bag not a rucksack. If you want to carry heavy loads over difficult terrain then get a very big rucksack.

I have a couple of the TNF ones. Have had them for a good number of years, I am hard on my kit and they are still in very good condition.

Volume wise, I need to pack a tent, sleeping bag, biking gear and clothes. Would this all fit in a 90 litre bag?

Easily

I've taken a sleeping bag, a 29" wheeled unicycle, a camelbak, tools, spare tyre tubes and cranks, a load of clothes, hiking boots, running shoes, big waterproofs and various other bits and pieces in a 90l one. As long as your tent isn't massive, then it should do the job. 90 litres is absolutely massive – you should go and look at one in the shops if you're not sure about whether your stuff will fit.

Joe

100 litre bag full of stuff could be very heavy. I've a 10 year old "Medium" (70 litre) NF Base Camp Duffel which despite many trips through airport baggage handling is still virtually as good as new (save for a few scuffs) – wouldn't say it was waterproof (the seams aren't sealed) but would certainly buy another. If you need something waterproof look for an Ortlieb Big Zip (but if you thought NF was expensive . . . )

I've got a 90l Gelert one and a 45l North Face, both great, nothing really between them.
Prefer if the Gelert one wasn't bright red, but I think they also do Blue ones http://www.winwood-camping.co.uk/acatalog/Gelert_Xpedition_65L_Cargo_Bag.html in 65l at least.

I've got a big duffel bag made by Aiguille Alpine Equipment which is superb and has been used for loads of stuff all over the world and still going strong.
Aiguille duffel bag
I'm not sure whether you actually mean a duffel bag or a hold-all style tho. Aiguille also do hold-all kit bags, look thru travel bags and holdalls, they're super strong, made in the Lake District, reasonably priced and you're not paying for all that marketing BS.

I've got a TNF and an ME. I prefer the TNF because it's got a slightly nicer zip, is red rather than grey and has a pretty TNF logo on it.

😆 ianmunro 😉

Thanks folks, I'll have trip over to Tiso in Edinburgh and check them out in the flesh.

Cycle Oregon load and unload 2000 bags a day from artic trucks so durability is king. I'd like to have something I can also fit into my BOB trailer.

Don't buy from Tiso unless its on offer! Rip off merchants…

Been fleeced there before Jimmy, just going for a look see. I see there is a new Nevisport in Kirkcaldy now. Might have a spear in there too.

I precisely had this question earlier in the year for a snowboarding trip. I went to Cotswold and checked out each bag. They seemed largely identical to me, or at least the North Face bag definitely didn't seem to be £40 better than the Mountain Equiment one. So I bought the cheaper bag.

It's been brilliant, and is as bomb-proof as I'd need it to be. My only (tiny) niggle is that one of the little nylon cord toggles on a zip pulled off (after I got back and was unpacking). I'm sure this isn't indicative of the bag/quality as a whole (it was probably my fault) and the zip is still perfectly functional.

I'd still get the Mountain Equipment bag.

I went down to Nevis Sport in Kirkcaldy to see what they had. They only stocked North Face. The assistant came over to tell me that he had the very same bag. I asked him about it. He said it swallowed loads of gear and could attest to its durability. I expected him to regail me with tails of Himalayan treks and Amazonian river trips.

He said he'd used it to go to T in the Park. He could get his tent, sleeping bag, karrimat as well as two cases of beer and a bottle of juice it

Its a toss up between Gelert & Mountain Equipment.