Herschel Novel Duffle Bag

I was looking for a bag that I could use as a “go bag,” and/or for use on weekend car trips. Came across this bag and it seemed like a good option for size and look, so gave it a try.

Look/Feel/Size
You wouldn’t know that the bag is made from plastic bottles by the look or feel of it. The material is like a canvas type, but on the thinner side with a bit of a crinkle feel to it. But it appears strong and durable and stitching is clean and of good quality, so no worries about longevity. And the navy color with the brown handles looks pretty slick. As for the bag itself, it comes with the pockets, etc that you’d expect from a duffle like this. It does have a shoe compartment, but I never use those since they seem to actually take up more interior space – instead it’s worth just getting a draw string shoe bag and you can then pack your shoes how you want inside the bag, which may better maximize space.

From a space standpoint, this bag holds quite a bit — plenty of space for a weekend trip with a variety of different clothing items (I am an over-packer and had plenty of space with this duffle). The size is about 20 inches long and about 12 inches high — a good size but also worth noting that the material really doesn’t expand much, so the size is the size. It’s comfortable to carry and the shoulder strap is great. For the summer, I plan to use it as an emergency “go bag” and it seems like it’ll fit all my supplies with room to spare.

Despite the good quality, the bag is not very heavy when empty, so doesn’t add much to overall weight of the bag when packed (if traveling where the weight matters).

Cons
Despite trying to fill it with towels and such upon receiving, it is hard to get it out of its flattened state that it arrives in.
The zipper looks nice with the white trim, but it doesn’t operate as smoothly as you’d expect for a bag of this quality. Gets caught up quite a bit. I think it’s partly due to the form that it arrives in after being flattened out during shipping, so maybe this will improve over time.

Overall a nice quality bag, whether you care about the eco-materials or not. It looks great and can be used for really any purpose, and could probably take quite a beating. Would recommend.

The size of the bag is nice and the separate area for shoes is a nice feature. The zipper does not easily zip/unzip even after several uses.

I definitely wouldn’t pay over $100 for a bag like this. It is really spacious though, with a zippered pocket on the end outside, a small mesh zippered pocket on the inside and an open pocket on the other end outside. The neutral color is nice but the material doesn’t feel luxurious or expensive, for what this is. The zippers and handles feel sturdy and it appears to be well made, but again I don’t think it’s worth the cost.