This $100 Packable Duffel Bag Might Be the Year’s Best Travel Product

Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. We may earn a commission from these links. Here’s how we test products and why you should trust us.NOMATIC2 min readSure, you can fit everything in that suitcase. If you can get the latch locks down on that Rimowa, you’re traveling in supreme luxury. But once you start accounting for gifts, souvenirs, and regional extra snacks you’re bringing home, you’re not looking at a one-bag trip anymore—oh shit. But at the same time, are you going to travel with two suitcases just so you can keep one half empty for the return trip? You end up in the bag Bardo—between one bag and two. The solution? It’s an affordable, collapsible duffel bag that can fit in your suitcase one way and expand into a duffel bag for the return journey.The Nomatic Navigator Collapsible Duffel has become our go-to emergency travel bag. This 42-liter duffel folds down to the size of a Dopp kit, making it easy to throw into your existing suitcase, backpack, or even another duffel. Our digital design director Mike Kim picked this as the travel product he couldn’t live without, and he even keeps one in his trunk. Since you never know what life is going to throw at you, it’s never a bad idea to have an extra duffel or a backpack around. Somehow, this is both and takes up less space than either. Once it’s entered your life, you’ll find it hard to go too far from home without packing it too.There’s no structure to the Navigator bag, but that’s because it really is what you make of it. A zipper pocket, accessible whether the bag is fully collapsed or full to the brim, lets you keep small essentials and quick-access items like car keys always on hand. Backpack straps and a sternum strap let you carry it on your back if, like me, you just find that easier. If you prefer to show off your muscles with the duffel method, compression straps help you cinch up tight when it’s not entirely full, both securing your goods further and saving space. Features-wise, that’s it. What you see is what you get, and you’re being charged appropriately.Beyond that, it’s simple. Try to fill it up with as much stuff as you can. I bet it will take you a lot more than you expect. Yeah, not going anywhere without it either, now, are you?