great duffel

I got the 46 a few months ago to replace a previous eagle creek duffel that did not work for me. I needed a medium size duffel for a typical Westchester to Midtown Manhattan Metro/Subway commute. To hold laptop, gym clothing, lunch and work documents without being to bulky or overly complicated.

Pros: solid build quality. I actually have been using osprey backpacks for years - since the 1990s - and never knew they made duffels. They are lots of useful large, easy to access pocket compartments and the entire duffel even stuffs into one of its pockets and compresses down to the size of a water bottle. The compression straps work flawlessly. I usually find many adventure duffels to either overkill compression straps or neglect them and usually in both cases the straps tend to be useless and cumbersome. Here the two main straps are well anchored around the bag and is embedded in such a way that they do not get in the way of accessing the bag nor do the add weight and the have proper sturdy clips. In fact, I only realized how useful the straps are when I forgot to use them. The 46 has lots of low profile sturdy tote carry handles (one along the top and one each on the front and back) for carrying the duffel. Note: the top tote handle "only" works when the compression straps are clipped in. Color choices are nice. I got the dark orange. Pricing is reasonable as well. A quick Google search and you will see many online retailers letting these go for $60 or less.

Cons: The detachable shoulder strap is very bare bones. It is not padded and adjusts one way. Also the strap anchor is designed to anchor on alternate sides on the bag whereas normal duffel bags have shoulder strap anchors on the same side or along the middle spine. By alternating the anchor points the bag tends to flop around more and twist when carrying it on one side over your shoulder. However it is better if you sling it over your head and shoulders and carry it across your back. A rigid floor insert would have been nice.

Bottom Line: Great duffel. Great price. I think this duffel will make everyone that buys it happy. It is simple, clean, ergonomic and easy to use. I also like that Osprey makes them in a variety of functional sizes where the bigger duffels get tuck-away padded backpack straps.