Osprey Transporter 40 Unisex Duffel Bag

This is a lengthy review, as I LOVE travel bags.

Tl;dr – Great durable carry-on sized travel bag if you don’t need many compartments, but could use a few more features like external cinch straps, a shoulder and/or duffel carry option, and a few minor tweaks.

I’ll primarily be comparing this Transporter Duffel to my beloved The North Face Base Camp Duffels (TNF BCDs) I’ve been using around the world for over a decade, from backpacking Asia, to island hopping the Pacific, to ski trips, to weekend getaways, and beyond. I say this not to brag, but to qualify that I’m not just someone using these solely as cool looking overpriced laundry bags (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Specifically, my BCD’s are an older version from before they revised it a few times with an external pocket, a changed coating, and other things, so comparisons I mention may not be 1:1 to the current ones.

Design:
+ Lightweight, which comes in handy for those airlines that enforce carry-on weight limits (I’m looking at you Virgin Australia).
+ Straps are comfy for what they are, not just a slapped on afterthought; contoured, decently padded, breathable-ish. The shoulder-level cross loop on each strap is made of webbing, and not elastic. The one negative thing is the skin-side fabric is a bit coarse (pic of texture/weave), so it may wear down more delicate shirt/jacket fabrics if worn for long periods.
+ Not a superfluous amount of daisy chain webbing that probably 90+% of owners rarely if ever fully use. Sorry TNF, I’ve yet to use/need all 28 loops simultaneously.
+ Padded handles are nice and the edges are slightly rounded to not cut into your hands.
~ Without a hip belt, I wouldn’t carry this for long hours on a hike, and it’s sub-optimal (but do-able) to wear for half a day while you explore a town backpacking with all your stuff. Between airport-transport-lodging, it’s perfect for those not always walking over smooth hard surfaces where a roller bag is more functional.
~ If you’re wearing this as a backpack for an extended period of time and/or while it’s hot, your back is near guaranteed to get sweaty, but that’s how all these types of bags are.
~ Might not be the best choice if you have a lot of delicate-ish electronics. A laptop with a padded sleeve stuffed between layers of clothes is fine, but most other stuff will benefit from a separate well padded case.
– No external cinch straps, so stuff can shift around, particularly if the bag isn’t full. I do miss these since they’re also great for holding things while you’re walking around like a tripod, jacket, or wet towel.
– The location of the one interior pocket at the bottom of the bag when in backpack orientation usually isn’t the best place to put more delicate items that these pockets usually get used for, like electronics or toiletries because: 1 – you’ll probably pack heavy stuff on that end for optimal weight distribution in backpack mode, 2 – you’ll need to remember to not haphazardly drop your bag on that end, and 3 – you need to dig a bit to reach it. Other travel duffels usually have an internal pocket either on the bottom of the main flap and/or on the long side(s).
– No conventional duffel carry option (with the webbing that goes around the entire circumference, joining in a handle). The side handles work for this in a pinch, but doing so puts more stress on the stitching there. It’ll be fine for normal moderate loads, but if you carry a lot of weight, you can see the strain and it may not be sufficient if done frequently. TNF tried removing them in favor of similar side handles, but have since gone back to the conventional duffel straps.
– Not really a fan of the extra seam across the short sides about an inch from the bottom. Since they’re not taped/sealed, it’s another entry point for water and potential (though very unlikely) point of failure. Looking at the orange camo version, I can see the reasoning for aesthetics, but I don’t see a functional reason.

Materials:
+ Zippers, clips, and buckles are all good quality; a hefty YKK 10 for the main zipper, YKK 8’s for the two external pockets.
+ The TPU coating has a relatively soft hand feel and seems to resist minor scratching well; vigorous scratching with fingernails leaves zero marks in testing.
+ While it does seem and feel durable, able to shrug off being tossed around truck beds, boat holds, and campsites, it doesn’t quite feel as extreme/bombproof as the TNF BCD which I’m fairly certain could probably be rolled down a mountain and survive intact with only a few scuffs.
~ Current info both on the tag and web pages mention “dual-sided TPU coating” for the main fabric, but as far as I can tell, the coating is only on the exterior. The bottom panel (and the top) has a second layer of fabric which covers the main fabric, but every visible internal side of the 900D recycled polyester fabric has a look, finish, and weave similar to ballistic nylon (pic).

Etc:
+ Build quality is excellent and just oozes quality and attention to detail.
+ Comes in a nifty storage bag which can double as a packing cube.
— To fit in there, the main bag is folded up quite a bit, which makes about a dozen sharp crease points on the bottom that don’t seem great for the TPU coating. Most of them just appear to be cosmetic, but a few look like they’re in the process of delaminating/cracking/wearing (pic, before any use).
– Another minor effect from being folded up tight is the foam in one of the side handles has a crease across the midpoint.

Notable changes from the previous Transporter version as far as I can tell:
+ Light grey liner added to interior floor, which makes it easier to see stuff especially in dark colored bags
+ Internal cinch straps switched from black to a light grey, making them easier to find.
+ Accent panels on some previous versions weren’t externally TPU coated. Now they are.
+ Large bird logo removed from the top (in backpack orientation), helping to make the pack visibly quieter.
+ Squeeze clips at the bottom of the U-zip/main panel removed. While redundant, I suppose on the off chance the main zipper fails while on the road, you could still rig up something with some tape/rope/etc.
+/- TPU coating on the bottom panel used to be on the inside surface only. Now it’s on the exterior surface only, making it a little less abrasion resistant, but more resistant to dirt/water/etc.
~ Shoulder strap clip points removed. If you want to shoulder carry, you could probably rig up something with the lash points (and a shoulder strap from somewhere else), but it’d be a nice feature to have, especially on this smaller 40L version which would wear decently messenger bag style. Larger versions, I could see skipping the shoulder strap.

Conclusion:
For hostel/AirBnB-hopping backpacking (as opposed to hiking multiple hours to a campsite backpacking, which this is absolutely not ideal for), it’s a tough call between this and the rightfully popular and much lauded Farpoint/Fairview 40, particularly since they have more organizational features, water bottle pockets, and a full featured proper harness. The Transporter does however fit very well in a lot of other use-cases – basically most times you’re travelling off smooth pavement and don’t need to carry it for more than an hour or so. The price is on the higher side, but you definitely get what you pay for. It’s just a question of whether or not the Transporter fits your travel style.