Patagonia Black Hole Wheeled Duffel Bag 40L Review

When choosing carry on luggage, there are a few choices to make. First, do you want something hard or soft? If you go with the latter, what kind do you want? Some softside luggage has as much structure as hard shells, while others are more flexible.

As you might guess from the name, the Patagonia Black Hole Wheeled Duffel Bag 40L is more like a bag and less like a suitcase. That makes it more adaptable to different spaces and even allows it to collapse (more on that later). But how does it work in practice? We took it on vacation to find out.

External Components

The Patagonia Black Hole Wheeled Duffel Bag 40L is made with some durable and water-resistant materials, including 900D 100% postconsumer recycled polyester ripstop with a postindustrial recycled TPU laminate on the exterior, 200D recycled polyester for the lining, and recycled nylon webbing straps. It’s made in a Fair Trade Certified™ factory, too, so if you’re focused on sustainability, it’s not a bad pick.

If you’re familiar with Patagonia’s Black Hole line, you might have a decent idea of what this material feels like. It’s durable, water-resistant, and flexible, but it’s a bit crunchy. It’s probably not loud enough to wake your travel companion, but it’s something to be aware of.

With duffel in the name, you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the bag has two carry handles, one on top and one on the left side. They’re long and comfortable to hold if you need to carry the bag for a while instead of wheeling it behind you. There are also daisy chains of attachment loops on either side so you can connect other gear. We didn’t use them in testing, but we don’t mind the look.

The side without a handle features the Patagonia brand name printed vertically in large letters, again, in keeping with the look of the remainder of the Black Hole line (and really, every Patagonia product we’ve tested has always featured rather prominent branding).

YKK zippers each have cords woven through the metal pulls that make them much easier to grab and use, and all of the zippers work well. Nothing catches around corners, which we appreciate.

Since this is a wheeled duffel, there are, of course, wheels on the bag. They feel slightly rubbery and feature treads to help you on different surfaces. There are only two wheels, but they roll smoothly and are quiet on smooth surfaces, yet allow you to go off-road, as well. When it’s time to take a break, a stand on the bottom of the bag helps it to stay upright, so you don’t have to take up more than your allotted space at the airport gate. However, there are also two bumpers on the back of the bag to protect the material when you do lay it down, whether on the floor or in the overhead bin.

A note on overhead compartments: Patagonia, like many major brands, claims that the Black Hole Wheeled Duffel Bag 40L is carry-on compliant. However—again, like many luggage companies—we’re not sure where they’re getting their dimensions since the bag is at least 2 inches too deep and anywhere from ½-¾ of an inch too wide and tall to meet major airline guidelines. Be sure to check your airline’s allowable dimensions or be ready to gate check the bag if you encounter a rule-following gate attendant or have to “drop” your bag into the sizing bin without shoving it to show that it fits.

The retractable handle has a grippy underside that makes it comfortable to hold and a button on top that you depress to pull it out or push it back. There’s only one stopping point—the top—which we find typical of rolling bags you drag behind you. There’s no real reason to make the handle shorter if it’ll be rolling behind you through the airport or hotel, as the fully extended length ought to work for most users.

Fit Notes

This is a very casual, outdoorsy bag that’s perfect for road trips and more adventurous travel. It’s not something you want to roll into the Waldorf-Astoria, but it won’t look out of place in places that aren’t quite as posh. And it will definitely hold up better moving through the dirty slush of New York City if you’re walking to your accommodations from the subway than something less sturdy and water resistant.

You’ll have no issue rolling around corners or pivoting to change directions, either. Although its turning radius isn’t as fine-tuned as that of a bag with four wheels, the two wheels on the Black Hole Wheeled Duffel Bag 40L do a better job than those of some other two-wheeled bags we’ve tested.

Inside The Carry On Luggage

One of the benefits of softside luggage is the ability to have exterior pockets you can access without opening up the bag, and the Patagonia Black Hole Wheeled Duffel Bag 40L has one. It’s a quick-access pocket at the top with space for your phone, wallet, passport, and keys. To that end, there’s a key clip on a leash inside where you can connect them so they don’t get lost along the way.

It’s a pretty large space, about the size of a 1L sling, so you can even squeeze in a small e-reader or paperback book if you don’t want to carry an extra bag through the airport. Just be sure to pull out anything you need at your seat before you put it into the overhead compartment on the plane.

The main compartment opens like a duffel bag. Of course it does, it’s a wheeled version of Patagonia’s other duffel bags. The lid features a large zippered mesh pocket. It’s good for stowing thin gear like a hat, gloves, or a wrap, though you could also use it for dirty laundry throughout your trip.

At the top edge of the lid is a label with a QR code. If you scan it, you can learn how to collapse the bag for easier storage. It’s a nice feature that sets the Black Hole Wheeled Duffel 40L apart from most other rolling luggage. We’ll save you from having to watch a video and tell you how it works.

There’s a zipper centered in the main compartment lining with an orange pull that says “unzip to repair.” It opens to reveal the hard backside of the bag, where you’ll find two interesting components. On either side is a bar tucked into a webbing pocket. Push the bar toward the bottom of the bag to get each end out of the pockets, and the bar will then fold down, collapsing the bag to the size of its hard backside and bottom. This is handy when you have small closets or tight spaces to store your bags when you’re not traveling. While it doesn’t save a ton of space, it definitely compresses it some.

Then, there is a pocket topped with a hook-and-loop fastener in the middle of the two extendable handle channels. It contains two bolts to help you repair a broken wheel axle on the go. All you need is a 4mm Allen wrench and a 10mm crescent wrench, along with the instructions you’ll get from scanning the helpful QR code on that pocket’s label. With any luck, you won’t ever need to use the replacement bolts, but it’s nice to have them with you just in case you pop a wheel halfway through your trip.

As for the rest of the main compartment, it’s open to pack as you wish. There are two sets of hold-down straps that fasten with Duraflex buckles. You can weave them through loops at the top to avoid digging to the bottom to pull them up, but we like that they’re not permanently attached to the sides. It means you can use them when you’re holding less gear, in case you’re not fully using the bag’s 40L capacity. There aren’t any compression straps on the bag’s exterior to make it smaller if you do, but at least you won’t have clothing sloshing around willy-nilly.

To that end, we recommend packing cubes if you don’t plan to fully stuff the bag. However, our tester shared the bag for a weekend getaway with her husband. Filling it with clothing for two people helps wedge everything into place without using cubes. The 40L bag has enough room for two pairs of men’s pants, two pairs of women’s pants, two hoodies, a few tees, socks, underwear, and toiletries without taking too much care in packing. Minimalist packers will do better and can likely pack for more than a week in this spacious interior if they utilize a travel capsule wardrobe and compression cubes to their full potential.

There isn’t much organization in the Patagonia Black Hole Wheeled Duffel Bag 40L, but that means you have more space to pack how you wish. So, if you’re a traveler looking for something rugged and heavy-duty and routinely fly more permissible airlines that don’t question the size of your suitcase, it might be a good option. We wish it included some external compression straps to cinch things down when we pack less, but we love the option to compress it for storage, which similarly-sized hardside luggage can’t do.