Customer Reviews Eagle Creek No Matter What™ Duffel Medium

On a recent trip to Mongolia the light weight really allowed me to carry all that I wanted and still be under the airline weight limits for domestic flights. Maybe it is because I am 6' 1" but I found that when pulling the bag it would turn over easily unless I was very careful. There is a strap to pull the bag but no pull-out handle.

My son used this for an international trip. They were in and out of many hotels, hostels, planes, buses and boats. He was very happy with the bag.

Light weight so you are able to bring more gear and still be under the airline weight limit.

I have several of these bags and use them for long-haul flights and travel around Africa. Good Stuff: The bags are hard-wearing and carry a great deal of stuff - like many EC bags, it's possible to get far more into them than you might expect. The zips, handles and fabric are tough enough to take being hauled and hurled around. The wheels make long transits much simpler. Because of the small size of the wheel plate, these bags will fit into the often extremely cramped conditions on board a light aircraft; they can also be pushed and squashed into most light aircraft cargo pods, which is extremely unusual for a wheeled bag. The compression straps work very well to hold down a load and reduce the size of the bag. The shoulder strap is a godsend and is comfortable even when the bag is heavily loaded. Less Good: Non-removable wheel plate (at least, I couldn't find a way to remove it; I'm happy to be corrected by anyone who has!) I've had to wash my bags on occasion and it would be good to be able to take the wheel plate out when doing so, as there's a risk of damaging both the bag and the washing machine with the plate and wheels still in place. The bag has a tendency to flip over when pulled by the end handle; I think this is an inevitable result of the small wheel plate. To my mind, it's worth the trade-off, but if you plan to pull this a lot, and don't absolutely need the advantages conferred by a lack of a stiff back-plate to the bag, you might want to consider a more traditional pull-along with a back plate and a handle.

Nice idea. Although you see plenty of duffel bags with rollers, none can be stored away with a small bag like this. Functionally this is great and I found it extremely versatile for my backpacking trip in Europe. Sometimes you want to roll (like in an airport), and sometimes you need to easily carry when the ground is rugged or crowded. Cheaper and bigger than an alternative like a switchback. Be aware that this bag (L) is as big as you can go if you want to check your bag with an airline. The XL version is oversized (Length + Width + Height must total 62 inches or less) My only problem is the huge logo on the bag, it is extremely tacky. Eagle Creek is mid-high end in terms of pricing, companies in that level should not be sticking huge tacky logos on their things. Yes, more people can easily see your logo if you make it huge, but does that lead to more sales? I don't think so, it'd just make me think jeez, what a tacky huge logo... Shine through your product design. No giant logos are necessary.

Traveled on small charter planes and river boats in remote jungles. Lightweight but huge capacity. Easy to add purchased artifacts.

I have always used suitcases and am just branching out into rolling duffels so will hold off on providing feedback with the following exception: I purchased 4 No Matter What Flashpoint Rolling Duffels (2 L, 2 XL). Before I even left my house, one of the snaps on the flap that joins the two handles broke (on one of the XL duffels)! The others all survived the trip from the US to Kenya well.

Used for African travel.......fine for that but difficult to roll for a tall person.

Love the bag - have had another of the same one in the past - Just purchased this past Saturday 1/4/14 from well known sports retailer in southern Maine and the clip on one of the compression straps broke as soon as I took the bag out of its storage pack. I'm sure this is an anomaly. Waiting for reply from EC re: getting replacement clip

A rugged yet beautiful duffle! I load my gym items, laptop, purse, and nutrition, and bam I'm all put together. The material is of high quality and feels good on the shoulder too.

Shopping for a new Eagle Creek duffel because the workhorse EC duff I used for the last 15 years was stolen when someone jacked my car. As good as the product is, I will not be used as an advertisement for Eagle Creek. The old patch logo was pretty cool. Now it looks like EC is overcompensating with an identity crisis.

Took the large wheeled duffle for test flight last week and understand previous comments about height and stability. I am 5'7, and the wheels are right at my heels. I took advise of other reviewers and packed stiff, flat objects (file folders and day planner) on bottom near wheels to stabilize. Also crammed books and heavier item against base where wheels are to stabilize. Glad I bought wheeled version, because this was heavier than my trusty hardsided roll-on...all the items would have fit in my roll-on and the roll-on wouldn't have had to be checked. I bought this duffle to meet safari trip and corp plane duffle regulations but won't use it for travel when I can use my long handled, lighter -weight, stable roll-on. PS: not as flimsy as some of the reviewers led me to believe. Should take a beating!

I do like to carry as little as possible and this folds into its own tote. That being said, it was very small even with pack it system. I may use for books but would have to be flat and could not take advantage of the "convert" to backpack as easily. I will try the middle size one. PS I got this on sale, good price for EC, so will get use, just not as intended

Great for non-airline travel

I bought it to use as a carry on, but even though it's well made it's just too small. I should have bought the medium size - I think that would be perfect.

I have carted the older version of this duffel all over the globe and it has held up to copious amounts of abuse. While shopping for a newer wheeled bag I thought I would pick up a couple more of these since they are so handy. I am disappointed that the fabric on this newer version appears cheap and stiff. The zippers are also less durable. In fact, half of the locking zipper on the bag I received is completely missing. I will be returning it to the retailer. Please consider going back to the original no-matter-what bag. It was a good thing.

This bag took one round trip flight. After the first flight it was COVERED in scuff marks. None of our other bags looked like this. By the time we got home it was more covered in scuff marks, has a puncture wound, and a gouge in the fabric. I think the rubbery quality of the fabric did not combine well with normal airline conveyor systems. I now have a very ugly bag that I don't trust not to tear on the next trip.

We purchased this bag for a East Africa trip because we were told not to have a rolling bag with pullout handles. I have enjoyed my other Eagle creek purchases especially the cubes. Recently we took this bag to Costa Rica and it was very difficult to handle and roll thru airports etc. It also developed some holes by the wheels probably due to trying to maneuver it over curbs. The main advantage is the light weight of the bag but wheels don't give much advantage because it constantly tips over.

For most people, I would not recommend this bag. I bought it as an economical replacement for an old Army duffel bag. With the wheels it's easier than hauling that old bag around or having to get a cart at the airport. The fact that it folds up into a small carrying bag has worked well for us on a couple trips when we were taking things that we were leaving at the destination-such as our daughter's stuff when she went off to college. For the return trip we could pack it in another bag, which was handy. However, this bag can be very difficult to handle. Because it's foldable, it can really flop around when you're trying to roll it, making it hard to keep it on the wheels. I put a stiff piece of cardboard in the bottom to make it easier to handle. Also, the short, cloth strap you use to pull it adds to the instability. (When it starts to flip over, there's no leverage to keep it in place. I usually have to stop and pick it up to get it positioned back on the wheels.) I'm 6-feet tall and I have to bend over a bit to pull it, which results in the bag often hitting my foot and the bag flopping over, off the wheels. Getting the bag to stand upright requires some artful packing. I usually position shoes or other things to create a wider base near the wheels so it will stay standing. I'm a fan of Eagle Creek bags, but I'm probably going to buy one of the other duffel bags with the standard luggage handle. This one will be designated for "one-way" trips (when we have more gear going than returning), or travels that don't require the bag to be rolled very far.

While this bag is generally lightweight unpacked, it's a monster packed for an extended trip, even if packed economically. The biggest problem with this bag is that the weight shifts so much, it twists so that the bag flops over, wheels up and top of the bag on the ground, so that you are dragging it. Very poor design. I needed something that could be managed but be stuffed into the back of a Land Rover in Africa. Take my advice -- get the one with the handle. Better construction and worth the money. This one is going to a charity for the homeless.

I use this product as a railroad employee. I am a locomotive engineer, and travel out of town for overnight stays. Compared to the Eagle Creek duffle bag I bought over 15 years ago (great quality), this bag feels cheap. The old bag had thick leather straps with buttons on the bag handle for your hand grip, the new ones are thick vinyl material. The old bag was made of canvas with really thick heavy duty zippers. The new one is made of what feels to be a heavy duty vinyl you might find on a rain jacket. The zippers are half the size in teeth thickness compared to the old one. The last bag lasted over 15 years, and the quality was second to none. I can only hope this bag lasts half as long. I was disappointed upon opening the shipping box. To be fair, the bag hasn't failed me yet, but on first sight, you would probably pass this bag by in a sporting or luggage store. I only bought this bag out of brand loyalty , since the other was so high quality. I hope my loyalties weren't misplaced. Hoping for The best.....almost forgot, the shoulder strap that came with it was so uncomfortable with a load of about 10 lbs. I had to buy an after market strap with a thicker shoulder pad and METAL clips for the bags D rings. Eagle Creek of old, please come back.

The bag is very difficult to maneuver. The bottom has no support and the handle is too small.

No pockets

I bought duffle this to hold my backpack and boots for a trip to Ireland. On the return trip, the duffle came in with one wheel casing torn right off and the fabric punctured and torn. I travel alot, I've owned Eagle Creek luggage for years, including two duffles (with the stronger material) that have been schlepped all over the place, including on the backs of yaks. My Eagle Creek luggage has survived all abuse in the past. But this piece is not up to Eagle Creek standards. The design of this duffle is poor! Go back to the old fabric! Figure out the wheel system better!

The actual size of the bag is smaller than advertised on the website