The 10 Best Leather Duffel Bags For Traveling
Whether you spell it “duffel” (correct) or “duffle” (still correct but slightly more colloquial), this common kit bag, once a staple of camping, has become a far finer form of conveyance for your stuff during short-term travel. A quality leather duffel bag offers the perfect marriage of utility and style, and will only look better with age and use. Here are ten of the best.
Frye Holden Duffle
Dimensions: 12″H x 19″W x 9 1/2″D
For your weekend getaways or week-long business trips, pack the Frye Holden Duffle. Made from antique pull up leather, it’s tough as nails and beautiful right out of the package. However, the more you use it, the more it will weather and patinate to become a work of art unique to you.
The antique metal hardware gives it a timeless look you can’t help but love, plus amazing durability to keep it from breaking or wearing out with frequent use. Thanks to the interior pockets, two-way zip closure, and exterior zip compartments, you’ve got plenty of storage space for all your travel essentials. And when the time comes to set it down, you’ll love the metal “feet” that keep the base protected from mud, damp, wet, and dirt.
Price: $548
Moore & Giles Benedict Weekend Bag
Dimensions: 23″L x 11″H x 11″W
If you’re looking to splurge, the Moore & Giles Benedict Weekend Bag is just the thing to consider. Originating in the Dominican Republic, it’s crafted with gorgeous leather that’s sturdy but soft and smooth to the touch. The main compartment is beautifully spacious to begin with, but the sides are expandable to give you even more room to stuff in a few extra souvenirs or gifts for loved ones back home.
The minimalist design shuns pockets and compartments in favor of maximizing the main storage space, and it’s built to fit your preferred packing cubes and toiletry bags. Whether you travel light or pack for everything and anything, this bag will suit your needs beautifully.
Price: $1,425
Tom Beckbe Leather Weekender Duffel Bag
Dimensions: 20″L x 11″W x 11.5″H
For those trips you need to pack a bit more, the Tom Beckbe Leather Weekender Duffel Bag is the medium-sized solution for you. Though it’s sized to fit in any aircraft storage compartment, it’s surprisingly roomy on the inside, with an inner lining that shields your clothes and electronics from damage and internal zipper compartments for easy storage.
The large-mouthed clamshell opening makes packing and unpacking a breeze and gives you instant access to everything inside your bag. Best of all, it’s made using American origin full-grain leather that’s more than tough enough to hold up to the rigors of any adventure holiday.
Price: $699
Duluth Trading Lifetime Leather Duffle Bag
Dimensions: 24″W x 12″D
Want a bag you’ll travel with for a lifetime? Give this Duluth Trading Co. leather duffle bag a try. The full-grain cowhide leather is incredibly tough, with a sturdiness you’ll both feel when you touch it and see for yourself as you travel with it for years to come.
As with all full-grain leather, it will patinate beautifully and grow more handsome with every trip you take. The U-shaped flap offers protection against rain or leakage but doesn’t interfere with quick packing and unpacking, and the dual straps ensure your bag stays firmly shut even through the roughest handling. With a padded carry strap and two grab handles, it’s easy to carry however you find most comfortable.
Price: $369+
Shinola Canfield Classic Holdall
Dimensions: 14″H x 19.75″W x 8.75″D
Travel in style and sophistication with the Shinola Canfield Classic Holdall. This bag draws on the styles of antique travel furniture from the early 1900s, but it’s built using the toughness of modern industry and cutting edge materials. The combination of navigator leather for the exterior and cotton lining the interior makes it a bag that’s tough as nails but well-suited to luxury and business travel.
The compartment has space to fit a fifteen-inch laptop along with your clothes, two slip pockets, and an inner zip pocket that makes organization incredibly easy. It’s TSA carry-on approved, built for elegance, and will be your reliable traveling companion for decades to come.
Price: $1,395
Kodiak Leather Co. 60L Weekender Duffel
Dimensions: 23.5″ x 12″ x 12″
This rustic duffel in 100% top grain water buffalo leather looks lived-in from the moment you purchase it, with a motley patina that says it’s been places and still has places to go. Its premium brass hardware, YKK zippers, robust rolled leather carry handles, and removable/adjustable shoulder strap are all built tough and made to last.
Practical considerations extend to 60L sizing, with dimensions of 23.5″x12″x12″ (still carry-on friendly), plus 4 exterior compartments (including two magnetic pockets, one zipper pocket, and a separate shoe compartment). The heavy-duty nylon interior features a zip pocket, a tablet pocket, and several card slips and pen holders.
Price: $459
Ghurka Cavalier II No. 97
Dimensions: 20″W x 12″H x 10.5″D
Once upon a time, people dressed to the nines for air travel. This handsome bag in vintage chestnut leather with a cotton twill lining in dapper plaid harks back to a different era and makes you look like a true gentleman.
Your trusty partner in weekending features rolled leather handles and a detachable/adjustable shoulder strap as well as a 12″ interior pocket and included luggage tag. Each bag also has its own unique registration number.
Price: $1,995
Rogue Industries Mount Blue Leather Duffle
Dimensions: 10.25″H x 20.5″W x 12″D
Sadly, the name of this weekender doesn’t translate to the color of the kit, but with tawny, veg-tanned, premium top-grain American bison leather, not to mention antique brass hardware, it’s hard to find fault with the countenance of this carryall. The color is listed as bourbon, natch.
What will you get with the 20.5″x10.25″x12″ sizing? Two sturdy handles, a detachable shoulder strap, and just a single, zippered compartment for your stuff, so you might want to add some packing cubes if you’re big on organization.
Price: $495
Buffalo Jackson Roosevelt Leather Duffle Bag
Dimensions: 20″L x 12″W x 12″H
Long and lean, this duffel in full grain water buffalo leather looks a bit like a bag for your golf clubs, but with a brown canvas-lined interior, genuine brass and iron hardware, and three exterior buckle pouch pockets, you certainly wouldn’t cart it to the links.
The Roosevelt includes a central, zippered compartment for sleek simplicity that supports an easy, throw-and-go packing style for the unpretentious gent.
With slouchy appeal, resilient rolled leather carry handles, and a removable/adjustable shoulder strap, it’s got all of the bases covered at a surprisingly affordable price.
Price: $350
Harber London Leather Weekender Bag
Dimensions: 11″ x 9.8″ x 19.7″
Handmade from premium full grain leather in chestnut with a German microsuede interior, this bag features an upscale, pebbled appearance and super soft-touch texture. In other words, it’s fancy AF, and it shows.
An astonishing seven outer pockets — two zippered, two open slips in front, two open on the side, and one large open in the back — complement inner compartments including a zippered pocket and a large open double pocket.
Organization is baked into this buff bag. The overall size of the bag is well within TSA standards, and you’ll also enjoy “mega comfortable handles” for long treks to and from the airport VIP lounge.
Price: £999
WP Standard PanAm Duffle Bag
Dimensions: 21″x10″x10″
You won’t find the basketball-like PanAm airline logo of old stamped on this bag, but with buttery, 100% full grain leather and solid brass hardware, you won’t really miss it.
It boasts ample room to handle your average weekend getaway, and this simple bag features a central zippered pocket plus an exterior slip for your smartphone or passport.
Add to that a heavy-duty two-way zipper, handles, removable/adjustable strap, luggage tag, and room to monogram, and you’re pretty much good to go. The price tag isn’t bad, either, especially when you factor in the lifetime guarantee.
Price: $449
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