Bellroy Venture Duffel Review
A durable, water-resistant and lightweight duffel enters the competition.
Bellroy Venture Duffel Review Introduction
Bellroy - Back with another duffel! I just finished my Bellroy Laptop Caddy review, and this was a companion item I was testing at the same time. Bellroy has really been pushing out new bags this past year or so, and the Venture duffel line is one of the newer ones.
Billed as “ready for action” - the Venture duffel is meant to be a bit of a combo between lighter weight and durable fabric. More so than the Weekender line which can be a bit heavier. However, it’s also meant to keep those Bellroy looks, so you can adventure a little more pinky-out than with the outdoorsy brands. A poor joke that isn’t meant to make it sound snobby - it’s just going for a more professional/preppy look, which is Bellroy’s entire thing.
This is my review of the Bellroy Venture duffel. I’ve had this for a couple of months, and have taken it on a few trips using the “onebag” style. Two flight trips to Washington DC and one flight trip from NYC to Phoenix to visit the Grand Canyon. The latter also had some car travel in it.
As always for full transparency, I did reach out to Bellroy to see if they had a unit for review and they were nice enough to send one my way. That said, I had no interaction with them for the review itself and this is not sponsored. I do use affiliate links which help to support the site if you decide to use them to make a purchase, but you’re under no obligation to do so and there’s no additional cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Bellroy Venture Duffel Overview
So as we mentioned earlier this duffel is part of Bellroy’s Venture line. While it’s not going full-on Patagonia (we love you, Black Hole line), this is an updated fabric and meant to be more adventure focused than their EDC stuff or more professional lines. Think, “heading to our ski cabin in the woods” kind of stuff vs. “we’re going to the woods to build our ski cabin”.
The materials are lighter weight, and they are water resistant. It’s minimal, and has no real bells or whistles to speak of (their words). The bag is made from recycled nylon, and leather free. The idea is kind of to be all that you need, nothing you don’t. If you’ve read more of my reviews, you’ll know that I do kind of like that prospect. So, let’s see how they did.
Stats from the site:
Capacity
40L
Dimensions
350 x 485 x 270mm
Materials
This bag is made from 100% recycled nylon. It is leather-free.
It retails for $199 USD as of October 2023. The Venture duffel comes in Black and Navy - I have the Navy for today’s review.
Bellroy Venture Duffel Features
Bellroy has managed to give this bag a few different features even though it’s also billed as being minimalist. Let’s see what it’s got going on.
Because this is meant to be a little more adventure focused, the fabric itself is water resistant. It’s also got aquaguard zippers to help protect from the elements if you’re carrying it and get caught in some weather. The main zipper is also lockable.
There is an external pocket with a key leash and water resistant zipper.
The bag also comes with a detachable, water resistant stuff sack. This is a perfect piece to use for your shoes, or wet clothes or even just your dirty clothes as you go.
Lastly the strap is detachable which allows you to stick to a clean “one-handed” carry mode, or use it like a traditional shoulder duffel, or cross-strap it to your back.
The opening itself is listed as a feature, and I think I kind of agree. It’s a big, huge opening meant to make it easier to pack. That’s kind of the point of a duffel so maybe should be table stakes, but you don’t actually always see that when brands try to get all jazzy with design.
The Good
I’m kind of a broken record at this point with Bellroy - but I just love their quality and looks. Their bags always present themselves so clean and minimal, and always have that professional vibe. Even though it’s more adventure based, the Venture duffel is no exception to this rule. It’s is in fact clean. The navy color is very deep, and I think it looks fantastic. I also loved the quality of the details, seams, handles, etc. For more information on the entire line of Bellroy fabrics, you fanatics can head here: Bellroy materials. Finally on the aesthetics front - I really love their choices when it comes to internal colors, too. The beige and gray on the inside is classy, and the orange inside the external pocket provides a nice pop of color to help you see your items better.
That big opening I mentioned? Yeah in practice, it’s great. It was super easy to pack and repack using my packing cubes. (Speaking of, here’s an article I wrote looking at a few types of cubes: Packing Cubes Comparison).
The water resistant qualities on the bag are great. I mentioned “table stakes” earlier, and I tend to think that on a travel bag, water resistant zips and fabric are kind of table stakes these days. I don’t want to have to carry an additional piece like a rain cover.
Great, great handles on this bag. Both the one-handed versions that felt like nice, rounded seatbelt material, and the shoulder carry strap were fantastic. I actually was quite surprised at the shoulder strap and how comfortable it was. Really soft material, just the right amount of padding without being too bulky. Well done here, Bellroy.
I really liked that they included the stuff sack. As said earlier you can use it for any number of things, but I found it perfect to carry my shoes (I like to wear nice shoes to dinner, sue me).
Lastly, I think 40L is a nice rounded number for carry liters. duffels can get pretty big, pretty fast and start to get in the way of carry-on limits or personal item limits if you’re one of those personal-item only travelers (I cannot get there, but I salute you!). I found it to be very easy to fit all I needed in here. Forty liters is a very flexible volume.
The Bad
Because this is meant to be pretty minimal and focused, you’re not going to get many extras here. It’s missing any water bottle features (which is normal for a duffel if I’m honest).
It’s also missing a laptop pocket. This is one that people might debate. For one, many duffels lack this feature. But, some duffels manage to fit it in (one of Bellroy’s for instance). So while this is going to be up to you, I think many people out there travel with a laptop and would like to have a pocket for that. For this and all the duffels without them, I can recommend the Bellroy Laptop Caddy or the Matador Laptop Base Layer - depending on your use case.
The Improvement Requests
I’m not going to focus much on this. Based on the minimal complaints, Bellroy does offer other bags with those things. So, if those are crucial for you, I’d check out those other bags. Bellroy made decisions on the design here and it’s what makes this bag what it is. I didn’t really find any flaws with the features they DID put here, so Bellroy gets a Pass on this one.
Packing The Venture Duffel 40L
I didn’t get too crazy with what I packed in here, but I did use cubes and bring my camera so I have a good example to show you. Camera, shoes, packable backpack, a few packing cubes - it all fit no problem. I had to layer when I went to the Grand Canyon due to Phoenix vs. Flagstaff temps, but it was a joy to pack this bag, pick it up, and go. Great for car trips, too. Throw in the Venture Pouch and the Gravel Explorer Mini and I was all set. Here’s a few shots packed at home before I left, one of the hotels, a shot for scale in a trunk of a small sedan, and one quick shot from the airport lounge fully packed.
Final Thoughts On My Bellroy Venture Duffel Review
In wrapping another Bellroy product review, how should I summarize this one? I think the Bellroy Venture duffel succeeds on its promise of being that “all of what you need” kind of bag, keeping things simple and minimal, but still having that profession/slightly preppy aesthetic they are known for.
While not the cheapest on the market, I do think they’ve hit a nice price point on this one in terms of providing good value for design-forward thinking and premium materials. Some might argue against it, but for those that like to purchase things that they deem more sustainable, this has that angle as well.
I really enjoyed using it for the things that matter - great, wide opening, premium and comfortable handles/strap, looks classier than an outdoors focused bag when you’re heading into a luxury hotel or something like that. And of course, it’s easy to pack but not oversized.
For those reasons, I think this is a “must check out” for anyone in the market for a duffel, and I might in fact recommend this over their more premium Weekender, simply for the price (though if budget is no option, have at the premium version you empowered spender, you). Just keep in mind there is no spot for your laptop/tablet here and it’s BYOS (Bring Your Own Sleeve). Couldn’t finish the article without a terrible joke. I really tried.
As always with the indie brands, I’d suggest buying directly through their website for best service.
Wander more - and wander smarter everyone.
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