Review: Eagle Creek No Matter What Duffel Small

The Eagle Creek No Matter What Duffel is an attractive offering for those seeking a compact, light and rugged duffel bag. It is as comfortable in the woods with you on a hike as it is under the seat in front of you on a flight.

Like all of our bags, we’ve made a video review for this Eagle Creek No Matter What Duffel that you can watch on our YouTube channel Tekuben Prime or below:

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Exterior

At 18 x 12 x 11 inches in dimension (or 45.7 x 30.5 x 28 centimeters for our friends on the metric system), the Eagle Creek No Matter What Duffel, in Small, is perfectly sized to store underneath a seat or slung comfortably over a shoulder.

In line with Eagle Creek’s outdoor adventure character, all No Matter What duffels are constructed using the company’s Bi-Tech fabric, which it claims is water-resistant while being strong and light. The strength of the material will be tested over time but the light weight is immediately appreciated upon picking up the bag. The Bi-Tech material has a unique, slip-resistant texture that feels very synthetic and “plasticky” – it took us a bit to get used to.

There’s a small zippered pocket on the front of the bag for storing items you want quick access to. The zipper, like that for the main compartment, is covered by a flap to deter access from would-be thieves. There are two compression straps that click on the top of the bag to help reduce the appearance of bulkiness if you maximize the packing space.

There are handles on either end of the bag to aid in ease of handling, and the primary bag handles on the top are joined together with two buttons. The included strap is adjustable, padded and was typically comfortable on the shoulders.

All Eagle Creek No Matter What Duffels are packaged in a pouch, demonstrating their impressively small footprint. The pouch can double as a bag to store small items in the duffel if you want to keep them together at all times. Storing the duffel back in the pouch after use is a bit of a challenge though, unless you fold the duffel just so.

If you travel with a wheeled carry-on, you’ll like the fact that these duffles feature a through-panel to slip over the telescopic handles of your wheeled bag to make transporting both easier. This is a very thoughtful and considerate decision on behalf of Eagle Creek.

Interior

The interior of the No Matter What Duffel has no surprises, which is one of the highest praises for a bag. What you see on the outside – a compact duffel that complies with strict carry-on size limits – is exactly what you get, including the color. This Small No Matter What Duffel stays out of the way while offering enough room for you to pack for a short-duration adventure.

Maintaining the duffel’s barren simplicity, there are no pockets to be found on the inside. Instead, what you will find are reassuring cross stitching at key stress points throughout to hold this duffel together. We have a high degree of confidence that this bag will not easily fall apart.

Summary

The Eagle Creek No Matter What Duffel is a purposeful, no-frills, utilitarian bag that keeps out of the way as you use it to haul what you need for a short trip. In the Small size, its dimensions reflect Eagle Creek’s thought and regard for the strict carry-on size requirements of regional airlines. It is light, available in many bright colors and appears, at least initially, to be built for the long haul.

One of the benefits of buying an Eagle Creek No Matter What product is the backing of the product by the company in the form of the No Matter What™ Warranty. The No Matter What Warranty covers the repair or replacement of the bag if it is damaged. This additional protection is added on top of the Lifetime Warranty that Eagle Creek offers as standard for all of its other products.

At an MSRP of $70 USD at the time of this writing, you will be buying (some might even call it investing in) a classically handsome, light and rugged duffel that Eagle Creek will back the functionality of unconditionally. When deciding if this is the bag for you, do consider that the bag doesn’t offer much in terms of organization. The usability of the small exterior pocket could be diminished if the main compartment is packed fully. I would’ve liked if this duffel was $20 less and offered at $50 USD to make it even more accessible and a stronger recommendation. Still, with the No Matter What warranty, this may be the only small duffel you need to buy for a while – and that may be worth the price.

Whether you pick this duffel or not, get out there and safe travels.

Specs:

Model number: EC020417

Color: Strobe Green

Warranty: No Matter What™ Warranty

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We’re happy you’ve found us and we hope that our review helps you decide if this Eagle Creek duffel is the right one for you. We also have a hand picked list of bags that offer best-in-class quality. Check out the bags that are Tekuben Approved™.