Holdall Bag

Holdall bags, sized by the trip rather than by the label

A holdall bag is a soft, wide-mouthed carrier that swallows bulky kit a panel-loading pack refuses to take: boots, a rolled jacket, a stove and a bag of food in one drop. The range covers canvas and leather builds, coated shells and expedition holdalls from around twenty litres up to fifty-five.

What size holdall do you actually need?

Litres are the honest unit, and the trap is buying for the longest trip you might ever take. A twenty litre holdall carries a change of clothes and a wash kit and stays under most cabin racks. Fifty-five litres holds a week of clothing with room for boots, but a soft bag has no frame, so filling it to the brim leaves a sagging load on one shoulder. Bags in this range sit alongside the wider military bags line, where the same volumes appear in framed and pouch-heavy formats.

Canvas, leather or coated fabric?

Cotton canvas takes abrasion well, softens with age and can be scrubbed, but it drinks water and stays heavy once wet. Leather resists scuffing and ages into something recognisable, at the price of weight and the need to feed it occasionally. Coated synthetics shed rain outright and wipe clean, which is why kit that will be thrown on a wet quayside or a field edge tends to live in waterproof bags rather than in cloth.

What separates a holdall that lasts from one that fails?

• Base panel: a second layer of fabric under the bag, since the underside is dragged across gravel and concrete far more than the sides ever are.
• Strap anchors: webbing that wraps under the body of the bag rather than being stitched to the outer skin, which is where handles pull away first.
• Zip size: a coarse-toothed zip with a storm flap over it survives grit; a fine zip on a stuffed bag is the component most likely to strip.
• Opening length: a zip that runs the full length of the top lets you pack in layers instead of posting items down a hole.
• Grab handles: a pair that meet in the middle with a wrap keeps the load closed when the bag is lifted single-handed.

When is a holdall the wrong choice?

Any distance on foot. A holdall puts the entire weight through one shoulder or one hand, and after a mile that becomes the only thing you can think about. For a walk-in, a rucksack spreads the load across the hips and leaves both hands free. The holdall earns its place from car to tent, from platform to hotel and as the bag that lives packed in the boot.

How should a holdall be packed?

Heavy items go along the base and against the back panel, close to the body when the strap is over a shoulder, so the bag hangs rather than swings. Soft layers fill the ends and stop the contents sliding when the bag tips. A cylindrical duffle bag follows the same rule with an added detail: without internal dividers, anything small disappears to the bottom, so pouches or dry bags inside are worth the small loss of space.