Home / Style / Bags & Luggage

Filson Just Brought Back One of the Best Travel Bags Ever Built

This discontinued travel pack was once dubbed “the greatest bag ever made.” Good news: it’s back.

Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

By Jack Seemer

Published

·

Updated

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

The Duffel Backpack Hybrid was never Filson’s most famous bag (a crown worn by the brand’s Rugged Twill Original Briefcase). But maybe it should have been.

Jeremy White, an editor at Wired, once dubbed it the “greatest bag ever made.” Full stop. Not even close.

Versatile, durable, lightweight — the Duffel Backpack Hybrid was well on its way to the Mount Rushmore of luggage, nestled in-between a Rimowa Carry-On and Patagonia Black Hole.

Then Filson did the unthinkable. It retired the bag. And the Duffel Backpack Hybrid was almost lost to the secondhand market, joining the Duster Coat on the brand’s growing list of discontinued, highly collectible products gawked over by gear heads.

Return trip

One such gear head was Rhyne Simpson, a merchandise manager at Huckberry, who knew first-hand just how good Duffel Backpack Hybrid was before Filson axed it.

“We sold thousand units over the years,” Simpson said. “People started reaching out to us for this product, looking for it because they wanted to replace their old version or get one for a friend.”

Now they can.

green duffel bag
An integrated mud pocket for shoes and dirty clothes is one of the many features that makes the bag so good.
Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

After “pleading” with Filson, Simpson said, the brand decided to bring back the Duffel Backpack Hybrid as a Huckberry exclusive, for good.

The best part? “It’s the exact same bag,” Simpson said. No gimmicks. No one-off badging. No weird colors. This is the Duffel Backpack Hybrid of yesteryear, right down to the zippers and pockets.

Huckberry

Save $88

Filson Duffel Backpack Hybrid

This discontinued travel pack was once dubbed “the greatest bag ever made.” Then Filson did the unthinkable. It retired the bag. After years of gaining a cult following on the secondary market, a merchandising manager at Huckberry managed to get Filson to bring the bag back in its original glory.

A class of its own

Unlike the Rugged Twill Briefcase, the bag comes with Filson’s ballistic nylon fabric. Its secret sauce? Durability without weight.

“It definitely feels like you can toss it in the back of a pickup truck on a dirty road and get dust all over it.”

According to Simpson, the fabric makes the bag “really, really light, but it has the abrasion resistance that you need for something like this. It definitely feels like you can toss it in the back of a pickup truck on a dirty road and get dust all over it.”

green duffel bag
Just because the bag can get dirty doesn’t mean it’s not premium. The haul handles are equipped with bridle leather, for example.
Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

The 46-liter size makes it suitable to a weeklong work trip or a full-fledged adventure, paired with another piece of luggage. And the trio of carry options — it can be worn as a backpack, over the shoulder or simply by the bridle-leather haul handles — makes it even more versatile.

Pockets where you need ’em

When it comes to organization, the bag’s large center “compartment plays nicely with packing cubes, however, the Duffel Backpack Hybrid offers it’s own army of pockets: two on the outside (one lined for shoes and dirty clothes) and a padded pouch for laptops up to 15 inches.

green duffel bag
Room to spare: the padded laptop compartment can hold computers up to 15 inches (and then some).
Photo by Jack Seemer for Gear Patrol

“You can kind of pack it however you want,” Simpson said. “You can do all your packing cubes and you’ve got a little bit of organization in there, but it’s just totally different from any other travel bag.”

Pricing and availability

The Duffel Backpack Hybrid is available now, exclusively at Huckberry. It costs $349, which, if you ask Simpson, is one heck of a value. “In that range of bags, that’s not too expensive,” he said.

Though the bag is only available in Otter Green, just like the original, Simpson teased the possibility of other classic colors down the line — possibly as soon as the holidays. Until then, grab one while it’s still in stock.

Huckberry

Save $88

Filson Duffel Backpack Hybrid

This discontinued travel pack was once dubbed “the greatest bag ever made.” Then Filson did the unthinkable. It retired the bag. After years of gaining a cult following on the secondary market, a merchandising manager at Huckberry managed to get Filson to bring the bag back in its original glory.

Take a Trip

,