Matador Freefly Packable Duffel Review

Bottom Line

CleverHiker presents the Matador Freefly Duffel! Chronic overpackers, souvenir lovers, gym rats, campsite hoppers, and anyone who likes to be prepared for any travel eventuality, rejoice! This lightweight, packable, simple, and streamlined duffel is the perfect companion for your bits ‘n bobs, no matter where you’re headed.

It packs up to the size of your hand, 8.5 oz, and is ready in seconds, so you can pack dirty hiking boots, smelly clothing, that extra layer you had to buy when temps dropped, or souvenirs. 

We bring it in our backpacks when traveling to trade shows in anticipation of coming home with a slew of sample gear and snacks. It also gets used after dusty and muddy hiking trails to keep dirty gear quarantined. It also comes with us in our luggage when we go to visit family, knowing we undoubtedly will be sent home with baked goods.

It’s a handy, durable piece of luggage that’s easy to bring on any adventure, including camping, road trips, and air travel, as the small size can be used as a personal item when not packed full.

How We Tested

We tested the Matador Freefly by loading it full of bike gear for local rides, in the back of the car to stash dirty shoes on road trips, and for lugging food and gear to walk-in campsites. We got it soaked, dragged it around dirt parking lots, and tossed it in and out of vehicles to see how it performed.

Carry Comfort

For a bag this small, we were surprised to find there are three ways to carry the Matador Freefly duffel, more than many other duffels that made it onto our favorite duffels list. It has a shoulder strap, duffel handles, and makeshift backpack straps. Not surprisingly for a bag this small and light, most of them aren’t that comfortable for extended carry. 

Top grab handles are outfitted with a hard sheath to keep floppy webbing from creating uneven pressure across your palms. However, the handles are thin, so weight isn’t distributed well, which makes them uncomfortable when the bag is full of heavy items. Granted, you need to be packing bricks to load it down, given its 30-liter capacity.

The shoulder strap is webbing, which also dug into our shoulders during long carries through airports when the bag was overstuffed. Still, it is adjustable, so we could choose from over-the-shoulder or cross-body carry to mix it up and relieve some pressure. There are also thin webbing grab handles on either end of the bag for easy loading and unloading into cars or overhead bins. 

And though you technically can rearrange the compression straps to act as backpack straps in a pinch, they’re just webbing, so they weren’t comfortable for more than a few minutes.

That said, the bag is designed for lightweight carry, including short jaunts to the car, gym runs, and carting extras to the campsite, not lugging heavy equipment, so comfort may not be as important a factor as with other duffels we’ve tested.

Compressibility & Packability

When it comes to packing the Matador Freefly duffel, it’s not the easiest bag to fill, but that’s the price you pay for a duffel as packable and lightweight as this: there are going to be trade-offs. The bag itself has no structure, so it collapses flat when empty, which makes it more difficult to toss shoes or gear into quickly and easily: packing requires deliberate effort.

The top zipper is just a slit opening, but since it’s nice and long, it still offers full access to the interior. When it’s full, it holds its shape nicely and is easy enough to search through. If it’s not full, however, it becomes a shapeless blob, and it’s difficult to locate items inside, especially because the interior is black.

As for compressibility, that’s where this duffel shines. It packs into an included pouch that fits in the palm of your hand when not in use. It is an excellent piece of gear to bring along in another backpack or duffel if you think you may be traveling home with more than you arrived with. 

Exterior compression straps cinch the bag down when the bag isn’t full, so contents don’t shift around as much.

Durability

When we took the Matador Freefly Packable Duffle out for testing, we weren’t easy on it. We dragged it through dirt parking lots, swung it around by the handles, and tossed it in and out of vehicles. Through it all, it picked up some dirt, but there were no scuffs or signs of permanent damage. That’s likely due in part to the robust UHMWPE-reinforced fabric on the bottom of the bag and a lightweight ripstop nylon on the body. 

The webbing and handles, too, seem durable, though not to the same level as many of the other duffels we’ve tested. They’re thinner and lighter for better packability, but we think they’re going to wear faster with regular use than some bigger brands’ duffels.

The zippers are all waterproof, which are notoriously more delicate and prone to breakage and malfunction than non-waterproof varieties. So they will require more cleaning and attention after especially dusty or sandy outings.

Weather Resistance

Though the Matador Freefly Packable Duffle is PU-coated and advertised as weatherproof, we found it doesn’t quite meet that criteria. After a brief but heavy rainshower, clothing towards the top inside the bag was wet despite the waterproof zippers.

The solid exterior pocket did manage to keep contents dry during the same rain shower, though. Even so, we wouldn’t trust it to keep gear and clothing dry in wet environments that exceed a light drizzle.

Organization

The Matador Freefly packable duffel bag is designed to be packable and simple. As a result, there’s very little organization built in. In addition to the main compartment, there are only two accessory pockets. Both are on the outside (one is a durable stretch mesh, the other a solid, opaque pocket). Both feature waterproof zippers.

They are a good place to store small items we want easy access to, including bike gloves, a hat, snacks, or gear like headlamps and cathole shovels. The mesh pocket especially proved valuable when we forgot to unpack the bag after a damp hike: the soggy socks we stuck in there were able to dry instead of getting mildewy.

Should You Buy the Matador Freefly Packable Duffel?

This duffel is designed primarily for portability, not comfort or organization. It will appeal to travelers and outdoorists who need something like a reusable grocery bag, but a level up. It weighs little, packs down as small as a pair of tall hiking socks, and can be deployed in an instant. We love it for grabbing groceries on a road trip, running gear from the campsite to the car, separating dirty gear, or bringing home gifts from our travels.

It’s the perfect bag for “just in case” and is so light and small that there’s little reason not to stash it in your luggage or backseat.

That said, if you’re looking for a regular-use duffel for travel or one that can hold more than a few pairs of shoes, will stand up to baggage claim abuse, and will be more comfortable to carry on long walks when packed full of heavy items, a more traditional duffel would probably suit you better.

What Other Duffels Should You Consider?

If you’re not sure the Matador Freefly is right for you, you may want to consider one of the other stand-out duffels we’ve tested.

REI Roadtripper Review: Portable, packable, and available in a wide range of sizes, the Roadtripper packs down small, but is a more affordable option.

The North Face Base Camp Review: Still small, but packs a punch. The North Face Base Camp isn’t as packable, but it’s more functional for frequent use and features more organizational options.

Patagonia Black Hole Review:  For a more traditional duffel, consider the classic Patagonia Black Hole. The large single opening, several carry options and higher waterproof rating make it a solid choice for many travelers.