I travel a lot to go (trout) fishing. Most trips are within extended driving distance. I have my Honda CRV, so it’s easy to toss whatever I want in the back and just hit the road. However, when I have to fly, like I will in a few weeks to Wisconsin, I usually have to check a bag to bring along wading boots, (sometimes) waders, a net, fly boxes, sling pack, and other assorted paraphernalia. Oh, not to mention clothes and whatnot, because these trips usually last around a week.
For the last decade or so, I’ve been relying on a big ass Eddie Bauer Expedition rolling duffel (or is it duffle?) as my gear hauler. It’s the kind of bag that’s a clamshell, so it has a bottom compartment where I can stow my fishing gear, and a top compartment where I can cram my clothes. No cross-contamination. It was a workhorse. I bought it for my first fishing trip West in 2012 and it’s been a faithful companion ever since.
Well, I was recently faced with the fact that the Eddie Bauer bag has seen better days. With an outer shell made of ripstop nylon, it just started to puncture, fray, wear through, and generally fall apart after years of likely overaggressive airline baggage handling and being tossed around rental cars and hotel rooms. Plus, the telescoping handle got super janky and never really extended or collapsed reliably, so it was time to find an alternative.
Zero regrets, I definitely got my money’s worth.
As you can probably tell by the title of this post, that alternative ended up being the Fishpond Stormshadow Large Rolling Duffel. It’s basically the same dimensions as my old Eddie Bauer bag, with the same clamshell configuration.
It does have some additional features specific to fishing (like interior straps to hold rod tubes) that will surely come in handy. It also has a TPU coating to keep water out, whereas the Bauer bag would get wet through to the inside if left in the elements too long. The oversized T-pulls on the Stormshadow’s zippers are nice too.
Yes, I will acknowledge that this bag is pricey. $399.95 MSRP, which is basically what you have to pay no matter where you choose to buy it. Ouch.
Like everything else, there are probably some “no name” generic alternatives you could buy off Amazon if you wanted, at a quarter to half the price. But I didn’t. I wanted a brand name I could trust, and I’m just getting too old and cranky to mess around with nonsense.
I ended up buying mine through Mad River Outfitters, a fly shop based in Columbus, Ohio. It was ordered the evening of May 1st and was on my doorstep the morning of May 3rd… shipped for free. Ohio to Florida in less than two days at no extra cost. Amazon Prime can’t beat that! (Maybe Mad River can ship Lilly home from college after this Spring semester.) Awesome job Mad River Outfitters, can’t give you enough props!
Anyway, I’ll put it through the paces this Summer with two trips in the span of a month, and the possibility of another in the Fall. So don’t consider this a review of any sort, just highlighting that the Fishpond Stormshadow rolling duffel might be of interest if you’re a traveling angler like me.