Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have to preface this review with a disclaimer. I am a bag snob. I currently own a King Kong gym bag, previously owned the OG AER Duffel Pack. I travel with REI 40l Big Haul for short trips and use a Boundary Errant as my day to day backpack. I thought my daughter might like an alternative to her hard side suitcase so I purchased this duffel for her. My initial impression, I like bags that are collapsible. You can throw it in with your luggage if you need an extra bag for extras. The fact it folds into a potential messenger bag I’ll discuss later. Opening the bag, I noticed a scratch card like a weird scratch off ticket. Yeah I have no interest in that. The bag material felt thinner than I am used to, but my bags normally cost 3x this one, so that’s expected. The design on the material makes it feel reinforced though. The zippers (not YKK zippers) opened and closed smoothly. Even though the company says this is a travel duffel the zippers are NOT locking zippers. I was really impressed with the reinforced stitching at points were I can see it was necessary. Well thought out. At 55l the bag is spacious. The interior is tall, not long. The bag has 5 exterior pockets, 1 interior pocket and a compartment for shoes/dirty clothes. I was impressed with the size of the compartment. Keep in mind as you fill that up, you will lose room in the main compartment, but I appreciate the extra space. The company says the material is smell/water resistant but I have not tested that aspect. The hooks and eyelets for the shoulder strap are plastic, what you would expect for a $26 duffel. The fact that the bag folds into a “messenger” bag. What that means is the 4 exterior pockets are usable. There really is no main interior compartment because that is where the duffel is. Two of the external pockets are slightly expandable, but not spacious in any way. I truly struggle to see how this is a major selling point. Folding the duffel back into the messenger aspect does not require an origami degree, which I feared. Also, because this does fold into a messenger bag, when it is being used as a duffel, it leaves an awkward tab sticking out and I can just see that getting caught on things while traveling or the zipper getting damaged. Also because it folds into a messenger bag, they couldn’t put feet on the bottom of the duffel, so you hope the bottom doesn’t wear thin. In my opinion the fact that it folds into a messenger bag detracts from the bag. The quality is really good. Reinforced stitching, gliding zippers, large dirty clothes compartment...all of these things are positives. If you are purchasing the bag for the dual aspect, you might like it. Otherwise for me it’s 3 out of 5 stars. Edit: I talk it over with my daughter. She really likes the bag and has started to use it immediately. She thinks it is worthy of a 4 to 4.5 star review. Since I bought this for her, I'll edit my review.