The Best Travel Bag You Can Buy for $110

Welcome to the Esquire Endorsement. Heavily researched. Thoroughly vetted. These picks are the best way to spend your hard-earned cash.

I'm a Luddite, but a very discerning Luddite. A watch tells me when to stand up? No thanks. A TV that talks? I hate that. I haven't gotten a new iPhone in five years, because I don't think the cameras on the new one are important enough to give up the portability of my iPhone 12 Mini. This goes beyond tech, though. I'll never ditch my stiff-ass jeans for plasticky stretch chinos in the name of "comfort." And nothing in this world interests me less than travel-hack products.

But I was an early adopter of thiese two-in-one duffel-slash-garment bags (before TikTok made them a Thing), and I've fallen for them hard. I've fallen so hard that I only use hard-sided luggage when I'm testing brands for this magazine, and usually it's my wife who's using those suitcases. (A Rimowa is the only thing that I'd break this stance for.) In the past two years, I've taken weeklong trips to Paris, Dubai, Seoul, and all over the U.S., and every time I only take one garment duffel. I can't stress enough how this has changed my traveling.

This whole kick started with this Halfday bag. To this day, I think buying one for $110 is the best deal in travel.

Florence Sullivan

It Makes You a Better Packer.

I made it clear that I'm not a Travel Hacks guy, but this bag has turned me into something like that. If it's not immediately clear from the pictures, the gimmick here is that it's a garment bag that zips up into a decent-size duffel. Instead of packing a suitcase, personal bag, and separate garment bag for a suit, you can get it all in one carry-on-acceptable bag.

I will say, I'm a smaller guy, so I can get full trips out of this bag. But even if you're bigger, it's the best style of carry-on you can get. For a weeklong trip, my packing goes like this: two suits, one in the garment section and one on my body, where pants can be worn with a tee and jackets can be switched. (Sometimes I'll travel in suit trousers and a casual jacket, which adds another outfit.) I've got one dress shirt, two casual shirts, and a week's worth of tees. There's always one pair of quick-dry workout shorts (just wash them if you hit multiple), jeans or swim trunks depending on the season, and all the socks plus underwear I need. I can do up to seven days like this, no laundromat, and squeeze out more with sink washing and strategic re-wears.

When I used to take a hard-sided suitcase, I didn't think about what I was packing. I'd grab some pants, some shirts, and a suit; then I wouldn't wear half of it. Now I'm packing like I'm going out on a spec-ops mission. I'm not planning outfits or weighing the bag, but I pack explicitly for the vacation I'm going on. Everything has to be switchable and versatile. Do I feel like I'm turning into my father? Definitely. But that's not a bad thing in this case.

Florence Sullivan

It's Surprisingly Durable.

Part of being the Only Bag You Need means it should also be capable of being checked at the gate. To test, I checked my Halfday bag on four straight flights. I wasn't confident at first. The outer material is 420 Denier, but I just felt like the woven polyester was going to take a beating and show that it took a beating. Still, I tossed it on the conveyor belt and walked through the airport free, nothing in my hands.

Every time I got it back, it looked alright. Everything held up well, though I wouldn't continue checking it after this experiment. That said, on a trip back from my parents' place, I was carrying a bottle of liquor they gave us in this Tom Beckbe whiskey tote stuffed with socks and underwear to keep it from breaking. Wouldn't you know, it didn't break. There was enough structure to the bag, and enough of my clothes around it, to keep the bottle in tact. In a pinch, the Halfday bag is more than capable of handling the beating it'll get going down the belt.

Shop $108, halfdaytravel.com

Florence Sullivan

It's the Best Option at This Price Point.

For $110, this bag is a steal in my mind. Everything I didn't love about the original Halfday bag has been fixed in subsequent versions. The garment-bag hanger is reinforced; so too are the duffel handles and strap. There's an exterior pocket for a passport and a luggage sleeve if you're using it in tandem with a larger checked bag. It's incredibly functional, and every aspect of the bag has been thought-out.

That said, I've graduated to nicer garment duffels, because Halfday made me fall in love with the form, and I've written all about those. The one I use now is a leather version from Lucchese, and I tell any guy with the money to spend on it that Bennett Winch makes the best version of this bag style. The Halfday is great, but it looks a bit kiddy, like a high school gym bag. Plus, after a few years—which is more than enough time to justify the purchase—you'll start to see that wear and tear on the polyester.

But I simply cannot deny the value of this bag. If you want to try a new packing modality, or if you've been curious about garment duffels and haven't pulled the trigger, let this be your sign. In the world of travel, good things rarely come cheap. This bag is the exception. It's the best way you could spend $110 today.

Shop $108, halfdaytravel.com

Photographs by Florence Sullivan