Eagle Creek Flashpoint ORV Trunk 30 Review
In the market for a suitcase that is ready to take a beating from the elements, natural and man-made? Eagle Creek’s Flashpoint ORV Trunk 30 is up to the challenge due to some excellent features, such as water resistant fabric and zippers. The Flashpoint ORV Trunk 30 incorporates Eagle Creek’s Bi-Tech™ fabric throughout to provide extreme durability and water resistance. The fabric not only holds up to the elements, it is also abrasion resistant and has yet to show wear and tear despite some heavy use over the summer and early fall. The high wear points, such as the corners and bottom are reinforced with a thicker fabric and plastic overlay to prevent breakdown. These areas look the same as when I received the bag for gear testing.
The Flashpoint ORV Trunk 30, as you may have guessed from the photo, features a rolling duffel design. The bag features a large main compartment that is easy to access thanks to a nearly fully zippered front panel that can be peeled back to see into the entire bag. Duffel bags sometimes “swallow” your belonging and it can be hard to locate key items due to the large single compartment design. Fortunately, the Flashpoint ORV incorporates some separation and stash pockets in key places, including a removable mesh divider that is placed midway between the bag. The Flashpoint ORV’s front panel features a separate compartment for sweaty, muddy, or wet gear that you wish to separate from the remainder of the duffel bags’ items. The front panel uses the same Bi-Tech fabric on the outer as well as between the inner compartment of the bag. While testing this bag out, I placed my running clothes in the front panel compartment each day and was happy to report that the main compartment was dry and odor free. This feature is great if you are going on a beach vacation and need to keep a suit or towel isolated, or for anyone that loves to be active but doesn’t want to smell like they are wearing their running clothes on their entire trip! The front panel also features a smaller zippered compartment along the top which is further subdivided into a mesh compartment for essentials that you need easy access to.
If you crave even more organization within your bag, Eagle Creek has some packing suggestions and additional products to help keep you organized.
During one of our longer trips, we actually shared the bag between the two of us. We were able to place enough clothes in the Flashpoint ORV Trunk 30 for 10+ days, including active and non-active clothing. To assist our organization, I used a similar strategy as the diagram above: Mud Box Medium at the bottom for running shoes/sandals, 1 full Pack-It cube at the bottom, 2 Pack-It cubes at the top, 1 large Sac, a few odds and ends and a toiletry bag. There was plenty of room to spare as well thanks to the straps at the bottom at the top and bottom to help compress belongings.
Rolling duffel bags can be great on storage but hard to maneuver at times. While testing the Flashpoint ORV we were nothing but pleased with its’ performance. The wheels are made from beefy plastic and are protected on the outside by a piece of plastic that extends from the body of the bag, thus recessing the wheels a bit and preventing damage that may occur by running into objects while on the move. The handle is also easy to use and telescopes by pushing a button; the handle extends approximately 12 inches. My husband is well over 6′ tall and some wheeled bags with the handle extended are still too short; this was not the case with the Flashpoint ORV 30 Trunk, as it was comfortable for both of us to pull along. If you need to tote the pack vs wheeling it, there are three different outer handles to help make the carrying a little less awkward.
Additional features include two outer straps that buckle across the bag when closed. These straps not only help streamline the bag, they also had a little bit of security. The zippers are also equipped to place a lock to prevent zipper movement. The outside of the bag also features a small zippered compartment under the left handle grip to allow you to stash your home address, email, or telephone number for identification and assist with retrieval of your belongings. I liked that the compartment was zippered closed and that my information was not readily available or easy to see by folks carrying my bag or simply walking by, a little added security in my book.
Sizing Specifications for the Flashpoint ORV 30 Trunk:
- Capacity: 5980 cu in / 100 L
- Weight: 10 lbs 10 oz/ 4.8 kg
- Dimensions: 16 x 30 x 14 in / 41 x 76 x 36 cm
I tried to not dwell too much on the capacity of this product because if the sizing does not seem quite right for your liking, but you love the list of features, the Flashpoint ORV is also available in a slightly larger and smaller version: the Flashpoint ORV Super Trunk 36 (larger version) and the Flashpoint ORV Trunk 22 (smaller version). The materials and design are the same for these bags and many of the features I mention carry over. One more thing to be said about the Flashpoint ORV Trunk 30, the weight is listed as 10 lbs 10 oz without any garments inside–when stuffed to the brim on the way home from a trip, the bag was approaching the cut off of 50 lbs (limit before extra charges for most airlines). The starting weight is less than others on the market, but just keep in mind that its’ storage capacity can easily allow you to exceed weight limits.
For this bag, I really can’t think of one beef or complaint thus far. Therefore, the Flashpoint ORV Trunk 30 is getting 5/5 stars from me.
The Flashpoint ORV Trun
