INTRODUCTION

We recently reviewed the Bagsmart Paz 23L Tote II bag, and although we considered it a great tote, we found it a bit too big for our needs. Fortunately, we had also requested the Puffy Water-Resistant Gym & Travel Duffle bag, and this is sized more to our liking. Strangely, although it appears slightly smaller, the “Puffy” is supposedly a 24L bag, making its capacity greater than the Paz.

Our first impression is that the Bagsmart Puffy Water-Resistant Gym & Travel Duffle Bag seems to bridge the gap between everyday utility and modern street style. It seems to target those who want a stylish all-purpose bag, whether it is for the gym, travel, or social outings. Helen is already eyeing off this duffle as a potential substitute for her current camera bag as this duffle will easily accommodate a camera cube.

Bagsmart kindly sent us the  Bagsmart Puffy Water-Resistant Gym & Travel Duffle Bag in the Black colourway. Please read our Disclaimer below. 

Note: Just to clarify, there are two ways to spell duffle – duffel & duffle. Both duffel (American English) and duffle (British English) are correct spellings, though duffel is the older, traditional form and is used by American brands. The original word came from the name of the Belgian town of Duffel, where the heavy cloth was originally made. Regardless, Bagsmart refers to the bag as a Duffle, so that’s the spelling used throughout this post.

Disclaimer:  This review is unbiased. We would never recommend using any product unless we have used the product ourselves. We always strive to give you our honest opinion to help you make the best choice. We received the product with compliments , but were not paid for this review; however, we may receive commissions on links in this post.

THE EXTERIOR

The standout feature of this bag is its lightweight, cloud-like puffer design. The vertical stitching gives it structure without adding bulk, and the water-resistant matte finish looks elevated in urban settings. It avoids the boxy look of traditional sport duffles, blending in naturally as a weekender or personal item.

The exterior material is water-resistant quilted polyester/Taslon, and the zippers are heavy-duty, but unfortunately not YKK zippers as provided on the Paz 23L Tote. 

Carrying options are flexible, featuring fixed dual carry handles alongside a removable, padded strap for comfortable shoulder or crossbody wear. Exterior side pockets feature cinch drawstrings to hold water bottles, though their shallow depth makes them best suited for smaller bottles. Additionally, the base is lightly padded and relatively thin—so avoid resting it on wet surfaces, as a reinforced bottom would have added much-needed durability. 

THE INTERIOR

Funnily enough, the interior of the Bagsmart Puffy Gym & Travel Duffle has a 24L capacity, more than the huge Paz 23L Tote II that we previously reviewed. We couldn’t work this out until we compared the two products’ depth. The Paz is 13.5cm deep, and the Puffy is 19cm. Needless to say, there’s a lot of space inside the Puffy.

One big difference between the Paz Tote and this bag is the zipper entrance to the duffle. The zipper closes completely and does not have the top or bottom tape extension as seen on the Paz 23L tote. 

As a result, the Puffy Duffle is more weatherproof, as there are no gaps at the end of the zipper. 

As mentioned, the interior is spacious, but there’s not a lot else happening inside. On the front wall are 3 equally-sized stretchy floating pockets which can hold smaller items. On the back wall of the interior is a transparent zippered PVC pocket that is ideal for placing damp or wet items without affecting other dry items in the duffle. This is also an ideal place to store liquids that may leak from their containers.

For photographers, there’s plenty of room to house a larger camera cube if you want to use it for camera gear. The Puffy comfortably holds the Peak Design XSmall or Small Camera Cube, with enough room in the duffle for additional items. 

That’s it for the interior. There’s not much going on inside, but this is because Bagsmart are trying to maximise space inside. It’s always a trade-off between pockets and space. Too many pockets inside a bag always infringes on the interior packing space, and too few pockets can lead to messy internal organisation. To get around this, we highly recommend that you use Packing Cubes inside any bag with few interior pockets. These act as pockets that can be placed in any space you want within the interior. Bagsmart offers a great set of compression packing cubes which we have used and highly recommend. Alternatively, Peak Design also produce a broad range of premium-quality packing cubes which are excellent but costly. 

No bag is perfect, and the Bagsmart Puffy Gym & Travel Duffle is no exception. The cons are mostly minor and, for most users, will not be an issue.

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COLOURS

The BagSmart Puffy Gym & Travel Duffle is available in 6 colours: Black, Beige, Pink, Dark Pink, Camel, & Grey. We were sent the Black colourway for this review.

PRICING

THE FINAL WORD

RATED: RECOMMENDED