The North Face Rolling Thunder Series
The Ultimate Road trip Roller-bag
The North Face Rolling Thunder Series bags well made, tough, and ready for the road ahead. They’re eye-catching, water-resistant, and sure to last you a very long time. They come in three sizes, 22” - 30” - and 36” inch. Each bag certainly has an archetypal feel and size. Let’s find out of they’re right for you.
As with all of my reviews, here is my field experience with the equipment.
Iceland
South Africa
Argentina
Canada
Spain
France
Coast to coast in continental USA
You’re probably wondering why I said the ultimate road trip bag. Let me tell you, these bags would have been aptly named, The North Face Everything-and-the-Kitchen-Sink Roller-bag. Wherever your travels take you, take anything and everything you might have need for. That’s right, you can quickly fill the larger two bags to way over airline weight limits with everything from socks to snowshoes. Sometimes it’s too much of a good thing.
Materials and Aesthetic
The Rolling Thunder series, especially when traveling with all of them, will have heads turning at airport baggage claim, and you’ll feel like you’re well on your way to Everest Basecamp or on the latest National Geographic Expedition. When fully loaded they have presence.
They. Look. Cool.
Laid down flat as if it were being packed for a trip, the bottom is made of a durable knurled single-piece polycarbonate (plastic). It’s tough and after thousands of miles of use and countless airlines workers caber-tossing it, there are no cracks and it shows little signs of wear. The wheels attach to the shell via coated plate aluminum to the shell. Working up from there, the middle section is double-row stitched to the polycarbonate lower shell for extra durability. The majority of the textile portion of the bags are a 1000D polyester with TPE (Thermoplastic Elastomer) laminate. The coating is durable, somewhat abrasion resistant, and waterproof. After many miles, the laminate shows signs of wear and will surely be the first material to reflect the abuse the bags can handle. What isn’t coated in polycarbonate and TPE is in 1680D nylon that isn’t waterproof but does shed water for a short time. The handles are made from the same 1680D nylon as well and they’re tough, solid handles. The two largest bags have them on all four sides for easy, ergonomic handling. I’ve loaded the largest bag to 94lbs and the handles nor any component on the bag seemed overstressed. The frame attachment point is where the design team fell flat on their faces. The frame is a single piece, bent solid steel that is cleverly and sturdily fastened to the bags baseplate. However, to create the tension and support required to make the bag stand upright, a nylon sleeve is sewn into the interior section of the shell. Nothing but tension keeps the frame inside the sleeve, and when the bag is picked up using the top (extending handle-side) and bottom (wheel-side) handle, it’s enough to pull the frame from the sleeve, rendering the frame useless, and giving the bags a forward lean, sometimes to the point of falling over.
External Components
As I mentioned before, the wheels are large, durable, self-cleaning, and are right-proper attached to the bag. The bags roll quietly, straight, and with little effort even at full load. The rubber handle feels great in hand. The carry on bag handle has two positions, as does the 30”. The larger bag has a short, single position handle due to its height at 36”. There are lash points on the outside of each bag for extra items, as well as dedicated nylon straps and rigging to daisy chain the bags together in descending order, so you can pull all three but just pulling the largest bag. If you find yourself ever needing the lash points to bring extra items, you may need to reevaluate your life choices. Once you get two larger bags packed, there are four buckles with heavy duty nylon straps to tighten down, making the bag more rigid, securing your items from excess movement, and giving the bag and slightly more accommodating form factor.
Interior
Cavernous. If you’re flying with the largest 36” bag, prepare to remove items at the airline ticket counter because these bags quickly end up in the 60-70lb range. According to The North Face website, the largest bag comes in at 10lbs 4oz, empty. On my photography trip to Africa, I had to leave behind two tripods and some battery backups because the bag showed 62lbs on the scale. Each bag is also fitted with an internal mesh pocket for smaller items. On the Icelandic expedition, the ticket counter agent gave me a break at 52lbs. The middle sized bag can quickly end up over the weight limit as well, but you have to work a little harder for it. While standing up, there are two easily accessible top compartments for storing smaller items like socks, or items you might need easy access to, such as battery backups, chargers, and snacks. The panel with the logo on it also hides an easy to miss, very large top compartment useful for storing larger, flat items. I’ve even commuted with a laptop in said pocket of the carry-on bag.
The carry-on size bag is where things can really get interesting. While the bottom or backside of every bag is made from the durable, hard shelled polycarbonate, the front, or logo side, are all made from a flexible textile material. This doesn’t sound out of the ordinary until you realize that most carry-on bags are hardshell bags, all the way around. The carry-on bag can quickly be and unknowingly overfilled to the point where it will struggle to fit in an overhead baggage compartment on a large aircraft. If you frequently commute via regional size aircraft, you will most definitely have to watch what you pack.
Final Thoughts and Things to Note
Great gear is an investment and this series of bags is without a doubt excellent equipment to add to your gear locker. They look fantastic, especially as a color matched set, and The North Face usually offers their Base Camp Duffels in the same color ways, allowing for a six piece matched set of gear in all shapes and sizes. The bags fit perfectly inside each other like Russian nesting dolls as well, so bonus points for ease of storage. Where these bags really shine is in the backseat or cargo area of your vehicle where weight isn’t an issue. In the largest of the bags, you can easily pack enough clothes for a monthlong expedition. If you’re traveling with a partner, consider packing both parties clothes together just for ease of travel and to save space.
