The North Face Rolling Thunder 22″ - Review 2023

Review

The North Face Rolling Thunder definitely gives you that rugged adventure feel in a street cred style. It’s constructed out of durable black material with a touch of red that comes through in the wheels, lining, and release buttons of the bag. It’s also available in iconic North Face yellow and black.

The back is reinforced to create a strong back panel, which also wraps around the midway along the sides for added durability.

At the top of the duffel, you will find an ID case and two external pockets that makes storing passports, wallets, and ID cards much easier. At the bottom of the front of the bag, you will see two plastic bumpers placed on common wear points that improve abrasion resistance. This also allows it to stand upright.

The 40 Liters of storage space offers plenty of room for all your clothes or gear you need to transport. Now to the handles, this rolling duffle is designed with not one but four handles that allow you to grab your bag from any side. These handles are robust and comfortable, making it easy to quickly grab your gear and make a run for the plane, train or bus.

Construction

The North Face Rolling Thunder is made with 1000D polyester with TPE lamination ensuring that abrasions or wet surfaces are the least of your worries. The durable material, hard-cased back, and rugged exteriors make this bag a definite competitor in comparison to other bags in its field. When we take a look at the wheels they are made with a strong heavy-duty plastic that protects them from damage.

These durable wheels can handle flat and rough areas easily. They’re made out of polyurethane, just like the ones on inline skates. They can be switched out with a simple allen key too, not that they’re going to break easily.

The handle comes with two release buttons and the length can be adjusted to fit your height requirements. The handles are too wide to hang a backpack over it but, luckily it comes with a bag hook on the front face of the duffle mitigating this problem somewhat.

Capacity

Most of us already know that when it comes to storing clothes in a duffel bag you shouldn’t expect much organization and that packing cubes is the way to go. Like other duffel bags, there is not much to talk about when it comes to storage.

The main compartment features a red-lined interior, a metal frame, and metal braces that add some structure to the soft body and a mesh pocket. It’s large enough to pack for weekends away or a short business trip while still sticking to the carry-on size requirements.

The mesh pocket is flexible and keeps things like your underwear or cables separate from the rest of your luggage. Keep in mind that this bag is not padded and packing a tablet or laptop without a protective case can damage your electronics upon impact. On the outside of the duffel, there are two extra compartments that can be used to store small items you often use and don’t want to open your entire duffle bag to find them.

North Face took everything we loved about The North Face’s Base Camp duffel, added a frame and some wheels, and voila we got the Rolling thunder 22! With one internal pocket and two small external pockets, this bag is not for someone who loves organization.

But, if you need a rugged, durable well-made duffle that fits a bunch of clothes, camping gear, or a mixture of both that you can drag around with ease we definitely recommend the Rolling Thunder.

This sturdily made North Face rolling duffle should last through many adventures. Thanks to the heavy-duty wheels you can drag your rolling thunder through mud, water, cobblestones, or airport security without any issues.

The rugged exterior is not only durable, lightweight, and user friendly but screams adventure and if that is your aesthetic then you definitely won’t be disappointed. Snowboarders and businessmen will find this bag useful and probably pretty cool too.

When it’s not in use, the bottom bumpers fold down for easy storing away. For it’s ruggedness it is surprisingly lightweight too.