An Upwardly Mobile Rucksack for One-Night Trips

The Fire Hose One Night Stand bag from Duluth Pack isn’t a suit back. It isn’t not a suit bag either.

The one-night business trip. Everybody does it. Nobody likes it. Not only is it inconvenient – cooling your heals in the departures lounge isn’t what it once was – it presents an untenable packing situation. Do you want to wear that suit on the plane and during the presentation? Not really. Do you want to carry a suit bag? So that some guy can squash it with his rollerboard in the overhead compartment – please. You ponder this then decide to just turn your jacket inside out, pack it in your duffel and hope for the best. It’s not a solution, but it’s good enough. Well, not really.

Turns out the best solution comes from the land of “I wouldn’t say it’s good, but it’s the best we could do”: Minnesota. The camping-minded designers at Duluth Pack have created a sort of upwardly mobile rucksack. The Fire Hose One Night Stand bag isn’t a suit bag, but it isn’t not a suit bag either. It’s the sort of heavily compartmentalized carry-all you’d expect to see on a fly fisherman. But it looks good with a suit – maybe not a black suit, but a solid grey or blue. The leather detailing is masculine, achieving a look as sharp as the shoulders of your suit when you pull it on the next morning. The one-nighter is never going to be great, but damned if we can’t make it better. [$170; duluthtrading.com]