Adidas Defender Bag- Adequate, Too Soft

When my Tournamax Athletic Bag completely came apart (every seam was split), I had to have a duffle bag for traveling this summer. This was the only bag I could find that would fit my budget. Its smaller than the Tournamax Bag, with fewer outside pockets, and the fabric and webbing is thinner, but perhaps the seams are better.

The Adidas Defender Gym Bag isnt exactly rectangular. I prefer orthogonal corners, so Id be happier if it were perfectly rectangular, but its close. The aspect I immediately noticed is that this bag is 2 inches shorter than the previous one. The Defender Bag comes in medium, small and extra-small. Mine is medium, and the size is listed as 13 x12 x 24 inches, but it is clearly shorter than the Tournamax bag. This is still large enough for all my clothes for a two-week trip, but nothing more. I really liked to put my pillow in the top of the bag, but that wont fit in this duffle.

The polyester fabric has a diamond type ripstop weave called dobby, and seems to be quite durable. What I dont like is that its more flexible than the cordura (a heavier weave polyester), so the bag has no shape unless it is full of things. This makes it harder to load if you dont want to just throw things in. The seams which go around the bag have plastic piping which does lend some shape and stiffness, but not much.

This has a full zippered pocket at each end. One of them has a partial mesh front, which is designed for damp shoes. I pack these with my underwear in one end, and my toilet kit in the other. Guess Ill put the toilet kit in the mesh one! The polyester between the end pockets and main compartment is thinner.

The large section has a double-ended zipper, that opens the top on three sides. There is a zippered 4 x 8 inch security pocket that hangs at the back of this compartment. There is no laundry compartment.

There are no outside small pockets.

The two handles have a typical velcro wrap in the middle. It came with a removable shoulder strap, but I dont use it. This bag does not have any compression straps, and it does not have any foot knobs. There is a piece of stiff plastic that just sits loose in the bottom of the main compartment for stability.

Overall, I dont like the Adidas Defender Duffle Bag as much as the cheaper Tournamax, but, of course, a bag that fell apart wasnt much use. Ive now used this all summer, and it appears to be holding up well.

There is a full lifetime warranty, whatever that means. It says that the workmanship and materials are guaranteed to be defect free, but that normal wear and tear, or abuse, are not covered. So it sounds to me as if they can simply say that any damage isnt covered. But, there is a customer service number on the tag. Ill give them that.

Obviously, its black, with an Adidas logo. I dont like black, and Im not trying to impress anyone with a sporty logo. There werent any other choices at the store, but I found one on line that has blue trim. I would have liked that better.

For $30, this should last three times as long as the $10 bag, right? Only five years to go.

The smiling plushy? Just a gift from a friend, that helps me remember which end is which.

Made in China