In Defense of My Attachment to This Lululemon Duffel Bag (2026)

As we get Away from home, the gear-obsessed WIRED Reviews team writes about our favorite bags and EDCs. Today, the critic Boutayna Chokrane gushes about her love for her Lululemon gym bag. You can also check out other baggage screening stories where CABLE the writers share their choice.

I have a long time had a weakness for messenger bags. There’s a retro Silicon Valley vibe to the shoulder bag that I respect: it implies you move fast, travel light, and keep your world compartmentalized. The sad practical reality of many messenger bags, however, is chronic neck and shoulder pain. With all of its weight resting on a single strap, only one shoulder must bear the entire burden. After a few messenger-adorned blocks, you might feel like your style choice has turned into a punishment of its own. After years of testing various incarnations of messenger bags, including micro-slings and cavernous totes, I had made peace with this compromise. After all, beauty is suffering.

Then I came across the Lululemon 3-in-1 Duffel Bag, which is comfortable, durable, and compact yet cavernous.

True to its name, it’s a versatile transportation system that’s easy to reconfigure when my commute requires different transportation. You can grab it by the top handles, carry it across your body when you need your hands, or detach the shoulder strap and wrap it around your yoga mat to use as a standalone mat holder. However you task it with carrying your belongings, rest assured that the bag’s design promises utility and comfort: the strap is padded enough to spare your shoulder, durable enough to support the load of your sports gear, and elastic enough to serve as a stretching strap. Each component of the bag has a reason to exist, and some of them even have two.

I’ve been carrying this bag to the gym four days a week since January 2025, which is about as real a test as it gets. He endured Chicago in its most extreme conditions: sleet, wet snow and torrential rain. Water-repellent nylon sheds all the elements without any fanfare. The bag dries quickly, resists dirt, and most impressively to me, doesn’t retain odors. Believe me, I’ve pushed that limit more than once with sweaty clothes after hot Pilates and found that the included drawstring pouch quarantines everything effectively.

It’s also low-maintenance: After a trip to the beach, a few quick shakes erased any memory of sand. This duffle bag requires minimal maintenance aside from occasional spot cleaning, making it a refreshing, effortless option for commuters who don’t need another chore on their to-do list.

The design is deceptively compact. Externally, it presents itself as a modest and discreet sports bag. But take a look inside and you’ll immediately see that this duffel bag, with its shocking 30 liter capacity, is Poppins-style. There is a dedicated shoe compartment on the side that can accommodate up to a men’s size 14, although I prefer to use the lower section for shoes to keep the main cavity flexible. There’s a slot for a 24-ounce water bottle, interior pockets for keys, AirPods, and other small essentials that tend to disappear into the voids of the bag. And there is still room for a change of clothes, a Theragun and a dopp kit. Nothing in this bag seems too fancy, but nothing seems lacking either.