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In this guide
Herschel sells three bags under the Novel name, and picking the right one matters more than picking a color. The standard Novel Duffle is the 43-liter version at $110, which Herschel's US listing pitches as a road-trip duffle sized for the overhead bin or the trunk of a car. Beside it sit the 26.5-liter Novel CarryOn Duffle at a $100 list price, which adds a padded laptop sleeve and a trolley strap, and the 45-liter Novel Duffle Tech at $160, which adds a sleeve for a Bluetooth tracker and a luggage attachment.
The standard bag is the plain one, and plainness is its argument: a single main compartment, a shoe compartment at one end, a side sleeve pocket, an internal zippered mesh pocket, a removable padded strap and vegan leather handles, all in 100% recycled 600D polyester. What Herschel says about durability comes down to a reinforced base and a waterproof zippered closure. What it says about the warranty deserves a closer read than the shoe pocket does, because a Limited Lifetime Warranty that pays out in store credit is a different thing from one that fixes your bag.
Our verdict
A sensible weekend duffle at $110 full price, with six of thirteen colors marked down between $76.99 and $92.99, built around an end-mounted shoe compartment and a 600D spec Herschel states plainly. Its warranty settles defects with a gift card.
- A good fit for
- Weekend drivers and gym-to-office carriers who want one soft bag with a shoe pocket, and shoppers willing to accept a discounted color to bring the price under $80.
- We would skip it if
- You need a bag that will pass an airline sizer on paper, you carry a laptop and want a padded sleeve, or you expect a warranty to repair a bag you like instead of crediting you toward a new one.
Reasons to consider it
- Herschel publishes the full spec: 11.73 by 20.51 by 10.98 inches, 2.21 pounds, 43 liters, 100% recycled 600D polyester excluding trims, with a tonal stripe liner in recycled polyester
- The signature shoe compartment, a side sleeve pocket and a zippered internal mesh pocket give the bag more structure than a one-cavity duffle, and the base is reinforced where it wears
- The shoulder strap is removable and padded with EVA, and the Limited Lifetime Warranty runs for the original purchaser's lifetime on material and manufacturing defects
The compromises
- Approved warranty claims pay out as a gift card for the purchase price, or 70% of the last selling price without a receipt, so a defective bag is replaced with credit, not repaired
- Herschel says the bag fits an overhead bin but names no airline and publishes no sizer results, and it sells a separate 26.5-liter Novel CarryOn Duffle that it re-invented for carry-on travel
- The two Novel siblings carry the travel-specific hardware: the CarryOn adds a padded laptop sleeve and trolley strap, the Tech adds a tracker sleeve and luggage attachment, and the standard bag has neither
What we have not verified: Herschel's spec tab lists 43 liters, while a feature graphic on the same listing describes the bag as 42.5 liters and rounds the dimensions to 11.75 by 20.5 by 11 inches, so treat the capacity as approximate. The waterproof zipper claim is Herschel's wording and no test method is given. Six of the thirteen colors sat between $76.99 and $92.99 on 2026-10-04, and two full-price colors were unavailable, so the color you want may cost the whole $110 or be unbuyable.
The things in this guide
A closer look at the products, who they may suit, and what to check before buying.
Novel Duffle · 11396-00001-OS
At 43 liters and 2.21 pounds it holds a long weekend, the shoe compartment keeps sneakers away from clothes, and the discounted colors bring a recycled 600D bag under $80 when stock lines up.
Before you buy: No laptop sleeve, no trolley strap, no published airline fit, and a warranty that converts a defect into a gift card at Herschel's discretion.
Price checked October 4, 2026. Retailer prices can change.Fabric, pockets and the shoe compartment
The composition line is specific: 100% recycled 600D polyester excluding trims, a tonal stripe liner in 100% recycled polyester, low-profile vegan leather handles and a smooth webbing shoulder strap with EVA padding that detaches. Six hundred denier is a mid-weight cloth for a soft bag, and 2.21 pounds for 43 liters is consistent with a fabric that has some body to it without the stiffness of a structured weekender. Herschel calls the main zipper closure waterproof, and gives no test standard for that word.
Organization is where the bag separates from a gym sack. Herschel's feature cards describe a dedicated shoe compartment that keeps footwear away from the rest of the load, interior pockets and sleeves for smaller items, and a reinforced base where the bag wears most. The spec list adds a side sleeve pocket and a zippered internal mesh pocket. What the listing carries no number for is the shoe compartment itself, so whether a large sneaker fits flat is unknown, and the compartment takes volume from the main cavity whenever it is used.
Overhead bin is a sentence, not a chart
Herschel's description says the bag is perfectly sized to fit in the overhead bin or the trunk of your car. No airline is named, no sizer testing is described, and the dimensions on the same page, 20.51 inches long and 10.98 inches deep, belong to a soft bag that squashes, which is why soft duffles often get through when a hardside with the same numbers would not. Treat the overhead line as plausible for a bag packed light and unverified for a full one.
The clearer signal is Herschel's product line: it built the Novel CarryOn Duffle for the flight, saying on that page that it re-invented the duffle for carry-on travel, and gave that version the trolley strap and laptop sleeve. If the standard bag were the intended flight bag those features would live on it. Buyers flying with the 43-liter version are using it outside the job Herschel designed the smaller bag to do, and should expect to carry it by the handles through the terminal, since there is no strap to ride on a suitcase.
When to skip it
Skip the Novel Duffle if you read lifetime warranty as lifetime repairs. Herschel's Limited Lifetime Warranty covers material and manufacturing defects for the original purchaser's lifetime from the date of purchase at an authorized retailer, but an approved claim ends with a gift card equal to the original purchase price, or a credit worth 70% of the last selling price when there is no receipt, and the warranty is void for bags bought from an unauthorized retailer. The claim form asks for photos of the defect, both sides of the bag and the satin tag inside the liner, and tells you not to dispose of the bag until the claim closes.
Skip it if a laptop travels with you, because the standard bag has no padded sleeve and the CarryOn version does, at a $100 list price that was down to $79.99 on 2026-10-04. Skip the bag if you need it to clear a sizer with confidence, since Herschel offers a sentence about overhead bins where some luggage makers publish a chart. And if the color you want is Black or Navy, budget the full $110: on 2026-10-04 the markdowns to between $76.99 and $92.99 covered six of the thirteen colors, while the other seven, Black and Navy among them, held full price and two of them were unavailable.
How we put this together
Built from the product pages and listings below, without test scores or results we have not measured. Specifications and prices change, so check the original page for the exact model, current price, delivery, and returns.
- Herschel Supply Co.: Novel Duffle, US listing (opens in a new tab)
- Herschel Supply Co.: Novel CarryOn Duffle, US listing (opens in a new tab)
- Herschel Supply Co.: Novel Duffle Tech, US listing (opens in a new tab)
- Herschel Supply Co.: Warranty (opens in a new tab)
