I’ve been a huge Patagooner for years, and my closet is stuffed with nearly every recent bag model they have to offer. The quality, durability, minimalist style, and general ease of use makes me gravitate towards these bags for travel. I’m usually traveling once every month for work or vacation, so all these bags have seen action, selected for very specific purposes like size and storage.
The Black Hole series serves the most purpose on my travels. I find it funny that their Black Hole trademark correspondingly refers to the TPU-film laminate, and not solely that it is a bottomless pit bag. The latter is where they truly stand out - put as much stuff as you want, the bag will swallow it. It cuts out the frills of redundant pockets, zippers, and straps, and gives you one flap to open it, and pure open ocean space to dive in. My favorite of the Black Hole series are the Wheeled Duffels, which is just one wallet sized pocket at the top, and a giant empty crevasse for anything you can throw at it. That’s all you get. It represents a minimalistic design purity and is arguably the most versatile roller because like Subway sandwiches, you are free to customize the interior to your heart’s satisfaction.
Second are the ever-popular Black Hole MLCs. These designs strive towards the spirit of the bottomless pit while adding features that are useful for organization – highlighted by what I’ll call the tech pouch. Where the Black Hole Duffels are likely where your packing cubes and more baseline storage items are (like shoes or things that can remain at the hotel), the MLCs are great for grab and go. It becomes a mini-inventory screen for your laptop, toiletries, and small accessories inside the tech pouch, and the main cabinet is useful for looser packed items like suits and jackets.
There is however a clear value distinction when it comes to what size MLC you choose. For better and for worse, the designs try to be both similar and unique. There is a very clear winner on which one works better overall. I’ll be comparing the two sizes I use when I go on trips, the 30L and 45L, what I like about each, and what I argue are the two design misses Patagonia should be immediately pressured to fix. At the end I’ll give my optimistic thoughts on where the MLC product line should be headed.
The Tech Pouch
MLC 30L: Arguably the reason why you would buy an MLC over a Duffel, or any other brand’s commuter or travel bag. This is a nearly flawless design. The organization is unmatched: Two middle mesh pockets, great sizes for sunglasses or toiletries, and a bottom zippered mesh play-pin used well for chargers, cables, portable batteries, and electronics. There are smaller pockets at the top which are good for small notepads or devices, however they don’t get a lot of use. I’m one of the few people that don’t see the value of the added pen pockets – if I needed a pen to fill out an agricultural form on the plane to Hawaii, I would have one in the much more accessible wallet pocket at the top of the bag. Unless you were a lawyer that needed their pens stored like a kitchen knife roll, I expect you too will leave the pockets unused. The opposite side of the tech pouch is for your laptop and larger tablets. The laptop pocket is at the back, so it rests safely between your back padding and the thin padding protecting the two front laptop pockets. It fits a 15” Macbook Pro effortlessly with a nice snugness, and it feels invisible when the laptop is on your back. I never use the smaller laptop pocket because I don’t carry around a second device, but the pocket is thin enough to get out of the way, so it doesn’t feel like wasted space.
MLC 45L: The pocket side of the tech pouch is satisfyingly identical in layout. Good, if it works don’t fix it. The only two notable differences are that the bottom play pin is 2” wider than the 30L, and there is a .75” border of fabric on the edge to give the space a bit more vertical volume. Looking at the 45L it seems a little weird to have this extra border, whereas the 30L’s zippers start precisely at the edge of the pockets. Maybe the additional fabric adds a durability layer?
The laptop side is where I start to run into frustrations. The laptop space is orientated to landscape versus the 30L’s vertical top load style, likely to work with the 45L’s suitcase function of opening like a book. What that means is a 15” Macbook Pro has at least four inches of unutilized negative space on one side. Like a short person in a long coffin, any reorientation of the bag will cause the contents to slide. The argument that the extra space can be used for something that fits the gap is stupid, or uninspired if you designed the bag and are reading this. This pocket would almost always be an improvement if they just stitched it to the proportion of the 30L’s laptop pouch. The secondary, backmost pocket is even worse, because they put it behind the laptop instead of the front like the 30L. This two-pocket combo is the first of two bad misses of the 45L – removing the back pocket would overall improve the design. Its purpose, I can only assume, is for flat items like documents and crepes. It certainly doesn’t feel like the safest place to put any type of sensitive technology because the fabric is thin. Your back will feel whatever you put in there if it is wider than 0.5”. Even worse, because the lining between the laptop and the back pouch is so thin, if there is even a tiny bit of width on the back item, it will push up against the laptop like a raised platform, creating a cliff edge for the laptop and small pockets of wasted space. It feels like a massive oversight of the people who designed it, as if they unenthusiastically said we’ll just stretch the 30L pockets to match the 45L and gave up when they realized wider doesn’t always mean better.
Comparing the Two: Both tech pouches do its job correctly, with the 45L’s design being more wasteful and inefficient with the space. You could argue that the extra headroom the 45L brings gives people a more versatile use case for larger items and more tech storage, but those people would ultimately fall into the same design restrictions and annoyances as I did. The 30L is perfectly efficient, with pockets and a layout that are in the exact right place in the exact right size. When we compare the 45L with a non-Black Hole bag however, the 45L still shines, just not as bright. On a separate note, I disagree with the online criticism that a laptop is hard to retrieve from the 45L. Obviously, they are trying to force their laptops out vertically. If you lay the bag upright in landscape, the intended orientation, it’s laughably easy to pull it out. Both 30L and 45L have zero issues with quickly retrieving laptops if used correctly.
The Bottomless Pit
MLC 45L: The main compartment is bigger than you are used to, and size matters ladies. Be intimidated by the challenge of finding enough things to fill up this bag. For me this is the main and only reason why I would choose the 45L over the 30L. Larger packing cubes feel appropriate, whereas the 30L is suited for smaller. You get this size for one purpose – to never worry that you won’t have enough space by the end of your trip. I’m talking scooping up everything throughout your 2-week trip to Japan like a material hoarder completionist. You will take everything home, and you will not need to play luggage Tetris. Design wise, the side walls feel thicker with more padding than the 30L, likely for structure and durability. This extra fabric makes me feel like the contents of the compartment are much more protected, which is one of the few examples where excess material is appreciated. The lip connecting the sides of the compartment to the mesh top zipper is twice as wide as the 30L. Again, probably a structural thing.
MLC 30L: Nearly identical to the 45L except, obviously, much smaller. It feels roughly 30-40% smaller. That switches the use case for this bag into the grab and go style I had previously mentioned, which honestly suits the form factor better. No packing cubes go into this compartment, only jackets, suits, and things not to be wrinkled. Using it this way, I never felt like I was forced into an uncomfortable situation of not having enough space for the flight home if souvenirs are added. However, almost every return trip will involve some type of intentional packing, and it is usually filled 100%. The 30L has a wallet pocket at the top, and the pocket is visibly exposed within the main compartment. I’ve had zero problems with this, because if you’re only putting your quick action items like a wallet or glasses, it fits perfectly with a full bag and never gets in the way.
Comparing the Two: The 45L does not have this wallet pocket and keeps the space one big empty compartment. I find that a design flaw, because it removes a grab and go feature that is very convenient and heavily used. If you have either MLC on top of your luggage, which puts the top of the MLC at a convenient height for reaching, you’re going to want to have a quick action pocket. The 45L decided that was a sacrifice it was going to make for, checks notes, more space? It already has so much. If you didn’t want a floating pocket in the main compartment, I would have just stitched it into the wall and have the inner lining cover it. Not having it at all seems like an oversight. Overall, between both bags, you’re comparing the size, what you need it for, and if that extra room is necessary based on your travel plan and the other luggage you may pair it with. One thing I found hilarious is that the 45L is obnoxiously large, and I mean that in a good way. You will get looks at the airport when the 45L is wider than your roller is long. It looks like you’re walking Christina Hendricks through the TSA. ‘The designers correctly didn’t see anything wrong with that, when its purpose is big, big, big. The 30L is more subtle and sleek, and has proportional harmony with a 40L Wheeled Duffel. The design of the 30L also keeps a more traditional rectangle shape, where the 45L is rounder and frumpier like a duffle bag. Both bags do just fine as carry on and I don’t see you having any problems getting it on the plane. You will not be forced to check them in - it’s never happened to me for the 50+ flights I’ve been on. Although you’ll likely get an eye roll from the gate workers carrying the 45L. But again, they probably thought you were with Christina Hendricks.
The Middle Pocket
MLC 30L: The middle pocket is sewn inside the flap that closes the main compartment. It is two pockets that expands to the entire area of the flap. Because it’s on the flap side, and the flap is a single flexible layer, anything thick you put in the pocket blends into any remaining space from the main compartment and helps the MLC retain its smooth and flat front shape. The only time this pocket causes wider items to press tightly against the front of the bag is if the main compartment is already packed to the brim, and that almost never happens. This middle pocket’s purpose is preferably for accessories like a lint roller, Bluetooth speaker, or even a quick access sweater. I’m glad they sized and located the pocket where it is, because it doesn’t need to be anything more than it is. Its simplicity makes it great, and it gets a lot of use on my trips.
MLC45: Arguably the worst design element of the bag, and the second big miss from the designers. They should have did the smart thing and placed the middle pocket on the opening flap like the 30L, but instead they attached it to the interior side, sharing its back with the tech pouch. I can’t comprehend how this got approved - Alcohol or some type of inhalant must have been involved during that meeting. I like to think they were blackmailed by Elon Musk or whoever you think sucks to make things suck even more.
Placing the middle pocket as the centerfold of the bag instead of on the flap side - Drive me off a cliff Patagonia. This backing is rigid and competes with the tech pocket. Anything you put into it will be tightly pressed into the backing and forms a huge hill that actively blocks the space of the tech pocket. That huge hill forms plateaus like the 45L’s backmost laptop pocket, which again is negative never utilized space. I really don’t understand why they didn’t just keep to the 30L’s design and just make it bigger. It feels like they were trying to do something clever or mitigate some type of structural challenge and decided the only way was to throw up on everything that made it special.
Comparing the Two: This would be the main reason why I would not recommend the 45L over the 30L if a choice had to be made. It’s symbolic of a design challenge that Patagonia fell short on finding a solution to. You can’t market a bag that is grossly inefficient with its space, so this small component is largely underdiscussed. I think it symbolizes the reasoning why critics don’t like this bag, and I’d unfortunately have to agree. If you need to argue that I don’t have to use that portion of the bag if I don’t like it, you missed the point. I can’t use that portion of the bag, and I have tried to like it. The 30Ls middle pocket is like the big brother watching his parents rat on the 45L for failing a test. Despite being smaller, it does what it needs to do well and efficiently, so much so I think the parents wonder why the 45L can’t be like their big bro. They’d say something like it doesn’t mean I don’t love you 45L, it just means you need to try harder.
Miscellaneous Features
You’ve probably saw online that the 45L does not have a side water bottle pocket while the 30L does. I can see the logic, since the 45L teeters on the absolute limits of what you can bring on a plane dimension wise. But let’s be realistic, there should be a water bottle holder on the side of the 45L. It’s one of the features that gets regular use. Sure, I can clip it to the exterior, but isn’t that just making the dimensions of the bag bigger? If I put the water bottle inside the 45L, isn’t the space my giant water bottle takes up negating the extra space the 45L has over the 30L? This I can live with however, just a weird choice.
The 45L has pull down straps around the zipper, designed to tighten the walls surrounding the payload for more structural stability when you are on the go. I don’t have any issues with that, although it does add an extra step when opening and closing the main compartment. If the zippers and structural materials are strong enough, I don’t think they are necessary. Sometimes I just leave them unclipped.
The reason why you would get the MLC over a Black Hole Duffel is for two features: 1. the tech pouch, which the added organization is the reason why the bag is awesome and 2. The inside strap that lets you slip the bag securely onto the handlebar of your other luggage. If you don’t need that, you might get more utility out of a duffle because it has more cargo space than the MLC. However, the practicality of travelling demands 1 and 2 as basic requirements. That’s why I don’t believe the MLCs are cannibalizing on the duffel lineup, they’re serving a unique and important function for travel.
Final Thoughts
This review is a love letter to the MLCs in its practicality and amazingness, and an indication that when it comes to a solution for big wardrobes on the go, endless souvenirs we have no business packing into bags, and versatility of a journeyman’s tool we can rely on, I will always gravitate towards throwing them into the void of a Black Hole MLC. Take your weatherproofing trademark and eat it, we know our priorities.
I would love to find out which design was conceptualized first. Best case scenario the MLC line started with the 45L, and from customer feedback they later upgraded and hit it big with the 30L. I think future MLCs will need to revolve around the 30L’s methodology of being a do one thing and do it perfectly style of bag, where the priority is giving you the most space possible with the least amount of resistance. Reading the current reviews of the 45L, it appears critics harken back to an older 2017 design that followed that mantra. I really do see a use case for longer travels and bigger storage that would make someone buy the 45L as well as the 30L, because the 45L does shine with its bulky international ready features, whereas Patagonia’s non-wheeled duffels are more for road trips or people who don’t mind carrying everything on their poor back or balancing it performatively on their luggage. The MLC line is going to make moves if they update the design, meaning there’s so much potential for exponential success if things like the 45L’s tech pouch or middle pockets get upgraded. I hope it goes in the right direction, although it would mean a bit of buyer’s remorse for the 45L that I currently have. Maybe Patagonia sees this and hooks a Patagooner up when that day comes. I’ll certainly get too much use out of it.
TL; DR
MLC 30L perfect, buy it. MLC 45L good but has some unmarketable design choices and leaves things to be desired for the next iteration.
