Tauck Duffel bags
Does anyone know what brand and style duffel bag, Tauck is using on the K&T and B,SA,Z Africa tours and the P&G tour?
I went looking for the info on Eagle Creek the brand formerly used by Tauck and was surprised to learn the company had been purchased in 2007 by VF Corp, owners of about a dozen outdoor sports and apparel brands (Jansport, Timberland, North Face, Vans, Dickies, etc., etc.). Earlier this year VF announced they would shutter/retire their Eagle Creek brand by the end of 2021. Then in September, they announced the former president of emerging brands of VF Corporation would acquire the Eagle Creek brand.
Eagle Creek still has a website, but I didn't see any duffel bags that match the ones we were provided in the past. This one, the Cargo Hauler, looks similar:
Comments
Wow, that looks a nice bag.
With all the cutbacks, maybe they are using paper carrier bags since plastic bags are banned in K and T 😀
British - As if you need another bag.
Sam, I thought you might say they switched to e-bags.
Tauck trips could become BYOB (bring your own BAG)
me like it!!!
We already saw them shift at some point in the past from the green Eagle Creek bags which seemed to be made from ballistic nylon (strong and light-weight) to a very similar size black bag made of a heavier and stiffer material. The construction was very similar to the previous Eagle Creek bags, but have no identifying markings other than Tauck. Not bad, but we like and continue to use the green bags since they pack better as an overflow bag in our regular luggage. Our thought at the time was that Tauck was getting bags custom-made for them to presumably cut down on the cost. If that's the case, the black bags may still persist. This is what we got on India and Nepal a few years ago.
Portolan hi.
I do have the same black one, it was given to me on my India trip and the green one on my K&T- I heard there is a 3rd type also green for one other Safari trip.
I like the green that AlanS posted, it looks nice
I think we took some of our bags to Goodwill! Shame, they looked brand new
I first bought these Eagle Creek bags for a Galapagoes trip with Celebrity;s Xpedition. Then we got the Tauck bags for our first K&T. The older bags had ‘Tauck’ embroidered instead of stenciled. I liked that better. We will see what they send for the next trip in a few months.
mil, et al,
While the bag Alan posted looks nice, I doubt Tauck will supply anything that elaborate (backpack straps, end pockets) since (I imagine) Tauck's goal is to provide simple bags of known (and constrained) size to ensure that people won't exceed the limitations for the small aircraft.
I remember when people were provided with Tauck bags and didn’t want to use them until Tauck insistsed and explained why it was important.
When we went to Africa with another company, the duffel bags had wheels. We thought great, but we read on their forum that they got holes and fell apart easily and to take large plastic bags to put your clothes in before you put them in the bag, just in case. Taking a roll of duct tape for repairing was also suggested. Sure enough. Before the end of the tour, the bags had big holes in them where they were dragged along by careless handlers. These were the only bags we could take on the trip. We should be grateful Tauck provide such good bags.
Duffle/K&T 7/2019
We've got three sets of those, although our first set below look to be two-tone.
2015: Baggage handlers gathering our bags at the Arusha municipal airport after we arrived from the Seronera Airstrip in the Serengeti:
No exciting bag photos for Peru.
2019: Same size but slightly different bag for Botswana. (Large orange bags belong to our TD):
I think the point is, we won’t know what the bags are like now until someone has been on the tours post pandemic amd reports back now.
Anyone have a style for the bag currently being used. Rolling on not?
We just got our bags for Kenya and Tanzania. They are small green bags without wheels.
When I took the tour in December 2021 they gave us the green duffle bag.
I, last Sept. 2022 went to Botswana, Zambia and Cape. I got the original big duffel bags - and it was because they had them at the hotel- They were leftovers that Tauck did not had the chance to use due to the Pandemic. We got lucky. The new ones are 1/2 the size.
We just got our duffels. Smaller than the old ones but big enough in my opinion. Carry on size!
I just ordered some wheels to strap on. We are on the Sep 16 K&T
Trixie- Can you share where you found the wheels to strap on?
How big can the carryon backpacks be for these small planes? We have cameras, binoculars, meds, CPAP which won't be going in those small duffel bags.
They have to fully fit under the seat in front or sometimes you can stuff them at the back of the plane. Iveevwn seen my bag put in a compartment in a wing.
See pic…. Got the wheels on Amazon prime.
Here is another duffel pic.
You can get those wheels at Office Max. 37 dollars
does Tauck supply these bags before the tours? still. We are on an elegant adventure May 2024. Or where can you purchase these and what are the dimensions? I have a small roll bag the size of a briefcase. Would. that do for the inter Africa flights
Tauck supplies the bags, about a month before the trip. If all bags look alike with the Tauck name on them, they will all be picked up for the transfer. If there was an odd looking bag, it would be left behind. We have done this for 3 trips and you will understand when you see them all lined up waiting for the small plane or boat.
Tauck provides the bags and they want you to use them
We didn't get the duffle for the Elegant Adventure trip. We did receive one for the Costa Rica trip. I think they supply them when you have a few days in places that would be difficult to bring large luggage or on a small plane for an on tour flight. I know there is an on tour flight on the Elegant adventure, but most people brought everything with them since the plane was large. There was an option to store large bags at the airport in Johannesburg.