Paravel Fold-Up Bag Review - Buy Side from WSJ

Oct 31, 2024

From teens to seniors, men appreciate the handy Paravel Fold-Up Bag

Written By

Written by

Contributor, Buy Side from WSJ

Eleni Gage is a contributor to Buy Side from WSJ and lifestyle expert on travel, food, health and home.

Updated October 17, 2024, 5:22 PM EDT

$75

Get ready to cancel me, because I am about to say something horribly sexist: It’s nearly impossible to choose gifts for men.

This might not be true of all men, just the men in my life, who tend to buy themselves whatever it is they want. That’s not to say they’re spendthrifts — my father and husband don’t seem to want as many things as I do. They have what I would consider to be capsule wardrobes, and are particular about fit, style and fabric.

On top of that, both guys hate clutter, so I have to limit my “thoughtful tchotchke” gifts to a single photo desk calendar per year (which is much appreciated — these are not Grinches). Each time their birthdays, Father’s Day, and the holidays roll around, I struggle with what to get the men I love. So, you’ll forgive me if, six years later, I’m still bragging about the magical Christmas of 2018, when I stumbled upon the perfect present for both of them.

$75 at Paravel

$75 at Amazon

I’m talking about Paravel’s bestselling Fold-Up Bag, a super lightweight duffel that zips up into a slim, 8- by 9.75-inch rectangular. During that enchanted, long-ago holiday season, an ad for the bag was fed to me on Facebook or Instagram — I can’t remember which — probably because I follow accounts devoted to sustainability and travel. I was hard up for gifts, so I clicked.

Here’s what I liked about the bag enough to buy two:

• The fabric is waterproof, looks great and is made from recycled plastic bottles. (Paravel notes its nylon material has the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 sustainability stamp and meets the Global Recycled Standard.)

• It’s ideal for travel. Both my family of origin and the family my husband and I have built together are strictly “carry-on only” operations. This bag, when unfolded, can hold up to five days’ worth of clothes, and it fits the TSA carry on requirements. (It’s 18 by 11.5 by 11.5 inches when fully stuffed). Plus, there’s a big strap on the back (Paravel calls it a “sleeve”) so you can slide the packed bag over the handle of your rolling suitcase in case you find yourself chasing a child through an airport terminal.

• It looks sharp enough to tote through a fancy airport lounge, but, at $75, is within my price range. Paravel also offers free shipping on orders over $150.

• It’s unisex, so if my husband never used it, I could seize it as my very own. (It’s better to give than to receive, but it’s best if there’s a situation where you can do both.)

I bought a black one for my dad, olive green for my husband, Emilio, and felt pleased to have solved my gifting problem. But I had no idea the solution would be such a hit. As I type this, my father is on a flight from London with his bag in the overhead compartment, and my husband is in a corporate apartment in Cairo with his tossed in the closet. (I lie; if I were the one in Cairo, it would be tossed in the closet. His is, no doubt, neatly folded into its rectangle, resting on a shelf.)

When I asked my husband what he liked about the bag, Emilio said, “It’s elegante.” (He’s Nicaraguan, and occasionally finds things to be so chic, they require the Spanish pronunciation.) “Plus it has a good shape, is easy to carry on your shoulder and doesn’t get too heavy.”

My dad reports, “You can put it in a regular bag, where it takes up very little space, then use it for side trips, checking the bigger bag at your hotel or the airport luggage storage.” He also uses it as an extra bag for return trips: “If I buy stuff on a trip or am given gifts by local friends, I put it all in the duffel to fly home.”

In June, when I found myself with two godsons graduating high school, I wanted to get each something they could use in college. You guessed it: Paravel Fold-Up Bags to the rescue. I bought the navy bag with cobalt straps for one, gray on gray for the other, and even sprang for monograms (an additional $15), with their initials embroidered in contrasting colors.

Having been raised right, both young men sent me thank you notes mentioning that they’d already used the bag — one to travel with his baseball team, the other to transport clothes to and from school. The Fold-Up has proven to be a successful gift for men ranging from ages 18 to 84. I’m considering taking a lesson from the boys and buying myself a red one, just because I want it. It’s a good investment, durable enough that in six years, I haven’t had to replace either of the original Christmas miracle bags. I almost wish one of them would sprout a hole, because then I’d have another perfect present all lined up.

Eleni Gage is a contributor to Buy Side from WSJ and lifestyle expert on travel, food, health and home.

Shopping for quality products made easy