Post-WWII sailors with seabags.
Modern seabags.

Definition

Also spelled “duffel” and also known as a seabag.

Noun

  • A large cloth bag that carries a sailor’s personal effects.

Origin

Unknown time, but the word comes from the Flemish town of Duffel, near Antwerp, and references the woolen cloth made there.

Comments

Otherwise known as a seabag to sailors and Marines. It’s a heavy cloth top-opening bag. Early seabags were made out of canvas and white. They included not only a sailor’s clothes but also their hammock (later mattress bedding). Modern seabags are olive green and usually made of nylon. They include two staps on them so they can be worn like a backpack. Thankfully, post-WWII, sailors are no longer required to carry any hammock or mattress with them. Seabag inspections are a regular thing and the list of required items changes every so often.

A duffel is really designed to just carry a sailor’s uniform items (i.e. clothes), but occasionally there’s room for other personal items. Small sentimental (non-breakable) items are common (books, stuffed animals, etc.). There are plenty of stories of green sailors trying to cram something large or fragile into their seabags with disastrous results.

References

Rogers, J.G. (1985). Origins of Sea Terms. Mystic Seaport.