Traveling with boards

[SEJ]

Heading to SES (YES!) and looking for info on flying with multiple boards etc. One winter I flew back and forth to Boise with one board a few times. Just used a standard board bag.(The airport people stole my board in Oakland. I actually watched it come off the plane then never saw it again.) I don't know how much I can take, or for that matter, what to take. I'm used to having everything with me up at Tahoe, some I'm not sure how to pick and choose the equipment for this trip. I'm thinking the suitcase will have more snowboard stuff than clothes, but I don't even have a padded bag for the longer boards.

[Steve Prokopiw]

I saw a double hard case on ebay made for two pairs of skis up to 195cm long and the case itself was 11 1/2" wide.Seems perfect for several boards without bindings.Could possibly even fit the unmounted bindings in there too.Wondering if anyone has used one of these for boards.

[Thor VonRippington]

Try a search Scott... lots of discussion on older threads regarding travel w/ gear.

[gray_on_tray]

Sportube makes three sizes of hard case, the middle one is designed for multiple sets of skis. It also happens to be great for alpine boards. We've used one for trips from NH to Tahoe for the past two years with no problems...including the time we watched them loading the plane and they dropped the case off the conveyer (I thought my son would go right thru the window after them!). We usually put two boards with bindings in the case and use my softboots between them for "packing."

Keep in mind that airport security (TSA) will open the case and inspect it after you have checked it. You don't want to pack it so tight or have too many small things in there.

Supposedly they are designed to be strapped to roof racks, but I've never tried this. Since they're made of pretty much the same material as the lower-end Thule boxes it probably works well enough.

Carol.

[Chris Houghton]

The double ski size of Sportube works well for alpine boards, but you still need to protect the boards with cardboard, pool noodles or something because they really fling stuff around. Both of our Sportubes were crushed coming back from Aspen, luckily no board damage because of the extra packing inside.

[skategoat]

I use foam pipe insulation to protect the edges. If you wrap all the edges, you don't really need a padded bag.

[ealely]

(The airport people stole my board in Oakland. I actually watched it come off the plane then never saw it again.).

what? how can it be possible.. whenever I wait for my bag, I'm always stressed, fearing they would have lost it...

I used to put board(s) and bindings in a padded bag, boards wrapped with some kind of pillow or towel, and with all my mountain clothes around. Doesn't look nice at all but till now, no problem and my boards have been in some airports lately.

Now I think I'll definately take off the bindings to make the bag lighter and as for clothes in the bag, well it depends on what space I will have left in my luggage :D

[Sinecure]

If you don't have a good bag, I have a couple you could borrow. One with wheels will hold board up to 200cm, probably handle two full boards (with bindings) and two additional boards w/out bindings, plus a little clothing. That will probably get you over the weight limit, but I've found you can circumnavigate the weight limitations by giving the curbside check-in guys a nice tip. That's worked for me at Oakland, SFO and SJC. I also have a bigger bag with no wheels if you are taking a longer board. Email me if interested.

[SEJ]

That's quite an offer Sinecure. Thank You! It's looking like a soft case is out of the question for flying with more then one board. I will probably get a case for Xmas,(Wife always needs gift Ideas.) What kind do you have and how do you like them.

[paragonUE]

burton used to make a hard wheelie bag that could stow several boards bindings and boots, it even had a burton tent in one of the front compartments, seemed very convenient, though very expensive. somewhere in the 500 range

[Corey]

If you're feeling ghetto-fabulous and are handy with a box knife and packing tape, you could make your own from a bike box. Mine is a telescoping design, much like the SportTube. I sized it so that it just fits two boards with pipe insulation taped all around the edges. It took me two attempts to get the outer portion of 'telescope' big enough to slide over the inner part. Then I added a couple fiber-reinforced packing tape handles to make the baggage handlers' lives easier, and you're done. Total cost: $5 plus an hour or two of your time. I carry a shoulder strap from an old bag in my carry-on to clip onto the tape handles to make carrying it a little less awkward.

From the wear patterns so far it looks like it should last 10-ish trips with only minor re-taping of worn spots. What was supposed to be a temporary solution has turned out to be way better than I imagined!

One unintended side effect: While watching the handlers off-load all the bags into the oversized packages area, I noticed they basically tossed the items that were clearly skis or snowboards without any thought of damaging them. When they got to my non-descript box, they placed it carefully to the side of the pile of board bags! :) :lol:

[Allee]

I usually travel with 2 boards in a padded bag. I take the bindings off, put them topsheet to topsheet with a layer of fleece clothing in between, duct tape them together, put them in the bag and throw some clothes in over the top and sides. It's always worked fine, apart from my bag is coming unstitched.

I always worry about what happens if they go missing though - the airlines won't carry more than one baord in the bag, so I always lie and tell them there's only one in there. Which means I might have issues if the bag goes AWOL ...

[www.oldsnowboards.com]

Check YOUR airline and ask questions. Requirements and limitations have tightened and folks are getting hit with substantial overage charges.

I hear about 200$ overage costs frequently!!! Be informed, things are changing.

CARDBOARD, it is free, it is effective and it WORKS, use it.

TIP and TAIL are the most prone to damages, keep it simple.

[D-Sub]

another suggestion...get a good case like the sporttube and SHIP your gear to your destination. If you're staying in a hotel they'll watch it for you. UPS or FedEx or USPS are far less likely to damage or lose your gear.

or are they? maybe that makes no sense

[AKBoarder]

I too have a soft bag that i travel with for my board. I placed all my gear in with my board when i traveled up to Alaska. When i got there i didnt see it in the baggage claim area.....I finally asked someone where it might be and they said it was placed in an oversize luggage area away from the luggage belt. Anyone could've walked away with it since it wasnt even being watched. I will be bringing my board as well as my sons board back in this bag when i travel from Alaska after the Holidays. I am hoping i dont run into any problems.

[philw]

Another vote for the sport tube stuff, and I had to pay retail for mine.

I have a garage full of old Burton wheely cases: they're great for padding the garage walls to stop card doors banging on them. They're not so good for airports, where baggage handlers can rip any of the handles off in a single trip. And as you will observe, if the end handle is ripped off, you can't actually wheel the thing at all. I think those things are ok if you don't really travel. Even for free, I won't fly with soft cases as I don't want to find myself with jet lag and a bag which I can't sensibly shift. Been there, done that.

My first sport tube is still going, although it's been crushed and battered and it sports a fair amount of duct tape. The handlers always stick them on the bottom of the pile, presumably because they think they're strongest.

The original locks will get clipped by the TSA. I replaced mine (after that happened - this was when the TSA were just in training), with some standard non-locking hardware, and I taped a backup set into the handle. I've had no trouble with that.

One thing to note is that it's best not to overload any long bag: the size makes them hard enough to handle as it is.

Note that in UK (where we have shopping centers instead of airports, but they're owned by the Spanish so we can happily bitch about them), there's a 32Kg single item weight limit from the baggage handlers, and BA (and others) also impose a single item limit of 23kgs: BA policy. So all in all, 20kgs is about right. That's a couple of boards, a set of bindings, and some clothes for padding.

Note with sharp edges and soft cases you need to specifically pad the edges or they will cut the case; this isn't necessary with hard cases.

The biggest downside of the Sport Tubes is that it's a bit tricky to put the two halves together, so you don't want to have to load/ unload it on the road for example. On the plus side, they're great for sitting on and the expansion thing means that you can fill them up with cheap goods from America (sorry guys, but someone has to benefit from Mr B's economics...).

[Sinecure]

That's quite an offer Sinecure. Thank You! It's looking like a soft case is out of the question for flying with more then one board. I will probably get a case for Xmas,(Wife always needs gift Ideas.) What kind do you have and how do you like them.

I have a Dakine Dually that will hold up to a 200cm board and has wheels. I've used it to fly with as many as 4 boards and two sets of TD2s. The bigger bag has no wheels, is custom made, would probably hold 6-7 boards, plus some bindings. Max size on that one is around 220 or so. Its freakin huge and well padded.

[J'suis là]

Check YOUR airline and ask questions. Requirements and limitations have tightened and folks are getting hit with substantial overage charges.

I hear about 200$ overage costs frequently!!! Be informed, things are changing.

Seems like Air Canada ( ) is putting a squeeze on baggage. AC wants passengers to register sports equipment when booking a flight:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/news/trav_adv/071119.html?src=hp_ta

[Allee]

Isn't that interesting. Thanks for the heads up on that one...

[pokkis]

I have also big Dakine, it is great bag, it will eat my Tinkler and extra boards without problem.

BUT i have stoped to use it when flying cause it is so heavy. Nowadays weight limit of total 20kg, including all stuff . So i must either leave one board home or pick lighter back, or pay extra money and that is also expencive option

So now i fly with lightly badded Salomon skibag with plenty of extra insulation, which is light but durable, same stuff as folks use under sleeping bag when goin out for camping etc.