kiteboard travel bag

[MikE mAy]

anybody have any suggestions on a good cheap kiteboard travel bag? those golf bags look nice and avoiding any extra baggage charges is good. anybody know if x-nation or cloud nine sells bags? anybody have any specific bag that they liked a lot? ever used a normal golf bag and just packed your stuff in it? i'm looking to hopefully take a couple boards and a couple kites, harness, pump, and a wettie. heading to the great lakes here in august, and possibly a gorge trip in between, but i'd be flying to portland...

any help would be appreciated.

[Jon Manwaring]

Mike,
Cheap, light and strong, pick two. I've used both the SS golf bag and the NSI deceiver bag. Naish makes one as does Best all are about the same. Problem is weight 50 LBS max, So try and find lightest bag. SS is lighter than NSI but is starting to tear due to airline abuse. NSI stronger but heavier. All run around $100 or so. I can get you Naish, SS or NSI, Steve probably has BEST, Ryan may have some as well. 2 boards and 2 kites may be OK anything more and you'll be over weight. Lots of ways to save on weight, take off foot straps and put in suitcase, bars in suit cases, wet suit pack it. Also small kites can be packed in vaccumn bags as well. Give me or Marty a call on travel tips. Also sthe Padrae crew can help out.
JON MZEE

[rizzle]

Mike

we have the SS golf travel bag instock for $99.00 give me a shout on my cell if you would like check it out.

Ryan
801-201-4005

[MikE mAy]

thanks guys! i'll give you guys a call.

[Lisa Moss]

I've been using the NSI Deceiver and its been holding up really well. I fit 2 boards (146 & 123) and 2 kites (14 & 9) in there (I usually put the harnesses in the luggage). Note: the biggest board that will fit is a 146. Sometimes I'll use a kite as a carry-on and throw a bunch of other stuff inside the Deceiver (wetsuits, harnesses, etc).

[tjacques]

lisa
how wide was youre 146 that you put in the nsi?

[mike loeser]

Mike,
I've got the one from Mark if you want to use it. The thing is huge enough to take a few dead bodies with you and all your gear.
Mike L.

[MikE mAy]

hey all- i think todd brought up this old post. as an update, i bought the slingshot golf bag from ryan. i packed two boards in it (a north dragon and a LF WLF- 50 wide). i didnt' remove the fins and i got all my kiting gear in there. it was overweight for sure, but we were shipping my friends kite gear, so we thew it all on ups and shipped it out. when it arrived in michigan, the bag was torn where the fins and top of the board wore through. damn UPS! a fin was awefully wore down, but nothing was broken. coming home i put it on the plane without any problems even though it was over 50lbs. we were flying out of the boonies on a near empty plane though so i wouldnt' say this is what will happen if you fly to hawaii or something. airlines treated the bag much better than ups.

so, overall the slingshot bag works ok. i would definately remove fins and all sharp protusions that can rip through the bag. i need to buy some different fins that remove easier, or really just a new board. wide or long boards don't fit in these bags well. the WLF is 40 x 150 i think and just barely fits in there. that is why i had problems with ripping. i didn't have any extra room to put padding around the board.

other than that, the slingshot bag has nice pockets to organize your stuff, including fin/patch bags, bar pouches and a nice seperator to keep your kites tight.

anybody have any packing tips on boards/kites? take your fins off everytime? what about breaking down footstraps? vacuum sealed bags for your kites?

-mike m.