Does anyone have any advice on what travel bag I could use for an trip overseas.
I’m looking to take:
• 1 x 6’1” surfboard
• 1 x 136 twin fin
• 1 x <6” strap on directional board
• 2 x kites with bars etc
• Wetsuit, towels, boardies, etc etc.
I’ve seen the major brands have some wheeled travel bags for around $250. Some of them, e.g. North quiver, have a 190cm option and suggest they can carry a number of boards & kites, etc. However it’s hard to find any of these in the local shops (SE QLD) so it’s difficult to know just how much they can hold.
Anyone own or used one of these before? Any suggestions on what might be appropriate?
That is going to be a big bag to carry around airports and getting in taxi's and lifts etc.
Maybe a double surfboard bag and a bag for your kites, twintip and extra's.
Flying Objects has good quality bags at a reasonable price too.
I use the Cabrinha Surf Travel bag. This fits a 6"2, 6"0, 135 twintip plus 3 kites (7, 9, 11) with 2 bars, pump and a harness.
I put my clothes in the carry on bag - but if you've only got 2 kites you should fit your wetty etc in the bag.
Carting it around the airport isn't too bad because it's got wheels - and fully packed it came to 27.99 kg's (no joke I promise you) so depending on how heavy your stuff is - it's within Virgin's baggage allowance.
I've can bring mine into the shop(Kitepower QLD) - if you wanna come and test out your stuff to see if it fits - just send me a PM so I remember to bring it.
RRP on these is $279 - well worth the money for such a well put together bag.
a couple of ideas to pack lighter- leave the 6' directional at home and ride your normal surfboard with a kite, only take 1 bar for both kites, towels are easy to scam/borrow/buy anywhere (a small one is good to protect the nose of your surfboard), leave the pump and borrow one. all these sorts of things will make your gear bag a lot smaller and lighter
Have heard on the roundabout that some airlines do not charge for golf equipment, so look for a golf travel bag to put your kite board, kites etc into.
I have the Cabrinha travel Bag and it will fit all that gear. I got it (not so much for international travel) as I can get all the gear in one bag and it can go on the roof racks.
Personally I would not use it for international travel as they are pretty big but thats your call. I have only taken the TT internationally (in a golf bag) so would not know.
You can also get surfboard bags for between 2-6 boards. I know FCS have several types. Ask your local surf shop.
My top tip: When you buy a new bag, get some lanolin spray and do all the zippers really well, at least twice over. Do it when you buy the bag or you'll forget.. on a side note who else still hasn't got around to putting their name/number on all boards, kites etc 
..Try to spray again once a year if you remember.
I did this on my last bag 18 months ago and it's still going strong, after losing 3 bags to off-season salt crustiness. Believe me I tried everything (soaking in hot water/milk/vinegar, spraying, heavy duty tools) and mangled those bags trying to get the zips to move.
PS Bingles - must be tight with the dog in there too? 
Have you looked at the 'flying objects' travel bag ? some mates of mine (from SE QLD) came over here at christmas, they had one each. I would think that they would have bought them locally so should be available there some where.
good luck !
Mike
Sent you email Kym, we have full range in stock, new & used. Come and view anytime!
just watch the baggage handlers . seen my kit hit the plane on entry fall off the hit the tarmac ,if its so big they hate it .first time they rip my bag had to send it away and get fixed (qantas paid for it )so a split bag is the better way to go 
would you be flying with 3 boards 2 kites etc?
how heavy would it be?
how much are excess baggage costs?
Excess baggage is usually $7-$10/kg. THat's with Qantas, I'm not sure about others. It's usually cheaper to buy excess baggage in advance.
THe Dakine BTS splits into two seperate halves for checking in. It's only 140cm long so it should be able to be checked with regular baggage if it's split into two parts making two bags say 15kgs each which you may get away with rather than 1 30kg bag. I get a bit more baggage allowance because I fly all the time for work.
I'm going to put 3 kites, harness, 1 140cm twin tip, towels, two bars, some boardies and wetsuit top into the bag. That should be just over the 23kg normal baggage allowance. Then I'll take as big a carry on as possible for my camera gear and clothes.
Just be nice and you'd be suprised how much extra you can get away with. No matter what, the few bucks for extra baggage isn't that much in the grand scheme of a $3000+ kite holiday is it?
Suggest you also keep a close eye on the 30kg maximum weight limit per bag. If you will be travelling straight after a session, you should also allow for the extra weight of 'wet' gear.
I’ve got a mystic ‘golf’ bag which hold heaps, and I would recommend, but it’s not long enough for your 6’1 surfboard.
I've travelled with exactly what you want to take. Boards can all squeeze into a 6'2" wide surfboard travel cover. Kites and the rest into a hard shell wheely suit case. Keep the wheely below 15kg; so if your on a full service carrier the sport equiptment 6kg rule applies. Fitting straps plugs to your surfboard and taking 1 board makes the trip alot easier. 
Carry one kite onboard as a back pack. Chuck a few clothes etc in there as well.
Get yourself a suit bag from the local OP shop (as you are allowed to carry a suitbag as well as a back pack on board).
In this place another kite, wetsuit, towel etc.
This leaves you with plenty of spare room for normal check in baggage, plus your board
.
At the end of one of Ben Wilson's videos is a segment on travelling with gear.
He laid one board in the bag, then spread a kite out over that as padding between the next board, then another kite/wetsuit .. looked like a pretty efficient way of travelling with kites & boards, as it did away with the kitebags...
i just use an actual golf travel bag with wheels which fits everything but the surfboard. A surfboard coffin bag full of surfboards and kite stuff i find a pain in teh ass to get transported around sometimes - juts so big. Most people will take care of a surfboard bag on its own more than a huge coffin bag.
Got a Dakine BTS bag today from SOS in Freo. Really good bag and they did me a good deal. I'll do a review since there isn't really anything done for bags yet.
I know this doesn't help with the original post, but if anyone is looking at gaining some extra storage on a flight I recommend a guitar case/bag.
I travelled around the world for a year with a complete setup minus pump(borrowed) and surfboard (hired). For my kiteboard I used a Newind split board so it fitted perfectly into a large Backpackers backpack and got a pair of the Dakine Nitrous boardshorts harness to minimise harness space also.
I also saw one chick in South America boarding the plane with her harness on, obviously to save space.
Early in my trip I bought a guitar bag and put my wettie, kite and excess luggage in that and all the airlines let me take that on as hand luggage plus your normal limit. Sometimes they even stored my "guitar" in the front of the plane for me so i didn't have to worry about fitting it overhead!!! To make it better the bag I bought had a detachable backpack on the back, so once I exited the plane, I'd zip them together and I had only one back pack + travel backpack. Laptop even fitted perfectly between the two zipped bags!
Worked for me. Good luck with the trip!
Can someone help me out here,
If i am correct from my vague knowledge and previous threads on this
It seems there are two options for traveling budget airlines with kite gear-
1- Get a large bag (like Rhys surfbag) and put all your gear including your clothes if you need in and try to keep below the accepted limit for your check in luggage.
2- Check in your luggage as normal and get a 'golf' bag for your kite gear which if your lucky gets on as sporting equipment and you get all its contents included witout any cost or weight limitation.
My question is does 2 work? i am most likley looking at virgin blue if anyone has experience
cheers
Huey
Anyone care to jump on the scales with their fav kite / board travel bag and work out the weight of them? -----> the bags that is
I want to start off with the least wight possible before I stuff all my gear in there...
Cheers
