Hi guys,
I usually commute between home and beach via public transport. Travelling with bus or train, however, limits the amount of gear I can bring with me. I was thinking about getting myself a travel bag. The bag (or whatever) should have space for at least 2 kites (11m LEI & 15m foil) + 140x42cm TT, helmet, towel, camera, harness and a wetsuit. In best case it would be great to have a bag with wheels, although I am not sure if these will survive when exposed to sand.
Anyone in the same situation that may have a better idea or experience with travel bags at all? Any suggestions are highly appreciated.
Cheers
A golf bag would be the obvious pick....
I have the 2009 model of the above and its brilliant. They are relatively easy to move around with the wheels, and can fit all of that gear easy.
Only problem being on public transport, it might have to be stowed in the aisle or something.... could be a bit awkward...
Cheapest option is to put your twintip in a simple twintip daybag, carry it under your arm, and have everything else in a regular wheeled suitcase such as people are always throwing out or giving to op shops just cos they're dirty or one zip is broken. If the wheels crap themselves from sand after a while you just chuck it and get another one for free on the verge or $10 at the op shop.
I had one bit of luggage that I liked a lot but the wheels died. The way they were mounted I was able to remove them and replace them with top quality rollerblade wheels with superb sealed bearings from a pair of rollerblades that were, you guessed it, $5 at the op shop. These wheels are still very quiet and smooth after many sandy kms. And I have the other 6 wheels sitting around to put on any other compatible luggage, including the golf-kite bag I use occasionally, when the time comes.
I run one bar for all my kites. My small kites travel in simple camping stuffsacks that I got for $5 at kathmandu or somewhere like that. This saves space and weight over the original backpacks, but don't use something where you have to roll your kites too tight as this will increase the chance of damage from any sand or other crap that may get on your kite.
Zero-prestige minimalism lives!
Why would you carry around 2 kites? Maybe have a look at the forecast the day before or in the morning and pick one. If you really "need" to carry two, then I've seen heaps of ads here for a backpack that can pack 2 kites. (can't seem to find 'em now).
But having just one rig, it all packs down really small. Especially 11m.
Pack the kite smaller and you can pack your towel and your wettie in the same bag with your kite. Wrap the harness around the packed kite (yes, both go inside the backpack). Clip your helmet on one of the shoulder straps or the back of the backpack. The bar attaches onto the kite's backpack on the side or is in the backpack too. And get a simple cover/carry bag for your twin tip. Or not.
And you're set.
Pump? Borrowing at the beach?
You often need 2 kites as its hard to get an accurate forecast in the morning you never really know if it is going to be 15 or 25 knots in the late arvo, at least that's the case in Melbourne.
The double kite bags are found on http://www.25knots.com.au/ (no interest or affiliation)
Not sure what the point is though, I can easily fit two kites into one large kitebag for travelling.
Always BYO pump.
It also helps to put your kites into the vacuum bags that you can get at K-mart or Coles and suck the air out with your pump. A trick I learned while trying to disguise three kite as two kites :-)
Wow, thanks a lot for your comments!Select to expand quotebreakzmaker said..
A golf bag would be the obvious pick....
I have the 2009 model of the above and its brilliant. They are relatively easy to move around with the wheels, and can fit all of that gear easy.
Only problem being on public transport, it might have to be stowed in the aisle or something.... could be a bit awkward...
That is exactly what I was thinking about, but do they last everyday use? Read some bad comments about quality issues, parts falling apart, etc.. And then split bag or single chamber? Having one kite + board + harness on train or bus is already awkward :)Select to expand quotesurpher said..
Why would you carry around 2 kites? Maybe have a look at the forecast the day before or in the morning and pick one. If you really "need" to carry two, then I've seen heaps of ads here for a backpack that can pack 2 kites. (can't seem to find 'em now).
But having just one rig, it all packs down really small. Especially 11m.
Pack the kite smaller and you can pack your towel and your wettie in the same bag with your kite. Wrap the harness around the packed kite (yes, both go inside the backpack). Clip your helmet on one of the shoulder straps or the back of the backpack. The bar attaches onto the kite's backpack on the side or is in the backpack too. And get a simple cover/carry bag for your twin tip. Or not.
And you're set.
Pump? Borrowing at the beach?
Because I have to predict the wind speed 1.5-2 hours in advance. That's not so easy.
Backpack is a good idea, like the 25 knots bag ... no idea how heavy this will be in total :) Select to expand quotedjdojo said..
Cheapest option is to put your twintip in a simple twintip daybag, carry it under your arm, and have everything else in a regular wheeled suitcase such as people are always throwing out or giving to op shops just cos they're dirty or one zip is broken. If the wheels crap themselves from sand after a while you just chuck it and get another one for free on the verge or $10 at the op shop.
I had one bit of luggage that I liked a lot but the wheels died. The way they were mounted I was able to remove them and replace them with top quality rollerblade wheels with superb sealed bearings from a pair of rollerblades that were, you guessed it, $5 at the op shop. These wheels are still very quiet and smooth after many sandy kms. And I have the other 6 wheels sitting around to put on any other compatible luggage, including the golf-kite bag I use occasionally, when the time comes.
I run one bar for all my kites. My small kites travel in simple camping stuffsacks that I got for $5 at kathmandu or somewhere like that. This saves space and weight over the original backpacks, but don't use something where you have to roll your kites too tight as this will increase the chance of damage from any sand or other crap that may get on your kite.
Zero-prestige minimalism lives!
Have already a daybag for my twintip but, this and 2 kites and a harness is quite exhausting to carry around. I was thinking about a 120-140L luggage thing with wheels, but then I have this one and the TT which consumes even more space. This will be a problem in overfilled buses.
I am not able to fit 2 kites into my ozone 11m kitebag. No matter how I fold the kites. I may throw the wetsuit / towel / electronics into my boardbag but then this gets quite heavy/unbalanced.
Cheers
