Has anyone had one of these and how did you find it? I am looking to purchase one over the next few days and wanted to get some opinions. I really like the way that you can seperate the two bags. Also if anyone has one that they want to sell, PM me.
Thanks
PS. Not sure if to put this here or in the For Sale areas.
Gday
I used to use the Dakine BTS bag. I highly recommend it if you are travelling 'ALOT' I was travelling nearly everyday Kiting in Brisbane then flying back to Melbourne or Sydney the same day and doing it over and over again. I never took my fins off because it was too much of a hassle. (I went to crazy Clarks and boought pool noddles and cut slots in them to put over each end of the board over the fins). I had big fins and a very sharp edge board because I use the 06 naish thorn. The BTS is a strong bag but when empty this thing can be a bit flimsy. It has very thick padding around the sides of the main compartment whilst the other half was a bit more flimsy. From August 2005 from memory the BTS had the thickest padding on the market and that's why I chose it. If you fly Qantas domestically they didn't charge you excess luggage if you seperated all your kiting or 'sports' gear into one compartment but then put all your other normal stuff in the half. You seperated them at check in then get the 'oversized' baggage labels. You zipped them back together so you could wheel them to the oversized luggage check in counter then unzipped them again to seperate and put on the belt. (if you have a trolly you dont have zip and seperate them at all)
If you got a quiver of kites and boards to fill the bag you'd put the whole lot in both compartments and keep the two compartments together. (Theres plenty of room for 3 kites and 2-3 boards. Check ONLY the kite gear and bring a seperate bag for your normal clothes etc. Different airlines have different polices but because I was using Qantas I had no trouble espeacially using the BTS bag.
I know on some international carriers ie Thai/Singapore you are restricted to 20kgs but they dont mind if you mix the sporting equipment with normal luggage in this case something like the new rolling 'PRO-Limit' bags (the wheels are an accessory so BUY them) would be good, they're tough, have strong support built into the bottom of them to keep them firm and protect any other items you have. ALSO make sure you have a seperate 'board' bag or day bag just to put the board in. It keeps everything else dry and stops that board and fin hitting your pump and kite. (If you have a board that doens't have overly big fins you can probably just leave the fins on if you got a board bag).
Hope this helps ya out
qfmike737 thanks for that. Great info. I am considering this vs the Mystic Ammo Gearbox, but it is 150cm and does not split, which means that their would be more weight in the one item. Interesting to know that the 140cm Dakine will be sent through oversize baggage anyway.
