Roller bags

[James]

tThis thread needs more BOA.

2025/26- Huge Boa with sailing winch handle for packing skis in bag.
2027/28- Boa Spidertm for rooftop skis on electric vehicles. Plug Boa winch into car, secure skis on roof. Optional child seat.

 

[cantunamunch]

2027/28- Boa Spidertm for rooftop skis on electric vehicles. Plug Boa winch into car, secure skis on roof. Optional child seat.

I've been advocating for this for a decade now. There is absolutely no reason a Sport Tube frex should not be demountable on a roof rack.

What's the anglo or french for 'grua de tope'? You know- the tow trucks that grab onto the wheels and lift the whole thing onto the flatbed? Spider?

If Tesla invented one of those for ski bags and kayaks ... and no, I don't want a roller winch hoisting up over the back window.

 

[Teumie]

TL. DNR version:
Tony S is right you want more weight at the wheels.
But since the bindings will collide, my tip is: you go 1 pair up, 1 pair down so the bindings interleave.

Long version:
Now I also have db double, and the db packing is really another conundrum vs a typical double ski bag. The db is not so straightforward since it doesn't have tiedowns; so Db suggests the packing method is to separate your skis and rubber band the brakes and have bases out on the bottom and sides of the Db. (If you can remove bindings even more methods).
https://us.dbjourney.com/products/the-snowroller See image 8.

Even experimenting with a few ways, and optimized my system, my opinion on the db ski packing is it is is not great. Mainly due to the lack of tiedowns and so much hassle of needing to pull the brakes and then needing extra padding for my skis. To keep things in place and not have the skis smash each other, then they expect you to fill the void with the rest of your gear. The problem is it is not possible to do that for regular flights without going over weight limits and incurring massive baggage fees, so I'm literally needing to take bubble wrap, towels, and empty cardboard boxes on my trips.
I think they must assume their users just are packing detuned freeride or ultralight touring skis and don't care, vs people who are taking tuned skis with sharp edges for resort.
If anyone has a best hassle-free way to actually pack a db double with 2 nice sharp skis securely AND edges protected AND under 50lbs; I'd really like to see a pic of your db packing method.

Anyway for @Teumie, because the db has so many ways to go wrong, a picture is worth a 1000 words so post a picture of how YOU are currently packing your db, then we can point out any possible ideas for improvement.

Just to be clear, I have the 'normal' DB roller, not the double.
Packing it seemed fine for me, I got to less than 20kg with 1 pair of skis, boots, helm, clothes, toileteries, etc.
So protecting the skis, I didn't feel like that was a problem.
And I do like the fact that you roll it shorter to match the skis, mostly because it makes the whole bag sturdy when rolling it around (as opposed to other bags I see that are 2m long with skis of 160cm meaning the top 40cm are 'lose' and hanging, making people drag the bag over the floor instead of rolling it).

Anyway, my question was just to see if I did it right, which it appears I did. so tails at the bottom and tips at the top.
Next time I'm packing I'll start a few days earlier, take some pics and see if people would do it differently (it was my first time flying with ski gear, others I just throw it in the car and drive off).

 

[chris_the_wrench]

I ended up getting the Evo Deluxe Roller. I was able to fondle one before I ordered it, had a good coupon to apply and their delivery time was significantly quicker than I could get on others. First touch reaction is that its pretty solid and big. I tried loading three pairs of skis and it ALMOST worked, but not quite. Some other binding combos may fit three or skis with significant length differences may help also? Two skis(192 and 189) a set of poles and my back protector will probably be my normal cargo with alot of room left over.

@cantunamunch sorry no boas…

 

[cantunamunch]

I ended up getting the Evo Deluxe Roller. I was able to fondle one before I ordered it, had a good coupon to apply and their delivery time was significantly quicker than I could get on others. First touch reaction is that its pretty solid and big. I tried loading three pairs of skis and it ALMOST worked, but not quite. Some other binding combos may fit three or skis with significant length differences may help also ? Two skis, a set of poles and my back protector will probably be my normal cargo with alot of room left over.


@cantunamunch sorry no boas…

Yeh, never mind that. How are the external tiedown features?

 

[chris_the_wrench]

Yeh, never mind that. How are the external tiedown features?

Handles at both ends, one handle on side and two handles across the ‘top flat’ plane. I’ll just use a couple ratchet straps across the entire bag on my flatbed.
The external pockets have zippers that go in opposite directions so if you strap it to a roof rack one may not be pointing the optimal direction

 

[Wade]

I ended up getting the Evo Deluxe Roller. I was able to fondle one before I ordered it, had a good coupon to apply and their delivery time was significantly quicker than I could get on others. First touch reaction is that its pretty solid and big. I tried loading three pairs of skis and it ALMOST worked, but not quite. Some other binding combos may fit three or skis with significant length differences may help also? Two skis(192 and 189) a set of poles and my back protector will probably be my normal cargo with alot of room left over.
View attachment 189521 View attachment 189522

@cantunamunch sorry no boas…

That looks nice. Did you weigh it by any chance? I'm always trying to find the best compromise between decent protection / durability and the bag being light enough so the bag itself doesn't eat up too much of the 50lb limit.

 

[MissySki]

Back in May 2022 we booked a ski trip to Mount Hood and had our two kids signed up for slalom race camp. This was our first plane travel with skis and the availability of ski bags/carriers was pretty limited. I ended up getting two Series 2 Sportube Ski Cases. In hindsight I would say it was a mistake, as on that first trip the plastic case got badly dented at the end, and it was a pain to push the dent out as the tube is too long to reach in to the end. They are also more fiddly to use compared to the softer style bags and not so easy to pack other items in with the skids. They did their job in protecting the skis which was part of my thinking of going for the harder style case, but they are far less practical overall.

I'll probably replace them with the softer style bags that are being discussed on this thread, but thought I would share my experience with the Sportube Ski Cases.

View attachment 189154

I love my Sportube for this reason.. My case has never gotten dented like you described, but it sure gets more banged up every time I use it, and therefore makes me happy to have it protecting my skis. I have an orange tube and also love that everyone else seems to have black bags and tubes, so mine is always very easy to pick out of a pile at the airport.

 

[my07mcx2]

That looks nice. Did you weigh it by any chance? I'm always trying to find the best compromise between decent protection / durability and the bag being light enough so the bag itself doesn't eat up too much of the 50lb limit.

same here. wanting to take two pairs to boat next month.

 

[James]

I ended up getting the Evo Deluxe Roller. I was able to fondle one before I ordered it, had a good coupon to apply and their delivery time was significantly quicker than I could get on others. First touch reaction is that its pretty solid and big. I tried loading three pairs of skis and it ALMOST worked, but not quite. Some other binding combos may fit three or skis with significant length differences may help also? Two skis(192 and 189) a set of poles and my back protector will probably be my normal cargo with alot of room left over.
View attachment 189521 View attachment 189522

@cantunamunch sorry no boas…

You could fit 3 pair in there easily if you take bindings off one pair. You might only need to take them off 1 ski to fit. Weight is another story though.

I generally like to put gloves under tails and tips. I gave up putting much clithes in years ago after having a bag ruined, plus the clothes had holes melted in from friction heat.

Pretty sure there’s no reason to put boots in as lots of airlines alliw a boot bag. But, I never check boots.

 

[chris_the_wrench]

That looks nice. Did you weigh it by any chance?

I dont currently have a scale where Im at. I might be able to do some kind of old school scale tomorrow…

 

[BMC]

I just took the Dakine Tram to Japan with two pairs of skis and all my gear excepting boots, helmet and goggles (which went in a boot packpack). This is an unwheeled bag and is described as a double ski bag. It’s a tight double, or a generous single.

Anyway it’s 1kg lighter than the Burton Wheelie gig bag, which I’ve also used with much success carrying up to two pairs of skis. Using the supplied shoulder carry strap it’s very easy to lug around, at least for the distances typically dealt with in international travel.

The biggest drawback of the Tram is the absence of an internal strap. However, I tape up my edges with masking tape or similar, eliminating the risk of edge cuts in transit with minimal additional weight. I then use my ski and après wear as packing material. Fill up the bag and it works.

 

[James]

I just took the Dakine Tram to Japan with two pairs of skis and all my gear excepting boots, helmet and goggles (which went in a boot packpack). This is an unwheeled bag and is described as a double ski bag. It’s a tight double, or a generous single.

Anyway it’s 1kg lighter than the Burton Wheelie gig bag, which I’ve also used with much success carrying up to two pairs of skis. Using the supplied shoulder carry strap it’s very easy to lug around, at least for the distances typically dealt with in international travel.

The biggest drawback of the Tram is the absence of an internal strap. However, I tape up my edges with masking tape or similar, eliminating the risk of edge cuts in transit with minimal additional weight. I then use my ski and après wear as packing material. Fill up the bag and it works.

So did you prefer it over the wheeled one?

I honestly can’t decide with my wheeled one. Loaded up, it ain't easy to wheel around. I sometnes miss the cramming of two pair in the padded skeeve tupe bag with shoulder strap I used to have.

 

[cantunamunch]

I sometnes miss the cramming of two pair in the padded skeeve tupe bag with shoulder strap I used to have.

I have a spare, padded, Sandpiper 1.5 pair bag, want it? Easily as padded as anything shown here.

 

[tch]

I have a spare, padded, Sandpiper 1.5 pair bag, want it?

For those times when you want to bring one extra ski?

 

[cantunamunch]

For those times when you want to bring one extra ski?

If I had borrowed a term from swords and called it a 'bastard' bag, would that really have been better?

 

[James]

I have a spare, padded, Sandpiper 1.5 pair bag, want it? Easily as padded as anything shown here.

Does it fit 2 pair?

 

[BMC]

So did you prefer it over the wheeled one?

I honestly can’t decide with my wheeled one. Loaded up, it ain't easy to wheel around. I sometnes miss the cramming of two pair in the padded skeeve tupe bag with shoulder strap I used to have.

It’s honestly a 50/50 call.

The benefits of the non-wheeled bag are it’s 1kg lighter, meaning I can pack more stuff, and it’s arguably as easy to lug around once you’re using the shoulder strap.

The benefits of the wheeled bag are it’s a little more sturdy, a little bigger internally, has an internal compression strap and arguably on rare occasions the wheels are handy.

To be honest though, of the selling points for the wheeled bag, the presence of wheels is probably the least of them.

My guess is whenever I want to transport two pairs of skis I’ll use the non-wheeled bag as in that situation every kg counts. If travelling with one pair of skis I’d probably use the wheeled bag as it’s more sturdy and I can stabilise the skis with the internal compression strap.

 

[KULKEA]

I’ve had the kulkea double roller for a few years. Haven’t flown with it yet but it has lived in the back of my pickup and hasn’t been babied. It has held up great.

Thanks! You hit right upon one of our main goals, which is quality. With the KULKEA Kantaja Double Roller ski bag you not only get a bag large enough for two pairs of skis and a lot more (I've included 2 pairs of young kid skis too), but made from 1680D ballistic fabric, YKK zippers, ITW buckles, a ton of edge protectors and reinforcements, the most durable (and replaceable) wheels available, etc. We've never had to send out a replacement set, but unlike cheap bags our wheels aren't riveted to the bag. We've put a lot into the Kantaja double roller to make it practically bomb proof. Our goal was to provide a smart, super durable double roller that could carry the kitchen sink and not fail during travels. With regards to wheels, when designing our bag we tested a lot of wheel systems with pull and drop tests. Most failed when the bag was dropped at an angle. The wheels looked beautiful, but they broke. Some wheels worked well in smooth airport floors, but worked terribly in the snow. The wheels we chose proved their durability and the ability to handle not just smooth airport floors, but rain, snow, slush, cobblestones, sidewalks, etc.

 

[KULKEA]

And, here's a sneak peek at the KULKEA Kantaja Double Roller ski bag for next season with our new long-haul carry-on boot bag. They work perfectly together!