traveling with equipment

[JimPat]

I will be going to Aruba this April. I am looking for advice on methods to safeguard pack a board and kites for air travel. I have fears of punctures or tears and want to take every precaution. Thanks for your ideas!
Jim

[mdh01]

Jim,
I leave for Aruba on March 27 and plan to pack three kites in a soft sided golf bag (an actual golf travel bag).

I have an NSI deceiver bag, but I'm worried about an expensive surcharge for the oversize bag. The standard golf bag meets the requirements for normal checked luggage. I'll then rent a board when I get there...

Mark

[Barry P]

To conserve on space and protect my kites on this trip to SPI, I laid my 16, 12, and 9 out flat on top of each other and then folded all 3 together with as few folds as I could. This way all three fit into the 12M kite bag. I then put this bag inside the 16M bag with all three bars. I used the third bag for shortie, harness, pump, etc. My kites had 2 layers of protection and packed down pretty 'small'.

[JRN]

HOW ABOUT YOUR BOARDS? DID THEY NAIL YOU FOR AN OVERSIZE OR OVERWEIGHT CHARGE?

[JanMarie]

Jim, I flew Sun Country this year to Mexico. The website says a wakeboard costs $75 each way, so that's what I expected. My board is 5 ft or less long and so I got charged only $25 each way. I had a 6M, 9M, trainer, 2 harnesses, snorkle gear, wetsuit, helmet, sunscreen and more in my kite bag that unfolds to just cover the board. One side of the bag was mesh. On the way back everything was wet, so they let me take a few heavy things out because they said I was just overweight and the charge would be $75 rather than $25. Your wetsuit and harness might be (er.. is) a little larger than mine, but I bet you can get under the weight limit with some stuff in your check-on. I had to bring all my cloths in my carry-on because my chech-on was my guitar. A second check-on is $25 so I got the same price for a second check-on even though my gear bag was over the first oversize charge of $25. That means they don't add up the charges together, they just use the largest fee. On the way back, the mesh part of my bag got a little tear in it but I repaired it and I intend to use the same setup again. (Well, maybe if I had a $1K kite I would keep the mesh part inside the bag.) I don't know about the other airlines, but Sun Country was very accomodating. By the way, my guitar (not my good one) was in a soft-sided guitar bag and it did fine. Not even a bruise. Everyone knows and loves a guitar and they take care not to harm it as long as they know what it is, and so I never cover or disguise it.
Janarie

[JimPat]

Has anyone used a golf hard case(a friend is offering his) for the kiites? What about a snow board bag for the board and kites all in one bag? Thanks for the ideas everyone!
JIM

[JRN]

I WAS ABLE TO PACK 16 & 12 M KITES(w/o bags) ALONG WITH 2 TWIN-TIPS IN MY SNOWBOARD BAG. It was right at 50#, but I put my straps, fins, & a 9m along with my harness, bars, & wetsuit in another big duffle. This was b-4 Sun Cntry started charging for bags. They may lose my business to Southwest!

[peterrib]

I just flew NW to Fort Meyers with a deceiver with 2 boards, harness and misc stuff for $15 and had 2 kites and clothing in another bag for $25. They were both under weight.
So far skunked on wind. 2 days left but not looking good.
Peter

[Kevinousdigian]

I went to Mexico with Deceiver bag and had no charges. The great secret is NW does not charge for 2 bags/person when going Int'l and golf bag counts as a normal bag if under 50 lb. I fit my 151 board+straps still on, a 9 and 14m TD kites with bars/lines, blanket for beach and protects board, a 6 iron + plastic golf balls, large pump, harness, helmet, and 1 kite bag. All for 47.6 lbs.

Last fall when I flew to SPI I rented board and put the rest of the above in a regular suitcase. That worked out nicely because I kited up until I had to drive to the airport the last morning.

KO

[Michelle]

Hey Jim,
For the big move to NZ, I packed a board, 3 kites, and all my gear (harness, pump, bars, wetsuit etc) into a Dakine kicker bag. I liked it as it expands to take a bigger board if needed, but can be a compact bag too if you don't.
NWA did not charge me extra for it, and it weighed in at 49lbs.
I also used those space saver bags, and vacuumed all of the air out of my kites and put each one in a bag, which drastically reduced the amount of space my kites took up.

[JimPat]

Thank's to everyone for all the great ideas. I will have to try the different options and buy or borrow a scale to dial in dial in the best option for my board and kites. I plan to put the bars in a seperate carry-on backpack just incase they would somehow loose the luggage(the t3 bars are very valuable to me). Hey Mark(mdh01)-you said you are going to rent a board when you get there, right. Do you have the shop and board lined up ahead of time? Every shop in aruba that I look into only offers full rental for several hours at a time and a lesson and rescue boat included. I don't need all the gear, the lesson(not saying I don't need the lesson) or the boat(just want the board). I would like to find a shop that rents minimum of the whole day but prefer rental for the whole week. Let me know what you know and I am anxious to hear all about your trip when you return. If you have access to the web when you're there send us a blog on the conditions, the gear choices, etc.. Have an awesome fun and safe trip. One article I read said to hit Boca Grande beach on the oppposite side of the Island. It's in a nice bay with more on shore wind and waves. It sounds like the other locations have off shore wind. Choa for now!
JIM

[Nathan B]

Jim , I have a Slingshot Golf bag you can borrow , you should be able to fit it all in there and have no probs, just give me a call or email if ya need it.

[mdh01]

Jim,
I'll post some updates and photos when I get there...

I'm renting a board for three days from Armando at:
http://www.kitesurfingaruba.com/

I did arrange it ahead of time, but we'll see if that holds up when I get there...!

Mark