Roller bags

[Mj2936]

Thinking of selling my skitube duals (a little unwieldy to travel with) and going soft 2 ski roller bags?
I've read some good stuff about the thule bag, but also the sierra bags and the dakine boundary bag.

Any reviews or anectodal evidence one way or another??

 

[Michael Kane]

I have the Thule and really like it. After one year, I have had no issues with it and it still like new. It also swallows a couple of pair of skis, poles and a slew of other stuff. I also have one of their boot packs that attaches to the roller and makes it as easy as a roll in the hay

 

[mike_m]

Google reviews and info on the DB double ski bag. Won numerous awards. I've had mine for two years. Numerous flights, no problems; very light, but very strong, doesn't sag when being pulled.

 

[cosmoliu]

Big thumbs up for the DB. Best double ski bag I've owned.

 

[Mj2936]

Google reviews and info on the DB double ski bag. Won numerous awards. I've had mine for two years. Numerous flights, no problems; very light, but very strong, doesn't sag when being pulled.

Looks like minimal padding and no dividers. Any problems where the skis got damaged or a pair of skis hit each other during a trip?

 

[cosmoliu]

No damage after 5 trips. And the skis arrived rearranged in the bag by the baggage handlers. I do put gaffer tape on the edges, but mostly so the edges don't cut other stuff in the bag.

 

[Wade]

I have two Dakine bags - the Concourse and the Fall Line. I think the Concourse is now called the Boundary.

The Concourse is an awesome bag. It's huge, easily fits two pairs of skis, and everything else you'd need for a multi week ski trip. It has great padding and is very durable. Because of all of this, it is also very heavy. If you're flying to ski, there's no way you can use all of the capacity of that bag, and still stay under the 50lb weight limit. In fact, because the bag itself is so heavy, the amount of stuff you can carry at 50lbs is effectively less than is the case with smaller bags. I still have the bag, and use it occasionally, but it's jsut too big to be practical for air travel.

The Fall Line is a fantastic airline travel bag. It easily fits two pairs of skis and has plenty or room for other stuff, but is significantly lighter than the Concourse. When I travel and am only packing for myself, I carry on my boots and a couple of smaller things, and use the Fall Line as my only checked bag. When I'm traveling with my wife, both pairs of skis plus a bunch of other stuff fit comfortably under the 50lb limit. We generally need to either carry on more stuff or check another bag, but the Fall Line works great for us. I've used it on maybe 10 trips, and it's proved to be extremely durable. No damage to the bag or the stuff inside it on any of my trips.

 

[mike_m]

No problems. Just pack the bag according to the instructions. Good luck!

 

[MattSmith]

The Concourse is an awesome bag. It's huge, easily fits two pairs of skis, and everything else you'd need for a multi week ski trip. It has great padding and is very durable. Because of all of this, it is also very heavy.

In context, the Concourse weighs in at 12.5 lbs (I roughly validated this) while the The Douchebag is listed at 8.4 lbs. I am highly jealous of the Douchebag and when the Concourse breaks down, I'll look to that bag. Why? Primarily because of how it's advertised to pack down for storage (and it looks super cool).

I like the Concourse fine and the < $150 price I paid sold me. I pack a pretty beefy set up (all-mountain + pow fatties) when traveling and have not had weight issues with the skis and poles. There are additional pockets (and plenty of room) for boots and other gear. I don't pack my boots and try to limit the amount of gear placed in the ski bag. I've seen way to many TSA reps tossing people's gear all over the place. I am pretty sure if you pack 2 skis and a pair of alpine ski boots in pretty much any bag it's going to push the weight limits.

The only other "trick" I've found is to check a boot bag with your ski bag, and put your heavy non-boot, non-critical items in there. Airlines continue to consider boot bag + ski bag 1 piece of luggage.

PS I'm likely picking up the 30L "Hugger" carry-on backpack from douchebags. This will primarily serve as my bike commuting pack, but also back up as a travel boot back. I'll use my 20-year old Transpack boot bag as needed to check with the ski bag. Any experience with the Hugger out there?

 

[neonorchid]

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The Fall Line is a fantastic airline travel bag.
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I've used it on maybe 10 trips, and it's proved to be extremely durable. No damage to the bag or the stuff inside it on any of my trips.

IME, the Dakine Fall Line is , has no internal ski tie down straps, no paded partition to seperate the pair of skis, no external compression straps to sinch up excess and hold all in place.
Furthermore, very first trip my skis moved around and their Look Pivot bindings heelpiece punched multiple holes clear through the bag, and I even went the extra mile wraping the skis in shipping foam wrap and bubble wrap! Thank goodness for REI's great return policy, had no problem getting a refund. I definitely didn't want a warranty replacement or any other Dakine bag.

As a knee jerk reaction I ordered a Sportube Series 2 even though I sent back a Series 1 a few years ago almost immediately after unboxing it. Pretty much did the same with the Series 2 - When inserting the steel rod fastener I noticed it had a tendency to pass thru the outer shells holes completely missing the holes of the inner shell I could see how it ends up in pieces on the carousel after a TSA check
Plus, as the OP said, it is unwieldy, that unnecessarily huge plastic handle is awkward, doesn't fit the rear seat/trunk pass tru of my car either.

 

[neonorchid]

@mike_m and @Wade, Do either of you have an orginal DOUCHE BAG or the gentrified DB? IMO, the former "orginal" uncastrated version has the potential to make a great avatar

 

[hbear]

Don’t hesitate to take a look at the Sync bag, we have a couple and they are great. Back and forth from NZ with no damage and no problems.

Also has a the ability to shorten/lengthen via folding over itself (has straps and a cool Velcro system to do this....similar to the Atomic bags).

 

[Wade]

IME, the Dakine Fall Line is , has no internal ski tie down straps, no paded partition to seperate the pair of skis, no external compression straps to sinch up excess and hold all in place.
Furthermore, very first trip my skis moved around and their Look Pivot bindings heelpiece punched multiple holes clear through the bag, and I even went the extra mile wraping the skis in shipping foam wrap and bubble wrap! Thank goodness for REI's great return policy, had no problem getting a refund. I definitely didn't want a warranty replacement or any other Dakine bag.

As a knee jerk reaction I ordered a Sportube Series 2 even though I sent back a Series 1 a few years ago almost immediately after unboxing it. Pretty much did the same with the Series 2 - When inserting the steel rod fastener I noticed it had a tendency to pass thru the outer shells holes completely missing the holes of the inner shell I could see how it ends up in pieces on the carousel after a TSA check
Plus, as the OP said, it is unwieldy, that unnecessarily huge plastic handle is awkward, doesn't fit the rear seat/trunk pass tru of my car either.

That sucks. Sorry you had a bad experience with the Fall Line.

I run Pivots on all my skis also, and after opening my ski bag and discovering the heel dildo had popped up while the skis were in transit, I started using elastic bands on the bindings In the same way as when I’m tuning the skis. No more issues.

I’ve never found the lack of dividers to be an issue, but I generally pack other stuff in with the skis, and I don’t think much can really go wrong with the bag in the way I set it up. Less internal structure and less weight is a good solution for my use case.

 

[NZRob]

We have a Boundary and a Fall Line for four of us. The Fall Line is newer (only one major trip) but both have been thrashed mercilessly and are very robust and well put together. The Boundary is far and away the better choice though with many more features: tie downs, divider/cover, cinch straps, and multiple (huge) storage space. We've used it a lot and it's still in great condition. It's definitely a travel workhorse. Pretty well priced for what you get too IMO.

 

[coskigirl]

the heel dildo had popped up

 

[laine]

I bought a Dakine roller at least 8-10 years ago - an earlier version of the Fall Line that was actually made for snowboards (I'm 5'1" and don't have very long skis), and I have traveled with it on 15+ trips and it has held up great. Sometimes one pair, usually two pair of skis in the bag. When I have two pair of skis, I'll wrap the bindings in a hand towel to prevent any potential rubbing/banging. It also fits most of my ski clothes when I travel - and I can keep it under the weight maximum. This thing is durable, easy to pack, easy to haul, and has spent time in California, Utah, Colorado, and Canada.

I don't know much about the DB bag - but the name itself is a turnoff. Are they trying to be cool?

 

[neonorchid]

That sucks. Sorry you had a bad experience with the Fall Line.

I run Pivots on all my skis also, and after opening my ski bag and discovering the heel dildo had popped up while the skis were in transit, I started using elastic bands on the bindings In the same way as when I’m tuning the skis. No more issues.

I’ve never found the lack of dividers to be an issue, but I generally pack other stuff in with the skis, and I don’t think much can really go wrong with the bag in the way I set it up. Less internal structure and less weight is a good solution for my use case.

HaHa. Actually, the dildo did not pop up Maybe that'll change when they share a bag with a Salomon Shift

The two outer ends of the ( shaped DIN heel cup penetrated the 'ol bag, multiple times.

 

[neonorchid]

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I don't know much about the DB bag - but the name itself is a turnoff. Are they trying to be cool?

Nah, probably just trying to be obnoxious in a Prep School kind of way.

 

[Steve]

I've had the Rossignol Super Haul wheeled 2 ski bag for 8 years and it's been great. It has a great inside with straps for each pair of skis and a separate sleeve for poles. Weighs maybe 3 lbs. Highly recommend it.

 

[Lauren]

I have a Dakine High Roller Snowboard Bag (basically the same as the Concourse Ski Bag).

Pros:
- Durable
- Good padding
- Lots of storage

Cons:
- Sag if you don't fill it
- If you don't fill the main compartment, the pockets on the top part are a bit awkward (looks like this this fixed with the new version)

With this bag, keep in mind you can size down...I have a 165cm, and can just barely fit my 177cm skis in it (169's go in with a little extra space).

For my own personal reasons, my next bag will be adjustable length in order to prevent the sag...my fleet ranges from a 149cm snowboard to 177cm skis. I've been eyeing up the new North Face roller...https://www.thenorthface.com/shop/base-camp-snow-roller-bag-nf0a3g9q#hero=2