Wats good swellers. I'm leaving soon for a 3 month central america backpacking surf trip in pursuit of good waves for the spring. I have a good all around board I'm trying to bring with me. The only problem is all my board bags don't look like they would protect my board from the heavy handed jet blue baggage handlers, or the hazards of dirt biking/ hiking around the jungle. What I'm looking for is a hardcase boardbag with backpacking straps so I can wear it over my a-frame pack, or side car it on my dirt bike. I already looked at the Santa Monica surf cases and they seem too heavy and clunky, but if anyone has owned one and has successfully backpacked around with one please correct me. So anybody heard of such an invention or am I better off just risking the flight with a soft bag and improvising some redneck engineering once i get down there?
I've been looking for something like that too. don't think it exists. Best bet is a solid epoxy board and a thick padded soft bag. I'm gonna put my board in a lighter bag and then a thick padded two board bag, take the fins off and hope for the best. That way when I get there I can just use my light bag to get around.
There is some decent heavy duty soft side Travel cases that can handle baggage handlers. As far as hooking up to a Back pack not so sure that would be a little awkward. I have used board carriers on a motor bike that any day/travel case work fine. I traveled around Java and Bali on motor bike, infact thats how most surfers get around Bali. Santa Monica cases are fine for shipping beyond that a pain in the butt. Most airlines won't take them as baggage
Trev, I recently got something very similar to this for my trip to Cabo...worked very well. No damage at all, not even from a Mexican airport. http://www.prolite.com/product.asp?ProdId=62 I also have one of those Balin Triple Coffins with wheels and all the bells and whistles, but that's gonna be way too much for what you are describing. The ProLite travels light like a regular board bag, plus all the added protection.
