Ski Bags - Buyers Guide
Ski Bags – Buyers Guide
Ski Bags are a pretty simple premise. To make dragging all of your ski kit overseas easy and comfortable, and to keep the dastardly airlines from damaging your new, shiny, skis that you purchased here at aussieskier (wink wink).
Over the last 30 years, the aussieskier crew have become fairly experienced travellers. For the most part, doing back to back winters both here in Australia and various parts of the world. America, Canada, Europe, Japan, we have definitely had some fun sampling the worlds mountains and the amazing snow found across the seas. We have picked up a few tips about travelling over the years, so if you have any questions, definitely get in touch.
Factors to Consider
Volume
Single or Double? Many ski bags are designed to take two sets of skis, though these may still be a good idea if you are only travelling with one. A double ski bag allows you to fit more of your possessions in the one bag and may stop you from needing to bring a 2nd or 3rd bag.
Wheels
Considering cavemen worked out the wheel thousands of years ago, its hard to consider travelling with a bag without wheels. Full ski bags can weigh upwards of 25kg, your shoulder will thank you for wheels.
Padding
Baggage handlers are rough on baggage. Doesn’t matter if you fly first class or budget, the same people are throwing your bags around the tarmac. Padded bags last longer and offer better protection for your gear.
Length
Getting Ski Bag length right is important if you want to avoid the dreaded bag sag. The feeling of having the bottom of the bag drag along the ground of the airport is not a nice one.
Weight
Lighter is better in the world of ski bags, means you can take more of your precious cargo without busting your baggage allowance.
Colour
Colour is surprisingly important in ski bags. Black is the most popular choice because it doesn't pick up grime as easily. But when the sea of Black ski bags comes out on the barrage carousel, being able to pick out your coloured bag is a big plus.
Read More Here
Popular Ski Bags
These are our favourite ski bags here at Aussieskier. They are tried and tested global best sellers.
Dakine Fall Line / Low Roller
Travel the world with Dakine. Lightweight, mega durable and the perfect volume for a double ski bag. Comes with a bonus ski boot bag that nestles inside.
Available in Fall Line for 175 & 190 lengths and Low Roller for 157 & 165.
Fall Line Ski BagLow Roller Ski BagDakine Padded Single Ski Bag
Perfect for protecting your gear on the way to & from the hill. The Padded Single is a simple, padded ski bag to protect the boot of your car from your skis, and your skis from the outside elements.
Dakine Padded Single
Frequently Asked Questions
In most cases, the shortest one that will fit your skis.
In a wheeled ski bag, the skis make up an important part of the rigidity of the bag and going for a ski bag with lots of extra length will make it much floppier and harder to travel with.
With non wheeled ski bags the extra length doesn't have downsides and allows you to fit more softgoods in the tip/tail and protect your skis. Brands rarely offer non-wheeled bags that are shorter than 170 for this reason.
Important to know is that with many Dakine ski bags, especially the Fall Line and Low Roller, you can fit a longer ski in than what they describe. A 175 Fall Line can comfortably fit a 180 ski and often with a squeeze, up to a 182-183.
Single bags can only ever take the single set of skis. Typically you can fit poles and a few other bits and piece in but rarely ski boots or a second pair of skis (even small kids ones)
Double ski bags vary greatly. Most can take 3 sets with some careful packing, or 2 adults and 2 skis if you are a packing master. 2 skis, poles and a ton of gear is the most common capacity.
Be wary of weight limits if your plan is to stuff your ski bags with 3+ skis and gear. Airlines limits vary but are rarely happy if they drift north of 30kg.
In short, not much. The large double ski bags can equally be used as snowboard bags and many brands offer products that do both.
Single ski bags won't fit snowboards, and some of the more simple snowboard bags won't fit skis.
The Dakine Fall Line and Low Roller are perfect examples of this. The bags are identical except the lengths that they are offered. Fall Line is marketed as a ski bag and comes in 175 and 190. Low Roller is marketed as a snowboard bag and comes in 157 and 165.
Every airline differs, and often changes year to year. So for each trip its worth knowing exactly how much you can take in each bag, and whether oversized bags will incur further charges.
The most typical weight limits are 20kg, 23kg, and 30kg.
20kg doesn't give you much room to play with. 1 pair of skis, 1 pair of boots and lightly packed gear should fall under 20kg.
23kg is only a small bump up but we find is quite achievable to pack within. 1 pair of skis, 1 pair of boots and a moderate amount of gear or 2x pairs of skis and gear with no boots can all be made to work with a 23kg limit.
30kg feels like a luxury when packing ski bags as you can typically jam them pretty full. 2x pair of skis, 2x pairs of boots and gear in the nooks and crannies shouldn't trouble a 30kg limit much.
All of this is based on a lightweight double bag like the Dakine Fall Line or Low Roller. If you completely fill a bigger bag like the Dakine Boundary, the weight can quickly approach 50kg!
None of the ski bags we carry, or have ever been offered have been fully waterproof. The cost of putting waterproof materials and zippers into a ski bag isn't realistic.
All ski bags have a healthy amount of weather resistance but care should be taken if transporting water sensitive product.
Unanswered Questions?
If we still haven't answered your question, let us know and we can help out.
