Tips and suggestions please…
I’m going to Portugal with a 7’11" HWS Quad with glasss-ons…
I have a good board bag with generous room…
Paul
bubble wrap the heck out of it and foam block the fins
which airline Paul? what kind of coffin bag do you have?
Enough room for the missus Paul
If you have any old bodyboards in the house or from a friend they make good foam for the fins.
Cut slots,for it , bubble wrap the board first, with fins sticking out of bubbles, exposed.
Then place the half/third of bodyboard onto fins tape.
If you want you can make it a semi permanent bag thats easy to select a board from your board bag.
To do this you have to fit the bubble wrap a little loose, just tape up the bubblewrap really well, all over the board so you cant see much bubbles.
Then carefully stanley knife i slice down one rail but dont touch the board.
If you have glass on fins you will need to cut back around the tail but not sliced around the nose.
Simply slide board out of its new bag and slide back in.
Use tape to seal when not in use or for transit.
Get some pipe insulation foam. Cut it open and tape it around your rails.
Then use some foamblocks and bubblewrap as the others suggested.
I would go for a hardcase personally. I’ve gone long hauls with longboards and no matter how many towels, bubblewraps, bags, they always seem to be able to ding them.
Portugal? Ah, the food, the vinho - instant envy.
In any event, I tend to be kinda paranoid about boards and air travel. Like you, I use boards that can’t be easily rented at the local surf shop if they get munched in transit. So here’s what I use
First, a foam fin block, depth of the fins plus at least an inch so when the airline sets a crate of machine tools on it it’ll at least help.
Then, a 1/4" padded day bag around the board, fairly close fitting. This not only pads the rails nicely, it means you can leave the big and awkward travel bag in your hotel room when you’re bopping aound the country without worrying about bashing your board up in a taxi or rental van or whatever.
Then the big travel bag, well padded, on the outside of it all. With ‘fragile’ and ‘top load only’ stickers on it in several languages. Plus your name and address painted on the outside of the bag. Oh, and slipping the baggage guy a twenty to take good care of it never hurts.
That way your board will be in fine shape when you’re in Lisbon and the airline sends it to Rangoon.
Have a good trip, and have some Vinho Verde for me
doc…
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Get some pipe insulation foam. Cut it open and tape it around your rails.
Then use some foamblocks and bubblewrap as the others suggested.
Great suggestion, may I add that instead of tape use cellophane? Much easier removal and no sticky tape residue. Usually available at U-haul and office supply stores.
I always use scraps of foam from cutting my outline to protect the rails. They are already curved and with PU you have a harder outside shell with soft inside.
After padding the fins - I use blue rigid foam but, like the old boogie board suggestion - I put a board sock on so no tape comes in contact with the board. Even then, I sacrifice a roll of 1 1/2" 233 for the trip for ease of removal. Then make a custom bag with 2 layers of bubble wrap - doubling up on the rails. Finally a good travel bag - with wheels, definitely.
Good free source of fairly heavy duty bubble wrap can usually be found at any place that sell kayaks. They’re shipped in long tubes of the stuff and it’s heavier gauge than most. They love to give it away usually as it just sits in their dumpsters.
Have a great trip and take a warm wetsuit.
Pete
Foam rail cuttings…What’s that…???..
That’s cork to you Paul…
Speaking of which - Portugal, cork central…make a cork board bag for the trip home…indestructable, I bet…
If you’re driving around and see them harvesting cork, stop and watch. I’m sure you know how it’s done, but it’s cool to watch them go at it…
Foam block the fins (you can make or buy) and bubble wrap. For your works of art, I would say hardcase for sure. Keep it light, resist temptation to put towels, leashes, etc… into case. Your not going to Hawaii, right. Hawaii is the only place that I know of where they will bust up your boards on purpose. There is no one better than a transplanted mainland Haole to do a number on your boards.
Ditto on the suggestion to use foam pipe insulation for the rails. Be sure to use the denser type, not the stuff that feels like thick neoprene. The cellophane wrap instead of tape is genius! Have a great trip.
i have used the pipe insulation on a number of occasions with great success, to make it easier cut a v groove on the opposite side to the slit to make it easier to open up around the rails, if i had a drawing package on this pc id give you a diagram but its not too hard to visualize.
ive used the shrink wrap too as it keeps everything tight, only problemn is its a one use thing so a, you need to carry a roll of it with you for the return leg and b, it leaves you with a big ball of plastic to dispose of at the other end which isnt too green. im sure between the great minds on here someone will think of an alternative which can be reused for the return.
Rather than tape or cellophane, I always just use big rubber bands to hold pipe wrap on the rails. One per foot of board (two if you’re a “Belt AND Suspenders” kind of guy), and I tape the pipe wrap together at the nose and tail, so it pretty much stays in the shape of the board when you take it off (easy to repack for return trip and you don’t lose any of it).
No sticky mess on the board, nothing to throw away, reuseable. Plus if you’re using bubble wrap/towels/other padding for the deck and/or bottom, the rubber bands will hold that in place as well. Takes about 15 seconds to unpack your board and go surfing.
Old bicycle tire tubes make great big rubber bands, they also come in handy around the shop
with clamping etc. Used a 10’ bubblewrap bag on a trip to Central America that worked unreal.
Think the company called it a ding bag? Yes, there are some bad guys throwing bags in Hawaii.
Been happening forever.
Pipe insulation, self made foam padding for nose and tail, sock, in day bag, in double/tripple boardbag (2 or 3 boards). Lot’s of fragile stickers…
make sure you don’t put any hard objects with the boards inside the double/tripple bag. Even a wetsuit zipper can ding your board if the local airline put the rice supply for the next month on top your boards…
roll up the wetsuit to cover/pad the zip
Z
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Rather than tape or cellophane, I always just use big rubber bands to hold pipe wrap on the rails. One per foot of board (two if you’re a “Belt AND Suspenders” kind of guy), and I tape the pipe wrap together at the nose and tail, so it pretty much stays in the shape of the board when you take it off (easy to repack for return trip and you don’t lose any of it).
No sticky mess on the board, nothing to throw away, reuseable. Plus if you’re using bubble wrap/towels/other padding for the deck and/or bottom, the rubber bands will hold that in place as well. Takes about 15 seconds to unpack your board and go surfing.
Keith , using innertubes is a great idea. Can you elaborate on how you tighten it up? Seems like a knot or whatever you do could creat a spot where the baggage handlers would find a way to make a lasting impression on your board. Sounds like you’ve got a technique that eliminates that threat! I’d imagine you tie the knot then stretch it over to where it fits snug on the rail? How do you keep it sliding near the nose and tail?