Surfing Waves

Hello,

I'm flying out for a couple of weeks surfing and am planning on bringing my boards with, problem is I dont have any money to invest in a decent coffin back. Just wondering what are peoples experience in flying with a standard 5mm travel bag. can I get away with it? I was looking up packing tips and was thinking of using pipe insulation on the rails, pack it out with styrofoam, wrap the lot in duct tape then cardboard and squeeze into oversized bag. Do you think a board would survive a trip this way or am I better to just rent boards if i cant afford proper coffin bag?

Thanks for any advice

Lots of people travel with soft sided bags and get there without damage, and some get there but with damage. You have thought about the best solutions and all you can do it decide whether the risk is worth it - there is no magical answer to prevent airlines creating havoc. Check your boards as soon as you arrive (even in the entry terminal) and make a complaint ASAP, take 'before' photos, see if your travel insurance will cover damage (a lot will but not all).

Are you flying into Hawaii, USA or some third world county ? Getting to your final destination by taxi or tuc tuc or burro ?

I don't know the pro/cons of renting vs. bringing your own, since you never let us know where you're going.

By the way, the Heavier you make the board bag, the Harder they will throw it. Heave-Ho and away it goes !

I've never traveled with a board on an airline, but if I do I will try to be the last person on the flight to check their bag. That's about the only thing I can control and hopefully it means my board is placed on the top of the cargo hold luggage pile.

I flew once with my longboard and that arrived fine in a 10mm travel bag (+pipe insulation around the rails+bubblewrap). I think the decision depends on the availability of rental boards at your destination. If you can get there what you like to ride, I would not go for the risk and cost of taking the board with me. But where we went, they only had softboards.

Ollies,
Wohin gehst du?
billie

Cheers for the replies, I'm heading to ericeira so plenty of rentals available but mostly torq or nsps minimals as far as I know. Fancied bringing my own to make the most of it but will be worried without a decent bag so will either try pick up a good second hand bag or will just rent something out there I reckon.

Ollies,
With a destination like this, i would rent. Carrying boards is expensive.
billie