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Best travel bag/case/etc..

SuperStroke
Sanzabar

Sanzabar

Oh So Colt!
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Greetings THP.

I am going to Jacksonville, FL in November for a football game/golf trip and I will be taking my clubs on the plane with me.

Does anyone have any experience with golf travel bags or anything of that sort. What makes one better than the other? I do not want one of the hard cases, so I would prefer to steer clear of them. This doesnt have to be the nicest thing in the world, cause I will be only using it max of twice a year, but I do not want to have to worry sick over my sticks while flying.

Any help and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
 
I have an Ogio Yetti travel bag. I've used it for one round trip to Florida and back and it did fine for that trip. A Stiff Arm is a must. You might as well break your longest club before you even get to the airport without one. They way that I packed my bag was to put towels under the bag where my stand legs attach to my bag, wrapped towels around my clubs, stuff a few towels around the bag just to provide a little extra protections. I then put the rainhood on my bag and stuck the stiff arm down inside my bag and out the top of the rainhood. All my gear, shoes, extra balls, and added towels came out right around 46 pounds. Probably a little overkill, but I don't want stuff getting broke on my trips.
 
Playdough - when you say "stiff arm", what exactly do you mean?
 
The only thing to keep in mind is I believe some airlines will not pay for damage unless your clubs are in a hard case. With that said, I've carried mine in a soft case for years without a problem.
 
If you go into advanced search and use titles only and search the word travel, you will find tons of threads on this exact topic. Some great info in these threads and reviews on many travel bags.
 
I have the Club Glove "Last Bag" and I absolutely love it!! I have used it for 3 trips to Florida and one to Iowa and it works great. There is plenty of room for my bag, extra clothes and /or anything else you want to throw in there.

here is a link

http://www.clubglove.com/CG/ViewProdcss3XTRS.asp?ProductID=11

I would strongly recommend to get a stiff arm also! This $25-$30 saves your clubs!!!

again a link:http://www.clubglove.com/CG/ViewProd-SA.asp?ProductID=18


I dont go through the effort Playdough does with all the towels, just the bag, my stiff arm and maybe one towel up top.
 
The stiff arm is absolutely looking like a must.

Great recommendation on that, definitely will get one of them.
 
I have the Club Glove bag that fits a staff bag. It's a very nice bag and I would definitely recommend it. But like someone else said earlier, whatever bag you decide on, make sure you have a Stiff Arm to go with it.
 
With the requirement of a stiff arm for a soft sided bag, and then the waiver requirement, etc - I must ask - why not just purchase a quality hard case? They are about the same size when you travel and clubs are inside.

Just seems to me like I would have less worries with a good hard case and not having to be concerned with a stiff arm breaking, etc.
 
Cookie, let me address your question. First I have never had to sign a waiver from any airline about using a soft sided travel case. Second I think the soft sided ones are actually safer for your clubs because they are move flexible so to speak. Say you drop both ( god forbid) on the floor, I tend to think the soft sided one will absorb the blow better than the hard sided one. Also stiff arms do not break, they are quite strong and will protect your clubs.. and even if they bend a little ( like mine did last trip to Florida. Better the $25 stiff arm vs the $300 driver!!
 
Sliceapotamus, I understand your point of only using it twice a year... I basically use mine once a year for the THP outing. Still I went with a fairly expensive and more importantly durable option. There is a phrase I use in my work with my customers, "pay the price, cry once" This bag will last me 10-15 years or longer and well worth the investment versus one I could of gotten bit cheaper and would have to replace after 2-4 trips.
 
http://www.bagboycompany.com/p-79-t-700.aspx

I have the older model of this one and it works great. Also I would recommend bag boy as a quality company. I bought mine and about a year after I got it we went to Phoenix and when we arrived TSA had destroyed my bag. I contacted bag boy when I got home. Told them where I purchased it now mind you I didn't have my receipt anymore and never filled out my warranty information. They emailed me a slip told me to take it to the store that I bought my original one from. I returned it was given a brand new one no charge and they paid to have my old one shipped back to them. They do also have the hybrid cases that have the hard top and soft body. Despite everything that happened to my bag by TSA my clubs were still well protected.
 
fan of the hard cases, saw way too many broken stiff arms at the May Outing to convince me otherwise
 
Spend the money on a good bag. I have gone "cheap" a couple of times only to have the bag rip after a few trips. This time I bought a Golf Smith model. Pelnty of room and best it is guaranteed for 2 years. Any issue bring the bag and receipt back to Golf Smith and you get a new bag. Also South West makes you sign for soft bags but your clubs fly free.
 
I have used cheap bags and had zippers break and lost shoes through the opening. I have used a better bag with an external shoe pouch and had the pouch ripped off by handlers or equipment.

Consider using UPS/Fedex unless you will travel often.
 
mcook77 said:
With the requirement of a stiff arm for a soft sided bag, and then the waiver requirement, etc - I must ask - why not just purchase a quality hard case? They are about the same size when you travel and clubs are inside.

Just seems to me like I would have less worries with a good hard case and not having to be concerned with a stiff arm breaking, etc.
Click to expand...
I have taken clubs on US Airways and Southwest and never signed a waiver. Main reason for a soft over a hard bag is convenience. The hard bag is one size, all the time. You better get a big enough car or a SUV at your destination. If you need to, you can always take your clubs out of the soft bag to fit them in a vehicle (and then collapse the soft bag to a more manageable size. Plus, as you mentioned, if you really need to, you can remove the head off of your driver and/or woods to make them fit in a car better. (That also makes them fit in a soft bag better, wish I had thought of that before the Morgan Cup!)



White Rhino said:
Cookie, let me address your question. First I have never had to sign a waiver from any airline about using a soft sided travel case. Second I think the soft sided ones are actually safer for your clubs because they are move flexible so to speak. Say you drop both ( god forbid) on the floor, I tend to think the soft sided one will absorb the blow better than the hard sided one. Also stiff arms do not break, they are quite strong and will protect your clubs.. and even if they bend a little ( like mine did last trip to Florida. Better the $25 stiff arm vs the $300 driver!!
Click to expand...
I did see some pics of some broken Stiff Arms from the last Outing. (The plastic end broke on a few people). But I still think they offer excellent protection.
 
I have used my Sun Mountain Club Glider for a few years now and never had an issue.
 
Even if you use a stiff arm, I suggest removing the driver head if you have an adjustable driver and pack separately, wrapped in a towel.

I use the Club Glove Last Bag and even though it is softsided, I think it does a good job at protecting the clubs. It is much easier to place in a vehicle than a hardcase. I also recommend a unique color that stands out at the airport. Most bags are black, which makes it more difficult to identify the proper bag.
 
mcook77 said:
With the requirement of a stiff arm for a soft sided bag, and then the waiver requirement, etc - I must ask - why not just purchase a quality hard case? They are about the same size when you travel and clubs are inside.
Click to expand...

I traveled last year with a friend who had a hard case, and it was all he could do to get this carry bag and a pair of shoes in the thing and get the latches to stay closed. Not to mention it was heavy as can be.

Myself, I bought an OGIO bag before my first Florida trip, and it's been on probably 7-8 trips since. As some other members have noted, once at my destination I can fold it in half and tuck it away in the trunk or in the garage until it's needed again. For protection I always used to use a cut-off hockey stick that was about 2" longer than my driver, but this year I bought a stiff arm. I put a set of club glove covers on the irons, put the rain hood on and strap it in. There are inner pockets of padded fabric on the top of the bag around where the clubs would be, I usually tuck my shoes in them. One nice feature of the OGIO is once you've got everything in and zipped up there are two 2" wide straps that go around the outside of the bag that you can cinch tight to further keep everything in place.

Also, the soft bag is nice because if your luggage gets overweight on a long trip you can always throw extra stuff in with your golf bag - good luck doing that with a hard case!
 
So in prep for the Morgan Cup I'm curious what travel covers recommendations the vets would have for when they travel with their staff bag.

I've heard to go hard sided so the airline insurance applies, but I'm curious if there is one that will even fit a staff bag.

Second, if the insurance isn't a problem, what soft sided bags would you recommend?
 
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