Packaging Your Board for Airline Travel
It’s no secret that baggage handlers can be rather unforgiving when it comes to the proper care and feeding of your precious windsurf board. International travel can be an especially trying endeavor, and it’s wise to do everything in your power to give your gear the upper hand in any mistreatment scenario. Sailing a remote location on your own personal gear is an incredible experience that will make all your hard work and preparation worthwhile!
To that end, one of our customers just returned to Denver after a week-long trip to the Mexican Riviera. He devised a particularly clever packing scheme that left both his windsurf board and his board bag virtually unscathed at the conclusion of his journey! Here is his experience, in his own words:
Hello Big Winds!
We just returned from our trip to the Mexican Riveria, where I was able to sail five consecutive days during our seven-day vacation. I wanted to share these pictures of my new Dakine sailboard bag along with the additional 1/2 inch padding that I added from Tharco. These pictures were taken upon our return to Denver. It looks like it was hand carried through baggage handling at Frontier Airlines – not a mark or scuff! Amazing!
I purchased the 4×8 sheet of 1/2 inch foam from Tharco, laid the sailboard onto the sheet and cut the shape with a serrated knife, for insertion into the padded bag. I then doubled the 1/2 inch foam layers with my hot glue gun for added protection on the rails. It worked so well, you can throw the board bag around without causing any damage to the board!
I thought it might be cool for you to point people to Tharco as a source for the additional padding. Their 4×8 sheets of 1/2 inch foam are the way to go.
Even wrapping my Fiberspar boom in cardboard worked nicely. I walked through the airports with this hanging on my shoulder strap… WIDE load, coming through!
Thanks for all your help and a great board bag!
Jordan
Thanks, Jordan!
