About Surfboard Bags
A surfboard bag is a necessary item you need to have for your surfboard. Most dings and fractures on surfboards occur out of the water, transporting your surfboard to and from the beach.
After designing and testing many surfboard bags we would like to give you what we think are the most important design aspects of a good surfboard bag.
Surfboard Bag Size
It's best to have a boardbag that is not too tight a fit on your surfboard. A bag that is a bit roomy helps to protect the board from sharp knocks as the excess bag acts as a buffer. It also needs to be a bit spacious around the fins, if it is tight around the fins a quick knock can snap the fin off. A rule of thumb is get a bag 2 inches bigger then your surfboard.The other benefit of a surfboard bag that is a bit spacious is that it allows you to include a layer of bubble wrap around your surfboard, or a board sock when travelling, to help prevent dings from those wonderful people in the luggage handling department.
Padding
5mm or 10mm? If you are the practical type and don't want to fork out the cash for a day bag and a travel bag, 5mm is enough. As I said if the board bag is a bit roomy, you can wrap your board in bubble wrap when needed and use the bag as a day bag at other times.Some boardbags come with extra padding in the nose and sometimes in the tail as well. This is a good idea, as the nose and tail are the most commonly damaged parts of the a surfboard when travelling.
Zips
YKK zips are regarded as the best, but there are other good quality zips available, Just make sure the teeth are larger as opposed to small and fine. and the sliders move freely. There should be 2 sliders on all bag openings so you can padlock them when travelling.Zip Sliders
The nylon style is great for exposure to salt water as they don't corrode, but if you are travelling a lot it is better to go with stainless steel as they won't break when being padlocked.Zip Placement
Top opening, end, side?? Although top opening surfboard bags look pretty, they are difficult to insert a surfboard into. The flap gets in the way and usually after the board is in place you then need to re-adjust the flap before closing the zip. Zips at the bottom end are best. You can hold the bag open with one hand and push your board inside with the other.Just make sure the zip doesn't continue around the bottom of the bag more than about a third of it's length. Otherwise you have the problem of every time you place the surfboard on its side you risk the hard zip cracking against the rail of your surfboard.
Materials
We make all our surfboard bags with 600D material, with solar reflective material on the inside. Many board bags come with the reflective material on one side of the outer to help reflect the sun even more. This is fine, but we have found the reflective material doesn't last as long as 600D material and so when the bag finally starts to deteriorate it is the reflective side that goes first.
Surfboard Bag Tip
Always put your surfboard in the bag the same way. I am not talking about nose or fins first, nose should always go first. I am talking about the same side up. Usually a surfboard bag has a logo on one side, I always use this as the top of the surfboard side, wax side.If you don't follow this and switch between wax side and bottom, you will eventually get a nice build up of wax on the bottom of your surfboard. This slows down your surfboard and is called a Chinese wax job.
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I find it helpful to know that when choosing a surfboard carrying bag, I should choose one with zip sliders made of nylon or stainless steel. My boyfriend and I recently bought surfboards, so we need to buy carrying bags for them. I’ll write down your tips so we could use it as a buying guide. Thanks.
Thanks Levi