PDA

View Full Version : Disposable duffel bags for backpacks



Kulliman
02-01-2018, 10:58
Just wondering if there was such a thing as a cheep disposable duffel bag for backpacks that can be used for checking backpack and gear when flying.

AllDownhillFromHere
02-01-2018, 11:04
charity shop/salvation army - I bought an old suitcase big enough for my pack for $10

HooKooDooKu
02-01-2018, 11:08
Thrift store.
I picked up a "broken" one that I was able to fix for "one more trip" (on a plane and then into the garbage) for about $4.

Another idea (which I used for a return flight home) is to wrap your pack in Saran Wrap. Make sure the main pocket is still accessible in case TSA wants to open something up. But the Saran Wrap with some tape can do just fine to hold down straps and keep them from getting caught in conveyor belt equipment.

MuddyWaters
02-01-2018, 11:36
Thrift stores have lots of cheap interesting options.
It doesn't have to be a duffel bag it can be almost anything.

Cotton laundry sacks with a drawstring top are cheap for a reasonable sized pack

But most thrift stores will have a big duffle bag of some kind for about 4.95. but you may have to watch for a couple of weeks or drive around a lot to find them. In the end it's easiest just to spend 15 or 20 bucks for one if you want a heavier-duty type duffle bag.

I usually browse thrift stores occasionally all year long and pick up duffels that I can use and just throw them in the garage, then they're there when I need to take a trip with my pack. Making special trips to thrift stores and searching drives the cost up quick in terms of gas and time

ldsailor
02-01-2018, 11:58
I've bought $17 duffel bags from Walmart. Since I'm doing LASH's, I checkout how much it costs to mail it to my LASH endpoint. If the shipping cost is less than the cost of the duffel, I mail it ahead. If is more than the duffel, I buy a new one when the LASH is finished and discard the one I used to get to the trail. Yeah, I know it's expensive but I can't send my Zpack on an airline without some protection and a "right-size" duffel is not always available at a thrift shop, or maybe I can't find a thrift shop where I stop.

Sarcasm the elf
02-01-2018, 12:01
I've bought them at thrift stores for a few dollars each.

StarMan
02-01-2018, 12:13
Warning the advice given next is from someone of Scottish Ancestry:

Next time you get a box From Amazon that is about the size of your pack.......See if it all fits.

Bamm! What you have there is a FREE pack "Check-In" container. At the end destination remove pack and contents, then find the nearest garbage can or cardboard re-cycle bin.

Guidelines from most Airlines are: No more than 50 pounds, the ht+wd+dp should be less than 60". (read all of your airlines regs!)

colorado_rob
02-01-2018, 12:27
Warning the advice given next is from someone of Scottish Ancestry:

Next time you get a box From Amazon that is about the size of your pack.......See if it all fits.

Bamm! What you have there is a FREE pack "Check-In" container. At the end destination remove pack and contents, then find the nearest garbage can or cardboard re-cycle bin.

Guidelines from most Airlines are: No more than 50 pounds, the ht+wd+dp should be less than 60". (read all of your airlines regs!) I've done the box thing before, works fine. I had previously done the cheap duffle. Then, I "graduated" to using simply a trash compactor bag, followed by that clingy plastic wrap stuff. Finally, after many flights with backpacks, I realized: why am I doing any of this stuff? Just check your backpack. So, for half a dozen flights that's all I've done. I snap the loose straps around the back of the pack so nothing's dangling, and check it.

So, even though the fears of simply checking backpacks is irrational, I understand it, as I "protected" my backpack for the first dozen or more times I flew with it. So, assuming you have this fear as most on here seem to have, try the box method. Or a cheap duffel, it all works.

wordstew
02-01-2018, 12:28
Go to a farm or a farm type store and get an empty feed bag... they will probably give you one for free. They are extremely tough

El JP
02-01-2018, 12:49
Just like pretty much everyone, i would suggest the thrift stores.

One trick i've been using for years is a small folding luggage cart. I've picked them up for $10 or so. I bungee cord the bag(s) or boxes onto the cart and at the airport, snap them off, check the bag in, and carry the cart onboard. At the destination, strap the gear on off the carousel and move out.

nsherry61
02-01-2018, 12:58
Big old garbage bags work fine. The airlines are accustom to managing backpacks in garbage bags and many of them will give you a plastic bag and/or put you pack in one if it has loose straps. Put them on right at the counter and removed them as soon as you get your bag so you never have to deal with the bagged bag, only the airline does. I've flown plenty with an unprotected backpack, and I've had some significant damage done to my backpack on a few occasions when doing so. Stretch mesh can get torn pretty easily. Straps can get caught on/in things (like conveyor hardware) or straps that are too small to support the weight are grabbed and pulled and torn by handlers. Also, I have had my bags get extremely dirty/greasy from airline handling of them. A plastic bag tied or taped shut also make theft from your bag somewhat more difficult if you are flying into areas where baggage handlers are not tightly managed.

DownEaster
02-01-2018, 14:12
You can carry your backpack on the plane with you if you don't have bulky stuff hanging off it (or TSA restricted items inside). Airline guidelines (at least Delta and American) are that the bag shouldn’t exceed 22 x 14 x 9 inches / 56 x 36 x 23 centimeters. Those are the dimensions of the luggage "sizer" at the check-in counter. I'll feel much more sanguine about my gear if it doesn't ever get handled by the baggage people.

AllDownhillFromHere
02-01-2018, 14:43
You can carry your backpack on the plane with you if you don't have bulky stuff hanging off it (or TSA restricted items inside). Airline guidelines (at least Delta and American) are that the bag shouldn’t exceed 22 x 14 x 9 inches / 56 x 36 x 23 centimeters. Those are the dimensions of the luggage "sizer" at the check-in counter. I'll feel much more sanguine about my gear if it doesn't ever get handled by the baggage people.
Many packs wont fit in the dinky overhead bins.

Coffee
02-01-2018, 14:49
I have a nice REI duffel and a cheap one from Amazon (there are many) but I don't consider either disposable. The cheap one I sometimes use to check things I cannot fly with while keeping almost everything with me on board. I then mail the duffel home using an envelope I take with me that has prepaid postage. Since it is under 13 ounces I can just drop it in a mail box. Usually when returning from hikes, I mail home things I cannot carry on board.

i like to keep as much with me as possible. I've had bad experiences with lost and delayed luggage so I avoid checking things that if lost would ruin a trip.

devoidapop
02-01-2018, 16:46
How about a dry cleaning bag? You could just tape the bottom closed.

Ethesis
02-01-2018, 18:59
Just wondering if there was such a thing as a cheep disposable duffel bag for backpacks that can be used for checking backpack and gear when flying.


Trash sacks. The heavy duty ones work as well as a duffle.

I have flown with them.

Coffee
02-01-2018, 19:04
How about a dry cleaning bag? You could just tape the bottom closed.

I've used a dry cleaning bag to cover my pack on planes too small for overhead bins where I have "gate checked" my backpack. That's where go give them your pack right at the gate and see them load it onto the plane, then pick it up right when you get off the plane. The laundry bag makes me feel better about handling during that short interval but laundry bags aren't durable.

MuddyWaters
02-02-2018, 00:09
Yeah, I know it's expensive but I can't send my Zpack on an airline without some protection and a "right-size" duffel is not always available at a thrift shop, or maybe I can't find a thrift shop where I stop.

Outbound, i use a large rhrift store item because pack is packed with food. But i carry on my down and cuben., Etc.. in another small thriftstore bookbag. TheThrift items get trashed at airport on arrival.

Homebound, my pack is carry on.
I remove the frame. Frame, collapsible poles, ccf pad, dirty clothes, a few gear items go in small duffell. Fits diagonally in as small as 22". Usually mail to destination with clean travel clothes, but walmart works for both at simular cost.

Singto
02-02-2018, 01:47
You can carry your backpack on the plane with you if you don't have bulky stuff hanging off it (or TSA restricted items inside). Airline guidelines (at least Delta and American) are that the bag shouldn’t exceed 22 x 14 x 9 inches / 56 x 36 x 23 centimeters. Those are the dimensions of the luggage "sizer" at the check-in counter. I'll feel much more sanguine about my gear if it doesn't ever get handled by the baggage people.

Hiking poles?

LucyInColor
02-02-2018, 02:17
I like the trash compactor idea, but what happens if TSA selects your pack for inspection & opens the taped trash compactor bag? Do you suppose they re-tape them?

StichBurly
02-02-2018, 03:10
Laundry bag not the mesh kind. My exos 38 fits into a pillow case loaded without the brain attached.

StichBurly
02-02-2018, 03:25
Oops I forgot got to say. I collapse my poles and slide them down the side of the pack.

swjohnsey
02-02-2018, 09:52
You don't need anything. Put everything inside the pack, cinch all the straps down and tie the loose ends together. Check it.

illabelle
02-02-2018, 11:04
Go to a farm or a farm type store and get an empty feed bag... they will probably give you one for free. They are extremely tough

Excellent idea! We use feed bags at home all the time for trash, kindling, recyclables, storage of supplies for garden/other stuff. I modified several feed bags to create a modular "kit" for storage of the parts/pieces for a large canopy (much too heavy to manage as one package). They are indeed quite durable. However, they're also a little bit slick. If you're flying with your pack in a feed bag, I'd recommend some type of closure, maybe staples or some sort of string tie, or your pack will just slide right out of it.

----

We have two duffels, but usually use only one. One duffel gets stuffed with the biggest pack, with most equipment, poles, boots, sleeping bag, food bag, clothes bag, etc to just under the 50-pound limit for checked bags. Whatever is over the weight limit gets stuffed in my pack. Without its usual on-trail contents, my pack holds travel documents/papers, electronics, travel snacks, jackets, etc, and easily fits in the overhead bins.

DownEaster
02-02-2018, 11:11
Hiking poles?
Not TSA-approved for carry-on. Also problematic are tent poles, tent stakes, pocket knives, any stove with a trace of fuel or petroleum lubricant, and maybe cathole trowels. I'm mailing those items to Atlanta c/o General Delivery so they'll be waiting for me the morning I fly in. I've got three stops to make in Atlanta so I'll buy a MARTA day pass:


Post Office: pick up that box
Walmart: buy fuel for my stove plus food (Fritos not squashed on the trip ;))
North Springs: closest MARTA station to the AT

My pack will stay with me.

illabelle
02-02-2018, 11:23
Not TSA-approved for carry-on. Also problematic are tent poles, tent stakes, pocket knives, any stove with a trace of fuel or petroleum lubricant, and maybe cathole trowels. I'm mailing those items to Atlanta c/o General Delivery so they'll be waiting for me the morning I fly in. I've got three stops to make in Atlanta so I'll buy a MARTA day pass:


Post Office: pick up that box
Walmart: buy fuel for my stove plus food (Fritos not squashed on the trip ;))
North Springs: closest MARTA station to the AT

My pack will stay with me.

Makes me laugh to remember the TSA agent with her gloved hands examining my trowel. She looked at me a little weird when I told her what it was for.
Haha!

ldsailor
02-02-2018, 12:12
(Hiking Poles) Not TSA-approved for carry-on.

I've carried my trekking poles as carry on luggage several times - no problem. I put the rubber tips on, so maybe that placates TSA.

Deacon
02-02-2018, 12:14
Not TSA-approved for carry-on. Also problematic are tent poles, tent stakes, pocket knives, any stove with a trace of fuel or petroleum lubricant, and maybe cathole trowels. I'm mailing those items to Atlanta c/o General Delivery so they'll be waiting for me the morning I fly in. I've got three stops to make in Atlanta so I'll buy a MARTA day pass:


Post Office: pick up that box
Walmart: buy fuel for my stove plus food (Fritos not squashed on the trip ;))
North Springs: closest MARTA station to the AT

My pack will stay with me.

I had all of these items in my carry-on pack when I flew home from Bangor, through Philadelphia, and Chicago to Toledo last summer. TSA didn’t seem to mind. They made me stand there as they went through my pack.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

DownEaster
02-02-2018, 13:45
I had all of these items in my carry-on pack when I flew home from Bangor, through Philadelphia, and Chicago to Toledo last summer. TSA didn’t seem to mind. They made me stand there as they went through my pack.
It might all work out, as the whole is obviously a collection of backpacking gear rather than the tools of a nefarious nogoodnik. However, it might also go horribly wrong, with all the rules-prohibited items confiscated. What would you do then?

4eyedbuzzard
02-03-2018, 12:58
It might all work out, as the whole is obviously a collection of backpacking gear rather than the tools of a nefarious nogoodnik. However, it might also go horribly wrong, with all the rules-prohibited items confiscated. What would you do then?If TSA denies your carry-on, just go back to the counter and send it as checked luggage. Put all of your meds and other such items in one of your stuff sacks as a boarding bag. Since your boarding pass has by then already been checked and marked prior to the carry-on inspection, usually TSA will then have you re-enter through TSA Pre or waive you to the front of the line during such an occurrence. Ask them POLITELY. Like anywhere else, the polite thing goes a long way ;)

Singto
02-04-2018, 03:50
It might all work out, as the whole is obviously a collection of backpacking gear rather than the tools of a nefarious nogoodnik. However, it might also go horribly wrong, with all the rules-prohibited items confiscated. What would you do then?

Since I have a single flight to my starting point, if I want to try and carry-on questionable items, I will go through security early enough to go back to the check-in counter and check the items....knowing they might have to locate my bag and bring it back to the counter. In fact, I would maybe ask the ticket counter to hold my checked bag there for 30-45 minutes in case this might happen.

MuddyWaters
02-04-2018, 06:47
Since I have a single flight to my starting point, if I want to try and carry-on questionable items, I will go through security early enough to go back to the check-in counter and check the items....knowing they might have to locate my bag and bring it back to the counter. In fact, I would maybe ask the ticket counter to hold my checked bag there for 30-45 minutes in case this might happen.
Why not just check questionable items anyway???

It's one thing if you don't have a checked bag. Totally different if do, no reason not to.

jdb
02-05-2018, 10:14
Check Amazon for a Nylon Laundry Bag. I did this when we went Philmont last year.
Cheap and it worked great,

tryterry
02-06-2018, 15:43
If you have a Costco membership, they carry relatively cheap, decent quality bags from time to time