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  1. #1

    Default Disposable duffel bags for backpacks

    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.

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    charity shop/salvation army - I bought an old suitcase big enough for my pack for $10

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    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.

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    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

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    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.
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    I've bought them at thrift stores for a few dollars each.
    Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

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    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!)

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    Quote Originally Posted by StarMan View Post
    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.

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    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

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    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.
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    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.
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    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.

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    Quote Originally Posted by DownEaster View Post
    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.

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    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.

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    Default Disposable duffel bags for backpacks

    How about a dry cleaning bag? You could just tape the bottom closed.
    You can walk in another person's shoes, but only with your feet

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    Quote Originally Posted by Kulliman View Post
    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.

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    Quote Originally Posted by devoidapop View Post
    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.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ldsailor View Post
    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.
    Last edited by MuddyWaters; 02-02-2018 at 00:11.

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by DownEaster View Post
    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?

  20. #20

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    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?

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