Hit The Road Again With An XTM Double Ski Bag

Snow travel is back, to most places anyway, and if you want to hit the road again and save weight and dollars the XTM Double Ski Bag is a great option at just $AUD 119.99

Sure, wheelie bags like the Douche Bag etc are great, but wheels add weight and bulk, and with ever tighter restrictions on luggage it’s too easy to get caught out and slugged ridiculous amounts for excess.

For example, on our road test trip with the XTM double ski bag to Chile and Argentina we found out Aerolineas Argentinas had dropped their domestic bag weight to just 15kg! Lucky we had the XTM bag, filled with a shiny new pair of Kastle FX96 skis we were delivering to a mate over there and a selection of our own gear, and made the weigh in no problem.

I am not the youngest nor the fittest ski traveller on the road these days (ok, these decades..), but I found the shoulder straps easy enough to get around on a selection of trains, planes and automobiles. I didn’t find myself missing the dragability of a wheelie bag at all, and since with the Douche Bag it was all too easy to get the weight up over 20kg I was glad of the weight saving. Never mind the cost – the XTM double bag is less than half the price of a DB double bag.

The XTM ski bag is tough, versatile, and officially holds up to 190cm skis, though I could squeeze in my rockered set of 192cm long and 122cm wide Rossi Squad 7s no drama too. Back home now at our NSW south coast home office it’s happily storing my 191cm K2 Pinnacle 96s & a pair of 182cm Rossi Experience 74s between snow trips.

So even our mad plumber mate Trev, who travels round Japan for several weeks with 2 sets of skis (carving and touring set ups) and a split board rig, could at least fit his skis in here no problem too.

There are mountains of lost luggage around the globe, as airports fire up without the staff to cope, and my XTM bag took a few days detour on the way home, missing a connection in Auckland, but showing up none the worse for wear via a courier delivery. The bag and the contents – I had cleaned out are former South American base of the past 18 seasons and bought as much as I could stuff in the bag home – were all fine.

It had an unexpected detour on the way over too, after I did a Tom Hanks and ended up stuck in transit in Santiago Airport. Who knew Chile now demands Auisses have transit visas for even the briefest stays, which have to be applied for online then dealt with by your nearest Chilean consulate. I had complied with all their online COVID-19 requirements and had the online health entry thing that said “Habilitated to enter Chile”. Or not. Don’t be complacent people, wherever you are heading to check and double check the entry requirements.

I spent the night in the LATAM lounge, purchased another ticket to Buenos Aires for the morning, and they sent the bag on that flight – as I was unable to clear customs in Chile to pick it up. It was intact on arrival in BA, with the padlock neatly holding the zipper together. Entering Argentina is easy – an online instant visa is all you need to get.

So the bag has already endured 6 flights, a couple of ute rides, an international bust trip, and a courier run from Sydney to the South Coast, and several unaccompanied transfers – where, let’s face it, your bag is at the mercy of the baggage/customs/delivery people’s mood on the day.

All in all, it still looks and functions virtually like new.

Another great snow travel product from XTM. A few years back we got a consignment of logo ski bags for promotions and sale at the Snow Travel Expos and they were really well received. A feature was the low profile design which allows them to fit as carry-on bags on most connecting flights you are likely to encounter, so you never need to lose sight of your boots.

XTM double ski bags are $AUD 119.99, from lots of great snow stores, or buy online from XTM here.