HandiHoldall Large 330 Litres Soft Roof Box; Foldable Weather Resistant Roof Bag with Solid Base; Navy Blue

I work as a location photographer based in Wales and was offered a last minute assignment in northern Scotland. We combined it with a holiday break so the car was loaded with camera gear, family and a dog! The only solution for our baggage was a roof box or holdall. Roof box was expensive so I took a risk and opted for this holdall. When it arrived it was no bigger than than an old army kit bag. There's a holdall, with four metal rod strengtheners and a carrying bag. I also bought two aluminium roof bars off Amazon.We did loads to test loadings of the holdall in our front room to make sure we got the best luggage configuration. The morning we left it only took about 15 minutes to load up. Nothing to do with the holdall but you need to be fairly dextrous and not afraid to stand on your car seats/sills to get the bag onto the roof and strapped down, but it's not difficult. In the end I used a little three step decorating ladder which made everything a doddle.The critical thing is to make sure that the metal rods over-run the roof bars at the front and back, so the holdall won't slump down onto your precious car roof in transit. I'd also recommend you pack your bags/cases at right angles to the steel supports to ensure maximum weight spread/support.As you can see from the pics I had two large suitcases, two stuffed holdalls and a bag of bedding. Normally this would fill the boot in the Kia Sportage. Everything fitted on the roof easily, and the holdall zipped closed without any issues. There's a neat tough canvas overlap above the zipper that ensures everything is watertight. Make sure you turn it down over the zip.In my case there was enough strap on each of the four main holding straps to be able to wrap it round the roof bar twice. If you can I'd recommend this as it really locks the holdall in place. The other tightening straps were also very useful as pulling these tight really compressed the load and ensured that everything was tight, secure and as aerodynamic as poss. Ensure you tuck any remaining strap length into the mechanisms to prevent wind noise.I've never used a roof holdall before so I took it easy at first but I needn't have worried. By the end of the week's assignment I'd been racing over all sorts of roads and tracks, often at fairly high speeds, and the holdall was solid as a rock. On the motorways there was no wind noise at all, and it didn't really affect the stability of functioning of the car.Coming home it rained like hell all the way back to Wales but when I offloaded there wasn't a drop of water inside the holdall. It packed away really easily in its holdall and takes up very little space in my wardrobe.It's constructed from very robust canvas and the heavy stitching is moulded in. The steel bars are also very strong, as are the straps and buckles.I'd really recommend this product. No negatives at all and the price is really excellent value for money.

We needed something to prevent us going away in 2 cars but didn't want a roof box permanently stuck on the car. This was a brilliant solution. The rods which strengthen the base are carbon fibre, a but like modern tent poles. This gives structure to the bag and stopped it dipping between our roof bars. The capacity amazed us, I thought it might be too small but we didn't manage to fill it. We both thought that actually the capacity was great than a rigid roof box. The zips are sturdy and the ability to fully unzip the top of the bag made it very easy to fill while on the roof. The straps fitted easily around the roof bars and where easy to tighten and it felt very secure and didn't move at all during a 100mile journey which was mostly motorway driving. We didn't encounter rain so didn't test the waterproofing. At the end of the journey it was simple to detach and unpack. We thought it was excellent value for money and one of the best purchases we have made.

Holds a lot that you can not get in the boot of the car

We’ve had this roof bag for about a month now and have used it for about 1500 miles to Norfolk, Normandie and Cornwall on both a 2012 Vauxhall Meriva (pictured) and 2007 Ford Focus.- The fact it attaches to the bars using the straps is extremely quick and easy. Much more so than our previous roof box.- It packed well and quite flexibly. Our cargo was;1 large tent, 1 camping table, 2 body boards, 1 clothes horse, 2 sleeping bags, 1 double duvet, 2 roll mats, 2 camping chairs, and 2 luggage bags (carry-on size) and some other camping gear.- It stayed waterproof despite it being pelted with rain for over a 3 hour sitting.Couldn’t have gone better as a purchase. The only downside is having to load and unload it in the rain (which seems to be every time I need to do it!), but hardly the bags problem!

This worked great on my fiesta. Held loads and felt secure using the handirack kit.

At a tad under £100, this is great value. Brilliant for odd shaped items such as wheelchairs, and still leaving room for other stuff. Suitcases fit easily too. 330 litres of space inside the bag. Easy to assemble and fit to the roof rack. Safe and secure once fitted. I'm delighted that I bought this rather than a fixed plastic type. It easily packs into its own sausage-bag. The material is super-strong too. 100% satisfied with this item.

The bag is huge, and very unwieldy, though it does as a result hold a lot of gear. It leaked in heavy rain, which I guess is inevitable, given that some of the stitch holes are open and exposed, to the extent you can see light through them. Quirkily, the velcro section of the "storm flap" is only about 25cm long and not over the zip!The biggest problem with the bag, as opposed to a roof box, is that it cannot be loaded in the rain, wind or in a hurry - it cannot be fastened to the roof until it is loaded, and while being loaded, a very big bit of fabric is flapping around. It is a challenge on my little Yeti - what it would be like on a bigger 4x4 can only be imagined.Plus points: it is made of superb fabric, and the straps are very well attached. The FRP bars which form a false flooor are well made, cleverly attached, and rigid.Mine did not come with the long straps which are intended for use with handistraps, and although I used it with roof bars, the straps would have been useful for extra security (the main attachment for the bag to the roof bars relies on nylon clips, which in other contexts I have seen fail catastrophically). I just used a couple of ratchet straps off my beehives.So, all in all, a piece of kit reasonably well made from great components. It folds beautifully into its holdall, where, I am sure, it will stay until I chuck it away!