Series 3 Ski and Snowboard Case – Protective Travel Case for up to 3 Pairs of Alpine Skis and Gear, or 2 Sets of Snowboards and Gear

I just bought this case a few weeks ago and went on a trip with 3 buddies, each with their own soft sided snowboard bags. This was by far the easiest case to maneuver around the airport and hotel. Also everything felt more protected in the hard case as opposed to the soft sided cases. List of items that fit in the case which weighed in at 49.8 LBS: 157cm Snowboard with bindings, boots, jacket, fleece bib, pants, 2 knee braces, 2 wrist braces, shoulder brace, EVS body armor with hard spine protector, gloves, goggles, helmet. I also ordered the Sportube TSA lock and was really disappointed when I picked up my case at baggage claim the Sportube TSA cable lock was gone and only the cable that came with the lock was holding the Sportube together. By luck tension kept the cable in, but if it had opened while the airlines was handling my bag they wouldn't have been able to put everything back in correctly and keep the case closed. I was in Canada, so I ended up paying a premium to have another Sportube TSA lock overnighted to me at the hotel, as I had no way to hold the case together for the trip home. As someone in a previous review stated, there are two holes in the outer shell and multiple holes in the inner one. I'm not sure why, but the spacing is different, so you can't use both of the holes to hold the case together, only one. I would use the supplied clip that comes with the Sportube, over the TSA cable lock if you can only use one. If your handy, pack the case with all your stuff and close it, then put the wire case pin through the hole and take a drill and drill through the second hole into the inner shell so you can use Both the TSA cable lock and the included wire case pin. That being said, I purchased a second Sportube series 3 case and Sportube TSA lock and did the same modication for my brother. Highly recommend.

I actually bought this for my husband to use to transport photography equipment, specifically light poles, umbrellas for flashes, soft boxes, etc. The adjustable size of the case works out great for him to be able to adjust it for the equipment he needs on a given trip. The wheels are good quality and he likes the detachable pull handle to roll it, as well as the grips on the handles on the top of the case for lifting it in and out of the car. The bag is sturdy enough to hold up to traveling in a commercial airline luggage hold, but still light weight and decent to maneuver.

When I first received the item I was a bit annoyed about how much I paid for the item, considering the fact that it's a plastic tube. That being said, it's very functional. I was able to fit two adults' snowboards with bindings and boots, plus some other various accessories and it still came in at only 45 lbs., meeting the airline's checked baggage requirement. It's easy to tote around thanks to the built in wheels and handles. The bright orange color made it very easy to spot at the airport, and my equipment was very well protected. I know I will get a lot of use out of it - I'd recommend this product!

Great product…perfect for shipskis orders

I bought the Sportube because all of the reviews online state that this is by far the best protection out there. So it was like getting armor for my snowboard. When the box came in, I was so excited to check out the fit. It is sturdy yet does not way a lot and with my snowboard (160), bindings (which remained attached) and boots the weight came out to just over 30 pounds. Even with my long board, I closed the tube and used the second to smallest length setting. The tube does not come with a look but more off a pin that you can use to keep it from opening. There are cheap TSA locks you can find on amazon that will work just perfectly. One recommendation I have is to get the pull handle for this since it can become tricky to navigate through the airport and car rental office. If you plan to do any traveling with your gear, I highly recommend this product.

This is a hard plastic case that is divided into two sections. One section fits inside the other and is then pushed forward to the point that the total length is just larger than the longest packed item. Then a metal insert is placed through a tab in both sections holding them in place. The lower section has two wheels and the upper section has a hole through which a handle can be attached. Imagine dragging your skis by the tips and having the bottom of the skis riding on wheels and you have an idea of what this is like. The case does what it is supposed to do - protect skis and poles from the craziness of airline baggage handling. However, there are some problems: 1) After loading up one section with two pair of skis, two sets of poles, and a pair of boots, I tried to fit the two sections together. Easier said than done. I tried to stand up the loaded section. That doesn't work - it won't remain standing. I tried to fit the sections together on the floor. This worked, eventually, but only with an unreasonable amount of foul language. 2) The sections are held together with a single metal rod inserted through holes in the two sections. This seems like a recipe for disaster. All it would take is one stray suitcase to knock the rod out, whereupon the entire assembly would disassemble and your skis, poles, and boots would dump all over the innards of an Airbus, or perhaps scatter themselves around the baggage carousel. I'd prefer a latch or buckle or something a bit more reliable. 3) With two sets of skis, two sets of poles, and a pair of boots, I was at 40 lbs, so this was handled by United without any extra fee. I frankly wouldn't have wanted more, since even with the handle and wheels, this was already about at my limit to drag from baggage carousel to the rental car transport at DIA (along with other baggage simultaneously). All that said, my skis arrived without incident and that, of course, is why I bought this case. I'd buy it again, but a few upgrades would be welcome.

It worked great. I put some pool noodles in with the skis to keep them snug

I am very satisfied with this case. It was used to ship two snowboards with bindings and boots via FedEx. On the return shipment, I picked it up from FedEx with a FedEx worker's boot print on it. The boards were well protected inside. It is telescopic. When empty it can be stored at less than four feet. Then it expands to whatever length you need to fit your gear. The wheels are small but work well. The case is so light, I rarely rolled it. For a long haul on a smooth floor like an airport, they would be fine. My one issue is with the ability to lock it. The bottom slides into the top. The bottom has a rib with holes about every inch. This rib slides into a slot in the top section. This slot has two holes that you can line up with the holes on the rib of the bottom. However, the spacing of the holes in the slot of the top section is different than the spacing of the holes in the rib of the bottom section. The case comes with a pin to put through these holes to lock the length of the tube and keep it closed. The pin is the same size as the holes, so once the pin is in, there is no way to use another lock for shipping or as luggage. I had to use a drill to make one of the holes in the rib of the bottom section bigger so that I could fit a TSA cable lock through the same hole as the pin. I did not want to only rely on a TSA cable lock to keep it closed during shipping so I had to use the pin. Maybe a stronger TSA lock would be good enough without the stock pin. The shipping decision was last minute, so I had purchased a TSA cable lock at the same time. Overall though, this is a good design and great product.