My double board bag measures 6'4 x 30 (wide) and lots of depth. My boards on the other hand are only 6 and 5'8 and 20 inches widest. This means there is ALOT of space in between. I have already filled it up with my essentials for travel and still have lots of room to spare.
Is this a bad thing? Should I try to throw more clothes etc in to stop it from moving around etc? Or can I leave it as it is? Would it be worth it to get the plastic wrap arounds from the airport then to pack it all in more? Funnily I can still put in another 5kg worth of stuff in and still be under making my additional added baggage obsolete.
Cheers.
I took one 6'4 board OS in a 7'2 triple last year with the idea of filling it with a couple of newies once there. Didn't have a suitcase so just threw all my clothes in it, was pretty sloppy on the way there but suffered no damaged to my board. And it was stuffed to the max on the home with the newies in tow, again no damage suffered. Didnt bother with wrapping other than using the thin internal bag the triple came with for one of them.
Go for padding it out as much as poss. Think of your last TV. No sloppiness in it's packaging, right?
If you have nothing, scam bubble wrap from somewhere.
MUUUUUUCH better safe than sorry.
Dude I reckon you are overthinking this trip. Just chuck your stuff in a board bag and get the hell over there. Little worries like this go away once you are paddling out at a point with long groomed lines rifling down it. Most of the best surfers I have seen seem to be pretty feral and their boards look it too 
so don't stress.
Haha nice one Moohan, thought that might pop up somewhere.
Yeah, I'm probably over thinking everything. Even the missus thinks I do it more than her. Cheers guys and cheers Ctn, going to take it easy from now on and look forward to it!
Plan for a third world baggage handler to pick up your bag and toss it from the storage area of the plane to the Tarmac
Protect the nose, tail and the rails
I've seen some crew tape foam tubing on their rails to prevent damage
Also use the straps inside the bag to keep your boards secure
Yeah sometimes you can over think it but personally I never forget the whoosh sound when our boards came flying off the top of a chicken bus in Mex
Came out relatively unscathed but having no boards when the waves are pumping sux
Plan for the worst
found this online a while ago! Few good ideas..
www.wikihow.com/Pack-a-Surfboard-for-Travel
If you love your boards cut a few pool noodles in half lengthways and tape to rails nose and tail ;)
You will spew if u get there and need to get repair done
Assuming your going to Indo Newguy I always pack a few rolls of sorbent around the nose and tail of my boards. Makes for nice padding and if you do end up needing it you'll be thankful for some good quality poo tickets.
I usually just pack everything in the board bag. Leave the suitcase at home.
- clothes
- basic first aid
- surf stuff
- etc
Then just take personal/fragile items as hand luggage.
- passport
- books
- money
- etc
Some airlines consider surfboards 'sporting equipment' and don't charge for it. (up to 15 kg with Garuda). You can offset excess weight by packing soft luggage as extra padding.
Handy for bringing home clothes, sarongs etc.
I packed a 3 foot metal gecko in my bag, with a beach towel between it and the board.
BD.
