The 2015 Douchebags have arrived at the distributor and will be in our hot little hands on Monday or Tuesday next week! http://aussieskier.com/collections/douchebags They have proved super popular with our customers, we have sold an inordinate amount of them, they are our top-seller and we are the top seller of them in Australia! The most exciting all-new product is the Slim Jim - a single ski bag that still has the main features we love about the DB but is scaled down for solo travellers and tips the scales at a mere 1.5kg - this will be a killer product this summer. http://aussieskier.com/products/douchebag-slim-jim-single-foldable-wheeled-ski-bag There is also a smaller 15L Hugger which I will use as my daily backpack/laptop bag for walking to & from work, and I'm also stoked with the new colours over the range, Steel Gray and Dusky White
A couple of days in and I'm really enjoying the new Base 15L - been using it as a daily laptop bag walking to and from work, it's about 3km each way. Good size, pockets work nicely, some really nice details: http://aussieskier.com/collections/douchebags/products/douchebag-base-15l
Question @CarveMan (and anyone else with a Slim Jim) - can I fit much gear in the Slim Jim around my wowen's alpine skis (with bindings attached) and poles? If anyone has a pic of a packed Slim Jim with extra gear in it I'd love to see. I've checked out the DB vid on the Aussie Skier site, but it's not much help watching them load a set of men's skis without bindings and zipping it up when it comes to getting an idea of extra space. Cheers!
There is sufficient space for several pieces of clothing and smaller items like gloves or sand shoes. You still need a second bag for bulkier items like your boots and helmet. They are much easier to handle around airports and trains than their double ski bag.
It’s a pretty streamlined bag, you will get skis, poles and a few soft things in the gaps, don’t count on too much extra room.
Here's how my Slim Jim looked for a short trip. Skis under 160cm. My boots go in the black 2-wheel rolling Transpack and my helmet and goggles are in the Transpack Sidekick. The rolling Transpack fits in an overhead bin. This set up was for a short trip, so I didn't need another small suitcase. I wrap bindings in a towel for a soft case. The white card shows that TSA (USA) opened up the ski bag, which is pretty common.
Amazing thanks for the pics @MarzNC and for all the advice @CarveMan & @Slowman ! I'm thinking I could work with a similar set up as you @MarzNC but put my boots in my carry on (duffel style) and my helmet in my checked roller..
Will definitely put the helmet in the checked hard shell roller case, I can only imagine how beat up it would get if it went in with the skis
I never let my boots out of my sight. Actually sometimes I check them on the way home, but never ever ever on the way over.
I keep my boots with me on the plane. Helmet too but that's partially because the small suitcase I check isn't big enough for a helmet. With the Transpack Sidekick, I can put it and my helmet under the seat in front. At least in the middle or window seat (aisle seat space is narrower on U.S. domestic flights). Have been a couple times when I've gate checked my rolling boot bag, but only on the way home. Before I got the rolling boot bag, I would carrying my boots in the Sidekick. Would take them out and hand carry them when boarding. Then the boots went in the overhead. I would also have a small rolling carry-on for ski pants, basic ski clothing, gloves, etc. The idea was that if the checked luggage didn't arrive with me, I had what I needed to go skiing. Renting skis is no big deal. Especially when arriving early enough to ski the same afternoon I arrive at the airport.
You could. But it sort of defeats the purpose of the Slim Jim. I just use it for skis and poles. That means it's lightweight and can easliy be rolled or lifted and you can swing it into the upright position when negotiating elevators or escalators.
Benefit of good snowboard boots - if I *reaalllllly* want to, I can wear them on the plane, which is much harder for ski boots.
You need to arrive with 3 things: passport, ski boots, credit card. Everything else can be sorted out.
Yep I could definitely rent anything and everything but my boots - heat moulded with footbeds and heel lifts, fit like a glove, no other boots come close!
I'm lucky in that I ski Tecnicas straight out of the box, but breaking in a new liner would be a PITA. In fact I broke a boot in Italy this year, fortunately it was in front of someone from Tecnica HQ who replaced it for me, but I kept skiing in my old liners for the rest of the trip because I would far prefer to break in new liners at Buller on shit snow for $10/day instead of on an OS holiday. So even though I could quite easily replace a boot unless I was travelling somewhere with no ski shops, it's far better if I don't!
