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Travel Cases: Hard Case vs Soft Case


MCGolfTM

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Looking at travel cases and wondering what everyone has done with soft cases vs hard cases?

 

SKB cases are too small in diameter for my TaylorMade bag it seems. The handle is too large and won’t fit them. SKB says all the cases are the same at the top and only get larger at the bottom. I didn’t want to load the case upside down if I didn’t have to.

 

Looking at the TaylorMade Performance Travel Cover and have seen good things, just worried about the soft cases. Anyone have good experiences with this case?

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A lot of people will support soft cases. I have traveled once with a soft case and it was OK, though i stole roughly 25 towels from the hotel and stuffed it like a mummy. I don't find they support the clubheads enough so you have to pack some extra padding in there.

 

I am a bit supporter of hardshell cases if you can tolerate the annoyance of lugging them around. They are heavy, they don't fit in every car, they are basically the worst thing you can bring into an airport. But you can attack them with a knife and they are fine. I had a datrek hard shell case and that thing would've survived the Apocalypse

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I've got a Club Glove Last Bag travel cover, with the stiff arm, that I use on my Ping Hoofer bag. I've flown 4-5 times with it and never had any problems. Most of the trips were non-stops between Baltimore and Orlando on Southwest. One was a trip on US Air and I had to change planes once. I use my golf towel to wrap around the irons so they can't bang into each other during the trip and I've started taking the heads off of my woods, just in case. I can also fit two pairs of size 12 shoes in the shoe pockets.

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Depending on your home storage situation, you might want to consider one that folds down to take up less space. I really love my Ping Folding Travel Cover. It folds in half and takes up very little space in my closet. Used it on many flights and never had any damaged clubs. Fantastic.

 

https://www.ping.com/gear/detail.aspx?id=15385

 

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I have a hard case. After having used it probably 10 times, and having 2-3 cracks in it from the idiots at the airport doing whatever it is they do with stuff that they didnt pay for, I will never use a soft case.

 

You’d never use a soft case cause of how badly they handled your hard case you mean?

 

What brand Hard Case?

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My Club Glove is approaching 20 years old and it still works like a charm. I did purchase a stiff arm attachment for added protection. I fold it in half and store it in a closet when not in use.

I love golf

Driver:  2018 Cally Rogue 10.5* (Set to 12.5*)

Fairway Metals:  Ping G30 14.5* and 18*

Irons:   PXG Gen3 0311P (4-G) MMT80 Stiff

Wedges:  PXG 0311 Forged 54*/58* MMT80 Stiff

Putter:  Odyssey Stroke Lab “Double Wide” 34”

Bag:  G-Fore Daytona Plus (AKA: Vessel Lite)

 

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I have a hard case. After having used it probably 10 times, and having 2-3 cracks in it from the idiots at the airport doing whatever it is they do with stuff that they didnt pay for, I will never use a soft case.

 

You’d never use a soft case cause of how badly they handled your hard case you mean?

 

What brand Hard Case?

Yes that's what I mean. I have a hard case (it's possible it didnt make sense the way I said it the first time). I've used it probably 10 times. In that time, they have mishandled it to the point it now has 2-3 cracks in it. I can only imagine what would have happened to my clubs had they been in a soft case. If they threw it or dropped it or dropped something on it hard enough to crack it, I very well imagine it would have broken something had it been in a soft case.

 

It is Golfmate. I bought it at a local sporting goods store back in 2010 or 2011 when I flew to Hilton Head for the Golfweek Am Tour nationals.

 

 

https://www.tgw.com/golf-travel-bags-the-guardian-hard-travel-case?SITE_ID=A2004&CID=PLA&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsL3czvO81wIVlCWBCh11YQGAEAQYASABEgL4j_D_BwE

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I have a hard case. After having used it probably 10 times, and having 2-3 cracks in it from the idiots at the airport doing whatever it is they do with stuff that they didnt pay for, I will never use a soft case.

 

You’d never use a soft case cause of how badly they handled your hard case you mean?

 

What brand Hard Case?

Yes that's what I mean. I have a hard case (it's possible it didnt make sense the way I said it the first time). I've used it probably 10 times. In that time, they have mishandled it to the point it now has 2-3 cracks in it. I can only imagine what would have happened to my clubs had they been in a soft case. If they threw it or dropped it or dropped something on it hard enough to crack it, I very well imagine it would have broken something had it been in a soft case.

 

It is Golfmate. I bought it at a local sporting goods store back in 2010 or 2011 when I flew to Hilton Head for the Golfweek Am Tour nationals.

 

 

https://www.tgw.com/golf-travel-bags-the-guardian-hard-travel-case?SITE_ID=A2004&CID=PLA&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsL3czvO81wIVlCWBCh11YQGAEAQYASABEgL4j_D_BwE

 

I was thinking of doing a Stiff Arm with a soft case if I went that route. I’m shocked that the SKB cases don’t fit some standard Stand bags. If I went with the deluxe version I would have to put the clubs in upside down and roll it which I’m not sure I’d be thrilled with either.

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My Club Glove Last Bag is still going strong after about 20 years. I don't use it a ton (probably only 18-20 times) but it looks brand new (which is incredible in itself given how the airlines handle baggage. I've used staff bags as well as stand bags and never had issues with any clubs being broken. That being said, I use a Stiff Arm and plenty of golf towels/beach towels along with shoes to help cushion any hard impacts. Honestly, the way this bag is designed, I couldn't ever go back to the days of the hard shell case. I hope I didn't just jinx myself.....

 

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My Club Glove Last Bag is still going strong after about 20 years. I don't use it a ton (probably only 18-20 times) but it looks brand new (which is incredible in itself given how the airlines handle baggage. I've used staff bags as well as stand bags and never had issues with any clubs being broken. That being said, I use a Stiff Arm and plenty of golf towels/beach towels along with shoes to help cushion any hard impacts. Honestly, the way this bag is designed, I couldn't ever go back to the days of the hard shell case. I hope I didn't just jinx myself.....

 

Thanks for the input. I’m thinking of doing a similar set up.

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I have the Club Glove Last Bag along with the Stiff Arm. Its only about three years old but I've used it several times with no mishaps. I always stuff a couple towels in the clubhead area just for added protection. Works great and looking at the way its built its properly named - should last a lifetime.

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I have traveled quite a bit this year and am using the sun mountain tour glider bag with a stiff arm. Very easy to transport and have had no issues with it the only regret I have is getting it in white.

 

https://shop.sunmountain.com/clubglider-tour-series-17735-detail.html

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I usually only travel twice a year so I am thinking of going with the soft case and stiff arm over the hard travel case. I have traveled in the past with a soft case that had insertable plastic panels to make it a hard case with no stiff arm and it made it to and from Hawaii. You could tell it was dropped on the head tho cause the panels all shifted. The other time I traveled with clubs we had shipped them down in a box but couldn't get them shipped back easily so we ended up putting on the plane and just tapped the clubs together so they didn't slide out. Was a stressful flight home hoping that just he clubs in a stand bag made it ok, but all was good.

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Another Club Glove Last Bag and Stiff Arm user here. Bunches of trips over the years and no damage to clubs or the case itself. I honestly can't see anything other than a freak accident damaging my clubs once packaged. I don't use any towels. Just headcovers on the woods as usual and cinching the straps tight around the bag. I also like being able to store 1 or 2 pairs of shoes in it (there are two shoe pockets that each hold a pair).

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One very important thing that most never mention and I worry that most don't even know. All of the major airlines will cover damage caused to your golf clubs ONLY if they were in a hard travel case. So if you don't like to take chances and don't want to be on the hook, this is your only good option. As stated, many people have good luck with clubs packed correctly in soft cases but, we've also all heard and seen the horror stories from members and even tour players about broken clubs. So if you want an service from the airlines other than an "oops, sorry" you should consider the hard case for this reason.

 

But, since we should mention the cons along with the pros, like others have eluded to already, these cased are an incredible pain the butt to travel with. They don't collapse and are too big for most rental car trunks. So you need to evaluate your travel arrangement and who you're with. If you're traveling with golf buddies, you'll likely need more than one car to get you and your clubs to the hotel/course. Or if you're bringing your clubs on a family trip, make sure your wife and kids are prepared for riding with your clubs on their laps in the back seat on the way to the hotel. If you are traveling alone for business and want to sneak in a round or two, you should be ok.

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I have both a club glove last bag and skb hard case, I mainly use the club glove with the stiff arm because the hard case can be a pain with rental cars. I haven't had any damaged clubs from using the soft case, but I did have my clubs dumped out by TSA and thrown back in, they dinged up my new irons in the process. I have a friend who had his driver shaft snap in a hard case on the way to a tournament, so it can happen in either.

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Club Glove user. In over 50 flights to all sorts of destinations, not a single problem. Sure the bag shows some battle scars, but no damage to anything inside. One thing about hard-sided cases is that they are inflexible. Over the years I've stuffed dirty clothes, shoes, sandals, snorkel gear, fins, large woven rugs, all manner of destination trinkets (someone stop my wife - please) and a full set of golf clubs too. And most of the time it folds up and slides under the hotel bed once we've gotten there.

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Hard case. I've only flown a handful of times with it over the past 10 years, but I like the peace of mind it gives me knowing everything is safe and secure. If I flew my clubs more frequently I'd likely consider a soft case simply for the easy of use. My case is big, but fortunately it breaks down into 3 pieces that can be stored inside itself for easier use with a rental car.

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Another hard case vote. Also, FWIW, last time I flew with clubs the boarding agent made me take out all the towels I had stuffed in there. She said TSA wanted the bag and clubs only, nothing else besides the bag and clubs in the case. Who knows how accurate that is--it's totally up to the individual agent's discretion these days--but I was glad to have the hard case that day.

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I have a soft travel bag and it has worked great for me. I fly with my clubs 5 or so times a year. I have a callaway travel bag and it has held up great. The bag is padded really well. What I like about this bag over another one I owned is that it's much slimmer than the other bag (it has about an inch of padding around the whole bag but the bag itself fits my small stand bag, a dozen or so balls and a pair of shoes.. and that's about it. So the clubs are really tightly packed in there and there isn't much slack in the material. The last bag I had was huge and my clubs were swimming in the bag. I didn't like that as I found the clubs moved around a lot more in it.

 

I generally take 2-3 extra golf towels (I have players towels) and interweave them through the iron heads. On the slimmer bag, everything stays perfectly in place whereas with the bigger bag the towels would come unraveled as the clubs moved around more. My M2 3w is a glued head so I don't even bother with taking the club heads off now. No issues whatsoever.

 

I have flown with clubs in a soft case probably 25 times... 20 round trips in the last 4 years when I started traveling more and haven't had a single issue.

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Based on all I read here I finally went and got a bag. Being the TaylorMade guy I am, I went and got one on eBay. Found a brand new TaylorMade Performance Travel Case. Few years old but this thing is great. Fits like a glove and I’m gonna get the stiff arm to go with it. Should be perfect after that!67dc28ce0a2cd1a678c04dfb68a03dce.jpg9f0b6a8c5eab0a2e8b1228df0fb8f9f3.jpg

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  • 6 months later...

With those club glove travel bags, how much "other stuff" such as clothes can you fit in it? I've read there isn't much room and I'm wondering if I can take a carry-on and this for a 3 wk getaway back home to Ontario.

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I have both. The hard case is good for feeling like your clubs are protected. Getting it in a hire car is a serious challenge though. Back seat is the only thing that has ever worked for me. I got a soft cover because I travel with my family sometimes which means two car seats and a wife in the front seat. Hard case is impossible. I have never had an issue with damage with the soft cover. I got a sun mountain one with wheels on a lever that pops out from the base. It’s so easy to move around the airport I can push a trolley with the suitcases on it at the same time as moving around the golf clubs. I love it.

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