The best ski and snowboard bags in 2024, tried and tested

Traveling with ski and snowboard gear isn’t as simple as tossing a few things in a carry-on and heading off to the airport. Ski and snowboard trips require a bit of planning when it comes to packing, especially if you’re bringing your own equipment. You need a way to transport not only your bulky skis but all the extra stuff that is necessary on the mountain. Of course, you are going to have boots and poles, and let’s not forget all your outerwear, helmet, goggles, gloves, potentially some backup items if needed and maybe just some regular clothes. When all is said and done, it can be a lot, even for a short trip.

For some, it’s a real art navigating every nook and cranny of a bag to get every last piece of essential gear packed safely. Layer on the fact that you have baggage handlers tossing your gear around on airport conveyor belts and luggage trucks and it’s easy to worry that something might not make it — or not make it in one piece.

To help ease the burden a bit, we gathered 12 different ski and snowboard bags and tested them head-to-head. After all our testing, there’s one bag we recommend to help make your packing and travel experience that much simpler.

Best ski and snowboard bag: Element Equipment Wheeled Padded Ultimate Double Ski Bag

$179 From $150 at Amazon

If you’re looking for a ski or snowboard bag that truly offers many features while protecting your gear — all at an economical price point — then the Element Equipment Wheeled Padded Ultimate Double Ski Bag is a clear winner. For less than $200, you get a feature-packed bag and a simple way to transport your skis or snowboard through the airport, to your hotel and even to the mountain.

The bag is vibrant, coming in four different colors —?Pink, Black, Blue and Gray —?and multiple size options. For skis specifically, the bag comes in 167-centimeter, 180-centimeter and 195-centimeter lengths. But the brand also offers a snowboard bag, which comes in 157 centimeters, 167 centimeters and 177 centimeters — all in the same exact colors. Aside from the length, the rest of the dimensions are exactly the same between the ski and snowboard versions. They also include identical features, so you will just want to purchase the bag that works best for the size of your skis or snowboard.

The ski or snowboard bag can fit two pairs of skis and poles or two snowboards, with one set of bindings removed, as well as one pair of ski or snowboard boots. While the bag has a slimmer profile than many of the other bags tested, we were able to fit our 255-millimeter-wide snowboard with no issue. This bag was on par with the?size of the Dakine Low Roller Snowboard Bag and Dakine Fall Line Ski Roller Bag. The slim profile also meant it was easier to maneuver than many of the other bags we tested while still fitting all our gear.

When we packed for our trip to Colorado, the bag included two pairs of skis, two sets of poles, adult and kid ski boots, a pair of regular snow boots and two jackets, and weighed exactly 41.6 pounds. While a larger bag, such as the Burton Wheelie Flight Attendant Snowboard Bag, can fit more gear, you might not be able to pack it to the brim and still be within the allowed airline weight requirement.

The exterior features durable ripstop fabric, padding all the way around for extra protection, exterior compression straps, grab handles, urethane wheels and additional plastic stabilizing bars to protect the bottom. While the padding, storage pockets, wheels and stabilizing bars were pretty standard throughout most of the bags we tested, the external compression straps and grab handles are features that are particularly noteworthy as they were only found in half of the bags we tested, and while not a necessity, they are definitely a nice-to-have.

The external compression straps keep items inside the bag from moving around, lessening the risk of any items getting damaged in transit. The two grab handles —?located on the top center of the bag —?also make it incredibly easy to lift the bag in and out of the car. The top grab handle can also be used to roll the bag, if easier.

Inside the bag, there’s an additional strap to secure skis, snowboards and poles — again, this was a feature only found on about half the bags we tested —?and typically coincided with the other bags that offered exterior compression straps. There’s also a boot bag secured with a hook-and-loop closure, which we found useful during packing. This helped keep our ski boots in place, while also ensuring the wet bottoms of our boots stayed separate from other gear, such as our jackets.

And while the bag doesn’t offer any interior pockets, there are two pockets on the exterior. These were perfectly sized to pack hats, gloves, balaclavas and more. However, the bag isn’t large enough to pack all your clothing without an additional suitcase, as the Burton Wheelie Flight Attendant Snowboard Bag might be.?

The Element is water-resistant, and during our testing, it held up exceptionally well when sprayed with a hose in our driveway. At first, we lightly saturated every bag to see how well they would do if left out in the snow or rain. Fortunately, this bag, along with every other bag we tested, kept the water out with the interior and any exterior pockets staying completely dry. We then fully soaked the 12 bags and much to our surprise, every bag excelled in keeping the water out. While the Sportube Series 2 Double Ski Hard Travel Case was the only one that stayed 100% dry, only a small number of water pockets were found in the other 11 bags —?and we didn’t find that one bag did a better job than another.

We truly enjoyed taking this Element Equipment ski bag with us on our trip to Colorado. We found it rolled well throughout the airport, the pavement and even on carpet within the hotel. Plus, it’s designed with everything you need and nothing you don’t. And at a fair price point compared to the rest of the bags tested, which also include many of the same features, this was a true winner.

Everything you need to know about ski and snowboard bags

Ski and snowboard bags come in tons of different sizes and materials. Some are specific to skis, some are specific to snowboards (but can many times also accommodate the other), while others are marketed toward both. Materials can range from super-thin, sleeve-like bags offering basic protection from scratches to ultra padded with waterproof materials and bombproof stitching, zippers and buckles. There are bags that will only handle one pair of skis and poles, or one snowboard, and others that can take multiple pairs of skis or snowboards, along with all the accessories you need. Depending on how you want to travel with your gear, there is very likely an option for you, as there is no shortage of bags to choose from.

There are many things you need to be mindful of when shopping for ski and snowboard bags. Materials, padding, zippers, handles and wheels (and more) all play a part in the design and usability of the bag. As we know, bag handlers at the airport aren’t very gentle with luggage, so ensuring a bag is fully padded is extremely important. And while typically more pricey, a bag with wheels will help you easily maneuver your gear from point A to point B.

You’ll also want to pay attention to handle placements. While all roller bags offer a handle on the end for ease of rolling, some bags also include carry handles on the top to easily pick up the bag,?which is useful when transporting in and out of the car, for example.

External and internal compression straps are also handy, as they keep your gear from sliding around the bag. This not only helps from a packing standpoint but also keeps your equipment safer, potentially resulting in less damage to your gear.

You’ll also want to pay attention to the plastic rails on the exterior of the bag. These rails help stabilize the bag down by the wheels and help protect the bottom exterior material from being dragged and ripped up by the ground. For a bag that is too long for the skis or snowboard being carried —?where the entire bag is not filled out —?the bag can flex a bit as you drag it through your destination. Having quality plastic rails can help.

As you’ll notice, most products also offer multiple size options. To protect your skis or snowboard the best —?and for ease of transporting the bag —?it’s best to pick a bag that is just over the length of your skis or snowboard. This will provide the best padding on both the top and bottom of your skis or snowboard, while also reducing the bottom drag while rolling the bag. You’ll also find that snowboard bags typically offer shorter bag options, so if you have smaller skis, don’t discount a snowboard bag to pack your skis. Many of the features will be quite comparable and might fit your skis slightly better.

Keep in mind that airlines have different rules when it comes to your checked ski and snowboard bag. Most airlines count a ski or snowboard bag and a boot bag as one checked item, but limit each bag to containing just one pair of skis, poles and ski boots or one snowboard and one pair of snowboard boots. But in our experience, we’ve been able to pack multiple skis or snowboards in one bag — on many different airlines —?without it ever being a concern. However, this past trip, we were told no clothes could be packed in the ski bag, an issue we’ve never faced in the past.

Related: How to save money and avoid paying checked baggage fees on your next flight

How we tested

To help find the best options for you, we picked 12 of the most popular and well-reviewed ski and snowboard bags. We assessed every feature at home, fully packed them as if we were going on an actual trip and took them for a whirl around the neighborhood. Once we picked our favorite, we took it on a ski trip to Vail and Breckenridge in Colorado,?to really see how it held up.

We ultimately used the following criteria to assess each model:

Build and design

Usability

Other ski bags we tested

Dakine Fall Line Ski Roller Bag

$165 From $115 at Amazon

The Fall Line Ski Roller Bag from Dakine is a great option, especially at such a low price point. While this is marketed as a ski bag that can accommodate two pairs of skis, poles and a pair of boots, we also found that this bag can comfortably fit a snowboard and a pair of skis, as well as boots and some other gear if you get creative. The bag itself is completely padded all the way around, offering great protection for the gear inside. The exterior ripstop fabric material is very durable and even just tossing our skis and snowboard around on top of it didn’t seem to mark it up in the slightest. The main compartment zippers are fairly burly and lockable, and there’s a simple exterior pocket to stash your hats, gloves and other accessories. There’s also an accessory boot bag that can be snapped inside the bag, securing your packed boots.

The wheels, as with the other wheeled Dakine bags, are a urethane material and slightly oversized. This allows for smooth rolling and no issues on uneven surfaces while loaded up. The top handle can also be fastened to another rolling bag handle, allowing you to roll your wheeled suitcase and this bag with one hand.

But there are two features that we miss on this particular bag. One is the lack of exterior handles on the center top of the bag. This can be helpful when lifting and tossing it into a vehicle or elsewhere. There are also no interior straps to secure your skis in place, which means everything is free floating in the fairly roomy interior of the bag.

Dakine Boundary Ski Roller Bag

$255 From $180 at Amazon

With a higher price point than the Dakine Fall Line, the Dakine Boundary Ski Roller includes all the features of the Fall Line Roller with a few enhancements. The first and most noticeable difference between the two is that with the Boundary bag, you’ll find two big grab handles on the top of the bag,?a feature we found to be quite useful as it makes transporting the bag to and from a vehicle or lifting it to put on top of other gear much easier. Also, if necessary, you can use the top handle to hold and wheel the bag if the skis you are bringing do not fill the full length of the bag.

Also included with the Boundary version are external compression straps with durable clips to help keep everything in the bag more secure and compact. The bag also has two exterior pockets (there’s only one in the Fall Line series), an internal storage bag and an included boot bag insert.

It’s also worth noting that this bag is sized different from the Fall Line version, with the smallest option being 185 centimeters. For many skiers —?or boarders —?the length of this bag is going to be longer than necessary. When we tested the bag with our 165-centimeter skis, there was too much excess length when rolling the bag, risking the bottom of the bag dagging along the ground.

At nearly $100 more than the Fall Line Roller Bbag, we aren’t convinced that the Boundary bag is worth the premium cost.

Dakine Padded Single Ski Sleeve

$105 From $55 at Amazon

This bag is easily the simplest of the bunch and perfect if you are in need of a protective —?and inexpensive —?bag for your skis. It comes in multiple lengths, offering enough room for one pair of skis and poles. There are no wheels on this bag, no internal straps and no extra pockets. It’s a lightweight, padded cocoon for your skis. This bag is ideal if you just want to keep your skis safe in a packed car, stored at home or even if you are a light traveler just going to find snow for a couple of days. But most will probably want more storage space to fit at least some of the many accessories inherent to ski trips.

Db Journey Snow Roller Bag

$269 at Amazon

If you’re looking for a compressed bag for storage purposes, the Db Journey Snow Roller Bag is a great choice. The 70-liter bag can essentially roll up to about 10% of its full size, which is perfect if you are tight on space in your house or even when staying in a small hotel room.

The bag also comes in one size, which is adjustable by rolling the top of the bag down to your desired length after you’ve packed and then securing it with a removable carry handle,?a feature we found to work quite well. Though, we didn’t love the concept of a removable handle, as it can be misplaced and tedious to put on and off every time you need to adjust the bag.

The bag also offers top grab handles to assist in maneuvering it and also has loops all down the top should you want to secure other bags or gear to the exterior. We could easily get two pairs of skis or two pairs of skis and a snowboard, with some creativity, in this bag with boots and other gear as well.? The bag is very well padded with a zipper opening that goes all the way around the bag. With the solid urethane wheels, we found the bag to roll fairly smoothly.

However, the bag is quite simple and doesn’t offer any extra features, such as storage pockets, a boot bag or exterior and interior compression straps.

Thule RoundTrip Ski Bag With Roller Wheels

$300 at Amazon

The Thule RoundTrip Ski Bag is a top-of-the-line ski bag built to fit two pairs of skis and two sets of poles, along with boots and other gear. Or you can easily fit a snowboard and a pair of skis in the bag.

The bag offers fully padded construction and great interior organization. It comes with interior straps to keep skis in place, a pole pocket on the interior side of the bag and a removable padded sleeve should you need to put your boots on with a dry surface. The bag is notable for its big S-shaped, smooth YKK zippers that open to the interior. This unique design lets you grab gear from just the top or just the bottom should you need to get something out while traveling.

The bag includes two individual boot bags and an interior zippered pocket to stash small gear items. Additionally, the exterior has the smoothest rolling wheels of the bags we tested and two top grab handles for easier transport. You can also securely attach other Thule travel bags to the exterior of this bag, like the Thule RoundTrip Ski and Snowboard Boot Bag or the Thule RoundTrip Snowsport Duffel. We were able to test both of these travel bags with the ski bag and appreciated the one-handed carry option for all our gear.

This bag had every feature we were looking for in a ski bag, but at more than double the price of our top pick, the Element Equipment Wheeled Padded Ultimate Double Ski Bag, it’s definitely a splurge.

Sportube Series 2 Double-Ski Hard Travel Case

$225 at Backcountry

When it comes to ski and snowboard transport, Sportube stands out in that it’s one of the very few manufacturers that offers a hard-shelled case for transporting and storing your gear. They offer a pretty straightforward range of hard cases: Series 1, Series 2 and Series 3. The primary differences are how many pairs of skis and if you can fit a snowboard in the case. Series 1 and 2 are for skis and are able to hold one or two pairs of skis, respectively. Series 3 can handle one or two snowboards; one board, one pair of skis and boots; or up to three pairs of skis.

The case is essentially two pieces of plastic meeting in the middle, with no pockets and a fixed handle. The case does offer a handle strap that you can clip to a few points on the front and middle of the case, but otherwise, there’s not much to it. This is by far the heaviest case of the bunch, with the Series 2 coming in around 12 pounds unpacked. But unlike most other bags, the case can fit almost any ski size between 107 centimeters and 212 centimeters —?depending on the Series.

We did find the case pretty tricky to load, as it requires some accessory bands to hold the ski binding brakes down and a very specific way of stacking your skis to slide in. However, once we watched the YouTube tutorial, we had an easier time using the case. The wheels are also very rigid, so it wasn’t the smoothest or quietest rolling case.

If you are most concerned about protection, this hard-shell case is a great option. But just remember, you will have limited ability to squeeze in any other gear.

Other snowboard bags we tested

Burton Wheelie Flight Attendant Snowboard Bag

$310 at Burton

As one of the widest bags we tested, the Burton Wheelie can easily fit two pairs of skis or two snowboards, as well as two pairs of ski or snowboard boots. In fact, this is one of the bags that we brought with us on our ski trip to Colorado, and we were able to pack one snowboard, one pair of skis, one pair of snowboard boots and three pairs of winter boots. We could have packed more —?from a space perspective —?but we were nervous about the weight limit.

The interior is set up so that you can pack multiple boards, with a padded separation sleeve and straps to secure the boards in place. There’s also no shortage of storage, as the bag contains two interior pockets for accessories or parts, as well as three exterior pockets lining the top. The bag also features two burly grab handles on the exterior, accessory loops to clip on other gear if needed and exterior compression straps.

The design includes skateboard-style wheels that roll well and a heavily padded bottom, full padding throughout and a little extra up at the top to protect your gear inside.

We very much liked the durability of this bag as we tossed gear in it and lugged it around. The material is extremely solid and does a good job of holding up to the elements as expected. We also noticed that because the wheels are positioned on the very outside of the bottom of the bag, it made maneuvering the bag quickly a lot simpler. This was one of only a few bags where the wheels were positioned this way. If money is no object and you need the most space possible, you’ll love this bag. But we think it’s too big and expensive for most.

Dakine Low Roller Snowboard Bag

$160 $120 at Backcountry

Constructed almost identically to the other Dakine roller bags and sharing the exact features with the Dakine Fall Line Ski Roller Bag, the standout difference of the Low Roller is its available sizes. The bag offers the same exact handle placement, simple exterior pocket and included boot bag. The entire bag is padded and opens and closes through durable YKK zippers.

For this particular bag, we tested the Black Coated color, which offers a slightly different material option than the other bag colors and is only an available option for both this snowboard bag and the Fall Line Ski Roller Bag. With this material, the bag features an exterior weather-resistant polyurethane coating, which appears to be a bit more durable than other options. When soaking the bag with a hose, this material allowed the water to bead off more than any other bag,?without too much pooling; however, the same (minimal) amount of water was still able to seep into the bag. While we didn’t find that this color option did any better with waterproofing than any of the other Dakine bags we tested, it does offer a very slick look.

High Sierra Adjustable Wheeled Ski/Snowboard Bag

$222 at Amazon

The High Sierra Adjustable Wheeled Ski/Snowboard Bag was one of the biggest bags we tested, with the ability to expand all the way to 215 centimeters. The bag can easily fit two pairs of skis or two snowboards, as well as two pairs of ski or snowboard boots. The bag also offers two points of expansion by way of a zipper that extends the bag. With the three size options, the bag ranges from 160 centimeters to 215 centimeters. However, the expansion system creates a somewhat flimsy top hold depending on how long your skis are,?making the bag a bit unstable when wheeled.

The bag offers great exterior and interior padding and organization, including two deep pockets for boot storage. However, we didn’t love that the zipper isn’t end-to-end on the bag, meaning you have to slide the skis into the top where gear can also slide around in transit.

Sportube Prospector Snowboard Bag

$270 at Sportube

Sportube is known for its hard cases, but if you’d prefer a soft-shell bag, the company just introduced the Sportube Prospector Snowboard Bag. This bag has both a rigid top and bottom with padding all around —?leading us to feel as though our gear will be well protected. And with ample storage, we had no problem getting two snowboards and boots in the bag while still having room for other gear. The bag features two large exterior pockets as well as interior and exterior compression straps to prevent your snowboard from moving.?

While this is a great option if you’re looking to truly pack everything in one bag, due to the somewhat rigid top (in addition to the bottom), the bag was slightly cumbersome to roll around. And given that it already is on the heavier side for a soft padded bag at 10 pounds,?the bag could be at risk of being overweight for airline allowances, if overpacked.

Backcountry Double Ski and Snowboard Rolling Bag

$299 $179 at Backcountry

At first glance, we really loved the Backcountry Double Ski and Snowboard Rolling Bag. It offers many features we are looking for in a bag, external compression straps, top grab handles, internal compression straps, a pole pocket and a long internal pocket lining the top of the bag.

However, almost immediately, we found a few flaws. The clips that help to secure the bag have small locking mechanisms that were quite frustrating, and we even saw a piece of plastic break as we were loading up the bag, which immediately had us questioning the durability of the materials used. The majority of the bag is well protected, but there’s a portion on the top of the bag that only contains a very thin fabric, which we thought could become problematic while traveling. This section provides no real protection to the equipment inside the bag, and we can easily see the bag ripping in this area.

While the bag comes in one size, the size can be adjusted with a roll-down top that closes with both a Velcro closure and a clipped handle — using with the same clips we were not pleased with from the start.

The bag does offer great compression for your items and allows you to easily connect the Backcountry Boot Bag, offering a one-handed roll for all your gear, but the mix of bad clips and poor adjustment materials really didn’t win us over. For the price, there are much better options to choose from.

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