Before the Florida trip I was asked if there was anything I could use. One thing that I haven’t had was a boat bag. Soon, a boat bag was delivered to the office and I was pretty much in love from that point on.
I did have “a bag” before. Sometimes this was a regular backpack. That would get wet as the boat moved from place to place and anything that wasn’t supposed to get wet… well… would be. It didn’t really do the job. The other bag I had was a simple NRS dry bag. That does better, but it is something I sometimes don’t bring along and it while it does keep things dry, it is also hard (impossible) to organize.
Sage… not a company I tend to think of when packs come to mind. I think mostly of the rods… the lovely, lovely rods. I own two Sage rods (a 5 wt. RPL+ and a 7 wt. RPL) and I know their reputation is well deserved. They make other gear too… I know that intellectually, but I just don’t tend to think of their reels and I routinely forget they make packs, backpacks and even some pretty good looking technical clothing.
They also make a sweet boat bag.
The bag itself is really more of a box. It has semi-hard sides with adjustable compartments inside. It also has pockets on both the top and on the inside of the top flap, both of which are waterproof. The whole thing is waterproof, really. There is even a foam patch in one of the end pockets for those pesky flies.
Nice… very nice.
The whole thing shows a high level of thought and dedication.
The main reason for having a bag like this, in my mind, is for the guy who is going to be in and out of different boats. It is so easy to prep for the day, organize your gear and be ready to get in the boat as soon as it is in the water or at the dock.
The top of the bag has two compartments, both waterproof, one accessed from the outside, one from the inside.
For travel, it was my carry-on. It isn’t something that breaks down to fit in the bottom of your bag. It’s substantial. You’ll either need a really big bag to carry it in, or you’ll need to bring it on the plane with you.
Boat bag as carry on.
Bonus… if you do carry it on, you’ll probably get a comment or two from other envious anglers who know that this bit of serious gear is for the serious angler. At $300, it isn’t something you will likely buy on a lark. It’s an intentional decision and probably one that will help you make the most out of your week on the water somewhere awesome.
Sage… you’ve done well.
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Looks excellent, but will it fit in the overhead? Can it be locked if you need to “gate check”?
You can’t lock it, but they don’t really let you lock stuff anyway these days. I do think it fits in the overhead, I think that is where I put it when I flew to FL.
ummm, Bjorn – how many hats did you need when you came to FL?
Bjorn:
I have to ask: did you perform the garden hose test to check the “water proof” seals? There are many bags on the market that cost big bucks but do not pass this test.
I didn’t do the hose test, but I instead used the Florida Squall test. Man… we got rained on SOOOO hard. The bag passed the test, minus the one time I didn’t actually zip it up… it didn’t pass that test, but that seems an unreasonable expectation.
[…] here (get it?). Sage has made an awesome bag for your skiff and other to-and-from boat purposes which was reviewed by Bjorn of BOTB here. It’s called the Technical Boat Bag. The bag looks good, and performs good too. It’s […]
Who still sells this bag? Everyone stopped caring it… Amazon and ebay don’t even sell it…
Ya know… unsure. That review was from a few years back.