Of the people that recommended the Bujin bags earlier: do you know anything about Bujin's "weapons cases"? From the web site it seems that these too are fairly well suited to carrying shinai; I have seen their shinai bag before, and it's just too big. I have heard that their weapons cases, though slimmer than the shinai bag, are significantly lengthier, making them somewhat undesirable for shinai.

The Samsonite case is great! I purchased mine in Japan. Actually they have ones that sell in Japan which are especially made for bogu. It's a kendo version. That's what your sensei is probably using. It's not just an ordinary Samsonite though. It should have a picture of a MEN on the outside surface. I heard if you buy a regular hard shell Samsonite you might not be able to fit the DO in correctly. Since they are expensive I'd first make sure. The made-for-bogu Samsonites have a little more space in them to accommodate the DO. If you can get your hands on one it's certainly worth the investment!

Olaf: my sensei when they visit from Japan like to put their bogu in one of those Samsonite hard-shell luggagables. It's big enough to put the bogu, the bogu bag, and clothes/toiletries. So they usually only show up with one piece of luggage (good for me, the chauffeur!) plus their shinai bag.

The Samsonite case might be cheaper and more versatile than the bujin bag, though bujin does make nice stuff...

I got Bujins Weapon Case D about ... um ... 3 or 4 years back and I never regretted it. I can fit an iaito, 3 shinai, 2 bokuto, 1 kodachi, and 1 fukoro shinai .... plus various tsuba + dome + mini copy of gorinnosho etc etc. Its fine for air travel too. Plus, no one asks you about fishing or pool/snooker!

Ive got normal shinai bukuro for the occassional shinai(2)+bokuto(1)+kodachi(1) only days.

I recently got a look at their shinai bag - its cool too, but maybe too flimsy to use for air travel (maybe shinai packed tightly is ok).

Originally posted by olaf
Of the people that recommended the Bujin bags earlier: do you know anything about Bujin's "weapons cases"? From the web site it seems that these too are fairly well suited to carrying shinai; I have seen their shinai bag before, and it's just too big. I have heard that their weapons cases, though slimmer than the shinai bag, are significantly lengthier, making them somewhat undesirable for shinai. The other weapons cases are designed for an aikido set of weapons: tanto, bokuto (without tsuba), and jo. They're even longer than the shinai case, which is already longer than a 3.9 shinai, and they don't have that handy pocket for tsuba, tsuba dome, shinai gauge, etc. How is the shinai case "too big?"

You can use a soft Golf Travel Bag when taking your bogu with you on a trip.

In the past, the people at the check in counter were pretty cool about checking in the shinai bag without penalty.

However, Recently the airlines count the shinai bag as one piece of luggage. So on a recent business trip, I wanted to check in my roll-on, shinai case, and bogu bag, the airline wanted to charge me an extra $100. No Way. How the hell am I going to justify that on my expense report?

I now use a PING Travel Golf Bag. Mine is large enough to put in my bogu, keikogi and Hakama, and my bogu bag folded up. I then put the shinai case on top and zip the entire bag up. When I get to the destination, I take everything out and use the bogu bag.

The cool thing about the new versions is that some have compartments and storage areas to put other kendo or non-kendo items. Also, they have wheels so transporting your bogu is relatively easy.

Unfortunately, Mine is an old bag so I doesn't have wheels. So I have to lug that damn thing until I get to the hotel or destination.


amatsuda
mywebpage.netscape.com/sjkendo

Oh, Takamori, I didn't mean that I was going to dismiss the Samsonite idea simply because EuroBogu didn't have a picture online! I was looking for something that could "double-up" as a travel bogu bag as well as a relatively light and compact bogu bag that I could use for weekly trips from home to the dojo. (I don't have a car) And dragging along a Samonsite case didn't seem that attractive an idea. Perhaps this "best-of-both-worlds" idea is asking too much of a mere bogu bag!

Olaf

Before you spend you hard-earned (hope so) 200 or so bucks in the bujin stuff, let me tell you that I have a 28 U$ lightweight bogubag from e-bogu for a long while now and it shows no signs of wearing out. They have also larget, reinforced bags for about U$50, which is still a nice deal.

Alright fellas - thanks for the advice. I shall go with Bujin.

Does anyone give an accurate description/comparison of their padded and non-padded bogu bags, and their Cordura and Ballstics materials? Their web site FAQ wasn't as comprehensive as I would have liked...

True, the smell of katori senko reminds me of my childhood too. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif

Too bad eurobogu.net doesn't have images of most of their merchandise. Any idea where I can get a photo of this Samsonite case everyone is praising so much? (I'm still inclined to go with the Bujin case though...)

"maybe I will start wearing my bogu on the plane"

I can see it now, the airplane full of people in bougu going to the WKC next year. Wow, so stinky. What would the flight attendants think? http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/tongue.gif

Ha Ha Ha!

Nyamuk Coils!!!

AKA. Mosquito Coils in Malay.

Heh...reminds me of my Granpa's farm in the ricebelt of Malaysia, Kedah.

sigh...childhood memories...

Meng

Hi,

Concerning samsonite bag & shinaibag for 10 shinai; in Europe Eurobogu (www.eurobogu.net) is offering them (250 euro samsonite bag & 75 euro for the shinaibag)...shipping by EMS is free. Maybe an opportunity if asking for info by mail at info@eurobogu.net

Olaf,

Too bad? Only because they haven't put pictures for the moment? (I think they are still working on it...one of them is in Japan at present time and will work on it as soon as he's back!)
Just ask for info or pictures... I'm sure they will send them to you...

You more than likely know about this all ready but
e-bogu had a nice bag in stock for traveling hold's 15 shinai http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/smile.gif
but bougu from sehyun seem good
http://www.sehyun-kumdo.co.kr/e-sehyun.htm

Bogu a go-go
 

Hi Fellas - does anyone know of a good place to purchase bogu and/or shinai bags that are lightweight, compact, yet rugged enough for frequent travel? I have heard great things about Bu-jin design, but their prices are somewhat on the high end.

Ideally, I would like to find a bag that is well suited for travel (as check-in baggage, etc.) but not too clunky or cumbersome so that it could also be used for daily/weekly trips from home to the local dojo too.

Hi fellas - just wanted to thank everyone for their input. I decided on the padded bag from Bujin and it finally arrived in the mail today (int'l shipping takes a while...) Though it's somewhat bigger than I expected - I'm a small guy - I think it'll do the job just fine. The accompanying shinai bag also exceeded any expectations I had. Thanks!

I agree with Kent Enfield and lewis: Bu Jin is expensive, but worth it.

amatsuda: The soft golf travel bag is a great idea!

stakenaka: Nice avatar, do you use a lot of katori senko?

Alexpollijr: hard-earned $300 indeed! I looked at the bags available from e-Bogu some time ago - it's no different from the standard line of Boston-style bogu bags that budo retailers carry. I think those will do fine for carrying to and from your local dojo on a weekly basis... but for travelling I think something more rugged is needed? I'm sure there's a good reason people continue to buy stuff from Bujin... I mean, it must be fairly difficult for a small-time budo supplies retailer based in Colorado to make a living if they don't make really good wares!