Boot bags and the Full hood?
Discussion
We are fully intending to go touring in the Seven this summer, hopefully including a 10 day trip to Scotland.
I was looking at luggage solutions and both the RE-Bag by Soft bits and the boot bag by Thundersport look like good options. However, we need something that will fit along with the standard Caterham hood. Neither of us really fancy driving all day in the pouring rain with a half hood, and the full hood is handy for sealing the car up at night.
Has anyone used these bags with the full hood? Will they fit ok? I assume if you don't overfill them that the standard hood will fit over the top without too much trouble?
Re-Bag
Thundersport bag
Assuming they do fit, does anyone have any preference between the two? The Thundersport bag looks a bit better to me - a bit more like a boot and less like a bag plonked on top, but I'd love to hear the opinion of people who've owned either!
I was looking at luggage solutions and both the RE-Bag by Soft bits and the boot bag by Thundersport look like good options. However, we need something that will fit along with the standard Caterham hood. Neither of us really fancy driving all day in the pouring rain with a half hood, and the full hood is handy for sealing the car up at night.
Has anyone used these bags with the full hood? Will they fit ok? I assume if you don't overfill them that the standard hood will fit over the top without too much trouble?
Re-Bag
Thundersport bag
Assuming they do fit, does anyone have any preference between the two? The Thundersport bag looks a bit better to me - a bit more like a boot and less like a bag plonked on top, but I'd love to hear the opinion of people who've owned either!
I have the SBFS bag - the hood fits over it fine. Remember that when the hoodsticks are up the bag will sit a little lower.
I haven't seem the Thundersportt bag - it looks a lot bigger (good) by not sure whether it leaves enough room for the hood bag as well? It is a tight fit with the SBFS bag...
Steve
I haven't seem the Thundersportt bag - it looks a lot bigger (good) by not sure whether it leaves enough room for the hood bag as well? It is a tight fit with the SBFS bag...
Steve
Thanks Steve, that's great news. I didn't really fancy having to ditch the full hood for touring.
I do like the look of the Thundersport bag, but yeah it does look a lot bigger, I'm sure this wouldn't be great for visibility either. (I've already just got a huge "X" from the rollbar in my view).
Loosing the space for the boot bag would be a problem... I did think of keeping it in the boot (since the bag is pretty huge anyway), but it would be awkward to get out if there was a downpour! I'm sure if the boot bag wasn't completely full that it would squash down enough to get the roof bag on there too?
EDIT: Turns out the boot bag on Thundersport is actually made by Oxted Trimming - which would explain why it's a good match to the standard boot cover. I'm quite tempted to order one along with a shower cap for when the car is parked up.
I do like the look of the Thundersport bag, but yeah it does look a lot bigger, I'm sure this wouldn't be great for visibility either. (I've already just got a huge "X" from the rollbar in my view).
Loosing the space for the boot bag would be a problem... I did think of keeping it in the boot (since the bag is pretty huge anyway), but it would be awkward to get out if there was a downpour! I'm sure if the boot bag wasn't completely full that it would squash down enough to get the roof bag on there too?
EDIT: Turns out the boot bag on Thundersport is actually made by Oxted Trimming - which would explain why it's a good match to the standard boot cover. I'm quite tempted to order one along with a shower cap for when the car is parked up.
Edited by framerateuk on Tuesday 5th March 15:12
These are good points listed here. I bought the SBFS boot bag, and thought it looked a little small, but I hadn't joined up the dots about using the roof and bag at the same time. So these comments are a weight off my mind.
My car is in the garage for now... I have seasonal registration, so no driving until April. (But I might change my insurance/registration....)
My car is in the garage for now... I have seasonal registration, so no driving until April. (But I might change my insurance/registration....)
I'm curious about the hatred for the full hood it seems that people have! I drove down to Dartford to get a few things done on the car and had the hood up the whole way there and back and found it fine. It was a bit noisy I'll admit. We had light patchy rain all the way but it didn't steam up. I will admit though, I've not been out in the pouring rain. I would have liked more ventilation though....
I was thinking, when touring, if it rains, put up the full hood and essentially your luggage is kept try... you don't have to worry too much about waterproofing everything?
It also seems to have the advantage that when you park up (and it's raining) you can just close the doors, and job done! While otherwise you'd have to faff around getting a showercap on, on top of your already wet roof.
I was thinking, when touring, if it rains, put up the full hood and essentially your luggage is kept try... you don't have to worry too much about waterproofing everything?
It also seems to have the advantage that when you park up (and it's raining) you can just close the doors, and job done! While otherwise you'd have to faff around getting a showercap on, on top of your already wet roof.
Edited by framerateuk on Wednesday 6th March 16:10
Framerateuk - try using the hood in the summer rains. It is uncomfortably hot (and steamy as it is normally damp inside by the time you get the hood on).
I still use it in preference to a half hood though - I go topless unless I REALLY need shelter from the rain.
A full hood is better protection overnight as well (but a showercap is good too).
Steve
I still use it in preference to a half hood though - I go topless unless I REALLY need shelter from the rain.
A full hood is better protection overnight as well (but a showercap is good too).
Steve
Thanks for the reply, I didn't really consider that. I've only had the car since September so it hasn't really seen an awful lot of warm weather yet - and certainly no summer rain!
I'm curious as we're intending to do a ten day or so tour around Scotland in the summer. I'd rather us have everything sorted before then really.
It's a shame nobody makes a full hood with zip out sections behind the doors!!
I'm curious as we're intending to do a ten day or so tour around Scotland in the summer. I'd rather us have everything sorted before then really.
It's a shame nobody makes a full hood with zip out sections behind the doors!!
If the full hood works for you then that is good.
I never got on with the full hood. I found it a very tight stretch to fit, possible due to the fia x roll over bar. I leave it in the garage now. I also found it very stuffy and noisy. It is water tight, an obvious good thing.
I use a sbf7 half hood all the time; easy to fit and less stuffy. Use it with the draught reducer and that seems a good combo.
Obviously not water tight. I have been in a torrential storm with it and everything was fine. If I was going to leave my car overnight outside say, I would buy the half hood with the zip around back piece, or simply add a shower cap to the one I already have.
Really, it is up to you which you carry. But good luck and enjoy the tour around Scotland. We will be also doing that later in the summer.
Rob
I never got on with the full hood. I found it a very tight stretch to fit, possible due to the fia x roll over bar. I leave it in the garage now. I also found it very stuffy and noisy. It is water tight, an obvious good thing.
I use a sbf7 half hood all the time; easy to fit and less stuffy. Use it with the draught reducer and that seems a good combo.
Obviously not water tight. I have been in a torrential storm with it and everything was fine. If I was going to leave my car overnight outside say, I would buy the half hood with the zip around back piece, or simply add a shower cap to the one I already have.
Really, it is up to you which you carry. But good luck and enjoy the tour around Scotland. We will be also doing that later in the summer.
Rob
Edited by viper blue on Friday 8th March 18:00
I must say that I'm very surprised if a re-bag works with a full hood. People obviously don't fill it as much as my wife. I'd certainly check it out first.
My advice is to dump the full hood and use a half hood, re-bag and a showercap from Soft Bits.They work fine together. I've toured all over and just use these. You haven't had your 7 long and I wonder if you've actually used the full hood yet. It is a pain to erect, mists up and is very noisy. Half hood is much better even in prolonged spells of rain and the advantage of the showercap is that it stops prying eyes when parked overnight.
My advice is to dump the full hood and use a half hood, re-bag and a showercap from Soft Bits.They work fine together. I've toured all over and just use these. You haven't had your 7 long and I wonder if you've actually used the full hood yet. It is a pain to erect, mists up and is very noisy. Half hood is much better even in prolonged spells of rain and the advantage of the showercap is that it stops prying eyes when parked overnight.
Risky said:
I must say that I'm very surprised if a re-bag works with a full hood. People obviously don't fill it as much as my wife. I'd certainly check it out first.
My advice is to dump the full hood and use a half hood, re-bag and a showercap from Soft Bits.They work fine together. I've toured all over and just use these. You haven't had your 7 long and I wonder if you've actually used the full hood yet. It is a pain to erect, mists up and is very noisy. Half hood is much better even in prolonged spells of rain and the advantage of the showercap is that it stops prying eyes when parked overnight.
Well I have used it all the way to Dartford and back and I found it fine. I wasn't claustrophobic in there and we were nice and warm compared to the freezing outside. I could imagine it would be a pain in the warmer weather though. I admit it's not fun to put up. If I was caught out in the rain I'd probably be soaked by the time I got the roof on!My advice is to dump the full hood and use a half hood, re-bag and a showercap from Soft Bits.They work fine together. I've toured all over and just use these. You haven't had your 7 long and I wonder if you've actually used the full hood yet. It is a pain to erect, mists up and is very noisy. Half hood is much better even in prolonged spells of rain and the advantage of the showercap is that it stops prying eyes when parked overnight.
I did wear earplugs though as it was bloody noisy.
So I ended up ordering a vinyl half hood from Thundersport. I knew if I bought a mohair one I'd end up wanting to replace the boot cover and doors with mohair too... and vinyl is nice and easy to clean.
I took a friend out for a spin on the weekend, and it didn't just rain when we were out, it absolutely poured and ended up with sleet!
The half hood did an "ok" job of keeping the rain out. There seemed to be a lot over the carpeted area behind the seats, my head was fairly damp and ended up brushing bits of grit and dirt off the top of my head even hours later. That said, if it had been light rain, I'm sure the half hood would have been fine, but for heavy rain I think the full hood is unbeatable.
The contents of the boot was quite wet though... without the hood as protection, all the water just got into the openings at the side and by the roll bar.
I fully admit it's so much easier to put up though!
I took a friend out for a spin on the weekend, and it didn't just rain when we were out, it absolutely poured and ended up with sleet!
The half hood did an "ok" job of keeping the rain out. There seemed to be a lot over the carpeted area behind the seats, my head was fairly damp and ended up brushing bits of grit and dirt off the top of my head even hours later. That said, if it had been light rain, I'm sure the half hood would have been fine, but for heavy rain I think the full hood is unbeatable.
The contents of the boot was quite wet though... without the hood as protection, all the water just got into the openings at the side and by the roll bar.
I fully admit it's so much easier to put up though!
Steve,
Here's a very handy trick to improve rear visibility when using a boot bag! Put your roll up hood bag in front of the FIA bar, not over the boot bag.
Works a treat, and is at the same level as the boot bag, and is a slightly lower that a SBFS draught excluder, but does help keep cold air off your neck!
Try it!
Here's a very handy trick to improve rear visibility when using a boot bag! Put your roll up hood bag in front of the FIA bar, not over the boot bag.
Works a treat, and is at the same level as the boot bag, and is a slightly lower that a SBFS draught excluder, but does help keep cold air off your neck!
Try it!
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