Jumbo Fencing Rollbag

Good points: Plenty of space

Bad points: As PicoJeff mentioned, handles and tips can punch right through the material when delivered to the tender mercies of baggage handlers. I additionally had problems that one of the original wheels was prone to sticking, tending to slide rather than roll which meant it wore away fairly quickly. A couple of Rollerblade wheels (courtesy of Ye Olde Armorer) later and I was good to go again. That is until Delta decided that I hadn't really wanted a wheelie bag after all and removed not only a wheel, but the entire axle and other external wheel attachment assembly. I'm now stuck trying to figure out whether it's worth the cost to buy a new bag to regain the ability to wheel my bag rather than lug it around. I've also had one of the zipper tabs break off. Here at least Uhlmann included 2 zipper runners per zipper so the only difficulty is that I now zip closed at the bottom rather than at the top (or rather, rather than having a choice).



Lots of things that have broken on mine, and it really didn't take long before problems started cropping up. The Uhlmann bags aren't designed to the same high quality standards that the clothing is.

like the other reviews i too have had problems with this bags poor thread on zippers. however, that being said I would not give this bag up for a different one. I can get all my stuff inside without a problem I use the small inside bag for changing clothes before and after a tournament which keeps eveything from getting rusty or turning yellowish in color. the top zipoff bag I use as my practice bag and carry only what I need to and from the club rather than having to wheel in a huge bag equipment I don't need to have at practice. In the end I would probably buy this bag again unless someone makes a similar bag with better thread and zippers which currently is noth the case.

I'll second picojeff's comments. This is probably the best bag I've tried yet, because it's well designed to keep blades and wet clothes separate.



However, as picojeff mentionned, this bag's seams break very easily. The first trip I took it with me, I found the bag's outside front pocket was completely torn off. Of course, it's contents were nowhere to be found, which meant for me that I had to buy another pair of body cords and tools. Also, the bag came in from the vendor with one of the zippers for the top bag already coming apart.



Both problems were solved by taking the bag to Ye Old Armourer at the next NAC and using a lot of dental floss to fix this. I would recommend a preventive action to be taken on this bag and putting the dental floss in as soon as you get it. It will cost you about 20-30 dollars for it, and you will save that money by not having to replace whatever was in your outside pockets.



On the other hand, with the 2 bags of that model that I have had, I have not had had problems with the wheels, maybe because I was lucky, or maybe because my bags happened to have stronger wheels. I have seen a lot of these bags with missing wheels though, so I was probably lucky.

I have had two Uhlmann Jumbo wheelbags, and have had good and bad experiences with both.



The size of the bag is great, it can hold everything I need including 6 epees, mask, shoes, toolbox, poster tube, and clothing etc for a two week overseas trip. I can add a bundle of new blades and a half dozen bottles of wine on the return trip without much problem. The outside pockets make getting to small items easy, and (depending on the model you buy) the extra zip-off bag is great for either taking your stuff to the strip or for separating wet clothes from rust-prone blades.



The problems I have had and seen others have relate to the fabric and the wheels.



The thread used in places on my second bag is horribly inferior and started to break before I even got it home. Straps popped off and zippers started to separate from the bag, leaving holes where weapons or small objects would try to escape. I solve this problem with liberal hand stitching using dental floss wherever I see a seam starting to loosen. The fabric could also be a bit tougher, with handles punching through the bottom after only a bit of use. I may never darn a sock, but I have darned my fencing bag!



The wheels are prone to break. If a heavy handed baggage handler drops it or it's caught in airline machinery the wrong way, the wheel will break. Then you are stuck with a 50-80lb bag that can't roll. That is absolutely the worst nightmare, especially when you are taking public transportation in foreign city. The problem is simply solved by installing rollerblade or skateboard wheels, much tougher than the cheap stock wheels. It's easy to do if you can find a 8x1mm tap. I had to go to 6 hardware stores before I found one, and then of course you have to buy the wheels, bearings and a nut to keep them in place. (FYI, Ye Olde Armorer can do this for you.)



Overall the bag is very good, but overpriced given its high maintenance nature.