Tail Carrying Bags - What makes a good one?

[Blaze]

I'm looking to either purchase or create a tail bag for my upcoming silicone tail and having no experience with them yet I thought I would post here and see if people had suggestions on what to look for and/or create.

Aspects I think are important:

Size - Each tail would be different obviously but what is the best way to see what size you need? How does the tail lay in the bag? How does the fluke lay?

Shape

Straps / Portability - positioning and length?

Material - Better for it to be absorbent or quick drying? Mesh anywhere? Wash-ability? Strength?


Anything else you can think of?

[AniaR]

Mermaid Sephina made me a tail bag and I love it. She's on here, I suggest PMing her and asking!

[teeth4u]

I'm very interested in finding a more efficient way to travel with my tail! The bag I currently use is just a giant tote but it's still a little small. The fluke sticks out the top a bit. If anyone has any ideas for this I would love to hear them!

[Mermaid Tula]

I used an old cloth shower curtain to make my bag. I measured my fluke at the widest and how long it was and then added a couple of inches to the material. I made straps from the same stuff and it works out well.

[MermaidBrandie]

I had a lady on etsy that makes surfboard bags make mine. I had to put my own straps on it because her's didn't hold up, but i love the bag itself and now that I have new straps it works great.

[Blaze]

Tell me about your bags! What are they made of? What do you like about them? What would you change?

[Firemaid]

I use a nice bike messenger bag!
You can totally take it as a carry on for flights plus the weight distribution is perfect !

[Aquarianne]

You can sew a good nylon bag yourself, with the right pattern! I used to take large and odd-shaped art pieces to conventions, so I started making my own portfolio bags for them. Worked really well and I was able to customize them to my own size and shape. Basically you just get a bunch of ripstop nylon fabric (from JoAnns or wherever), lay out two pieces and cut out the outline you want...probably not the entire outline of your tail, as that would be rather huge. Maybe fold the tail in half and trace around that?

Then sew the pieces together, leaving the top seams open. Finish the seams and maybe add a zipper if you like. Since tails are heavy, reinforce the seams with a zigzag stitch (I use a serger). Then get some thick nylon belt trim and sew on two handles. Snappy!

[Mermaid Fenicia]

I made my bag of some fake leather and straps from an old backpack that I had laying around. I used my biggest monofin as a template to cut the fabric and made it like the ones they sale online.

[WavyMermaidy]

I just got a big swatch of material from Joann's (basic cotton materials with dolphins on it...dries pretty quickly) and folded it over and sewed. I used an old thick belt as a strap (also makes the length adjustable, which is nice) and attached that to corduroy strips used to reinforce the seams. My silicone tail's fluke is very floppy so it all gets in the bag easily. With something that heavy and floppy it's still so awkward to carry but it does the trick...nothing has ripped or anything like that. I still throw that in a foldable beach cart when I can. I haven't washed my bag but it is washable.

[Talia]

I had a lady on etsy that makes surfboard bags make mine. I had to put my own straps on it because her's didn't hold up, but i love the bag itself and now that I have new straps it works great.

Please, let us know about this lady! Do you still have her shop name?

[MermaidBrandie]

Her name was LaurelsRiches but it seems she's not around anymore If you find someone who makes cheap bags I'm sure they can make you one tho. The only thing that had to be changed one mine was that the straps weren't strong enough to handle my tail when it was wet (neoprene) and they broke so I have to have a friend put new ones on.





I love it because the material is an old outdoor advertisement, so it's essentially made from a heavy duty tarp. The second pic is a close up of the straps, we had to had button snaps on them so that the straps could both be useful AND let me get the tail in and out of the bag easy since it had a messenger bag style flap.

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

I made my own tail bag. Traced the shape of my fluke, then cut it out. I used a nylon material, then lined the inside with clear plastic. (I bicycle to and from swimming a lot, so it was important to me that my bag wouldn't get everything around it wet) Sewed straps in so it can be work as a backpack, and also put a pocket on the front so that it can hold my towel/lube/swimsuit/ect.

[Ayla of Duluth]

Once I get my finfolk tail, I'll be making my own bag. I used to use an artist portfolio for my merbellas tail, which worked surprisingly well with the wider fluke shape. Sadly, my last assistant purposefully ruined it because he was moving to the cities and wasn't going to leave on a good note.

My new tail bag will be made of the same type of canvas material but double layered for extra durability, the seams where the zipper and straps attach will be reinforced with E6000 (because that stuff works wonders) and the inside of it will be lined with towel material to absorb water.

I'm thinking it will be in the shape of the fluke itself, with the zipper at the top of the fluke away from the tips, so when I unzip it to put the tail in, the fluke tips go in first and the weight of the tail rests in the middle of the fluke on the V part where the two tips branch off. That way, they won't have to be bent to fit in the bag. That part will be padded so the bag doesn't do damage to that spot in the tail. Thinking about making almost the whole bag open up so that I can add straps to the inside to help support the weight of the fluke against the bag.

Just my idea for my tail bag

[MermaidCelesteFL]

I just use a very large duffel bag for mine. Considering my fluke is very floppy and the monofin inside is just a Foil, the whole thing folds up very neatly on the inside and doesn't get everything positively soaked once it's wet in the bag.

[Chrissy]

Mermaid Sephina is making mine!!! I cant wait!!!!

Mermaid Sephina made me a tail bag and I love it. She's on here, I suggest PMing her and asking!

[spottedcatfish]

I have a monofin waterways bag I got off of ebay, currently it's really big and probably could hold my tail and a number of other things in it. I have yet to use it, but I plan to soon! :-P

[Mermaid Melanie]

SpecialFins make pretty sturdy fin bags ! I think Arion got one recently !


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[Princess Pearl]

Fin Fun just started selling branded bags for carrying tails and mono fins. I think they'd probably work for any sort of fabric tail with a separate, similarly shaped monofin. They're currently out of stock, but I might lay some hints and see if I can get one for Christmas.


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[Mermaid Jaffa]

Has anyone tried using those big art portfolio bags?