After a whirlwind road trip, I’m back home in time to celebrate Independence Day locally. We drove a total of 2200 miles and arrived home yesterday afternoon and unloaded the filthy vehicle.

When we were planning the trip, we had concerns about fitting everything in the car. We folded down the rear row of seats to make a sleeping area for Vito. That left only the back seat to pack all our stuff, including our luggage, dog food, bowls, toys, treats, etc., our golf clubs and the requisite travel cooler. It became clear that we had to acquire some kind of external system/rack/container to transport our gear.

I knew we would likely be traveling with golf clubs and Vito many times in the coming years, and thought it might be worth investing in the higher-priced solutions like Thule or Yakima carriers. However, facing the ridiculous price of fuel for our trip, we hoped for a more affordable solution. Greg browsed around the ‘net and found one and we jumped on it.

Introducing… the Roofbag.

Size matters

Our criteria were pretty simple: it had to be long and wide enough to hold two golf bags at the least, it had to be durable and waterproof, it had to be able to be secured tightly to the roof and allow the back hatch to open, and it had to be priced right. It didn’t have to be pretty, it didn’t have to be sleek and it didn’t have to be fancy.

We put it to the test and it passed with flying colors.

In addition to the bag itself, we ordered an extra set of straps and the protective mat. When not in use, the bag folds up nicely and fits in a handy storage pouch that comes with it standard. And you get all that for a little over $100 including shipping.

How it held up

It not only held our golf bags, we also packed a large suitcase, a large container of dog food, a collapsible set of tall dog bowls, fishing poles, and golf shoes in it. On the way home, we crammed Greg’s big trash bag of dirty laundry in it as well. The rest of our stuff was easily stacked on the back seat between us and Vito’s lounge.

We knew security would be an issue as it doesn’t lock to the vehicle and could easily be stolen in its entirety or cut to get at the goods inside. At each stop along the way, we had to unload everything into our room and repack in the morning. The first loading took about an hour but we had the process smoothed down to about 15 minutes as the trip went on. The most tedious part was securing the straps. We will probably get some ratchet straps for it to make the process easier next time around.

The Roofbag became a centerpiece of our trip. The routine of packing and unpacking it started as a hassle and became a comedic challenge. Vito is so worried he’ll be left behind, he just jumps into his “lounge” and waits as the loading occurs. He will not exit the vehicle under any circumstances. People and animals can pass as they please. We can go in and out of the house as many times as we want, leaving the hatch wide open. The dog’s not going anywhere. We could run around raucously playing with his toys and giving other dogs his treats and he would just lie there. “You will not leave without me.” He’d say Roof, we’d say Bag. Occasionally, we’d follow that up with the Expedia jingle ending… DOT COMMMMMM!

Surprisingly aerodynamic

We didn’t exactly conduct a thorough or scientific test like the Mythbusters did on the pickup truck with the tailgate down and/or netted, but according to the mileage gauge on my car, having the roofbag on it only reduced our mpg by about 1 (0.7 – 1.2). We started with four straps but quickly discovered that 3 did the trick. We packed it slightly lower in the front and higher in the back (also the way the bag is shaped) and secured one of the straps close to the front to keep it tight to the roof and not let any air catch under it. It didn’t even add much noise to the drive. One leg on the way home, we got a little careless and heard a whirring sound and sure enough, we had left a gap in our hasty packing.

Details, details

We only encountered one brief patch of rain along the way but the roofbag protected our goods. Driving around on dirt roads, some dust did sneak into the back portion where the zippers come together, but nothing damaging. There is a flap that covers the zipper and under normal circumstances, I’d bet nothing would get in there. We really put it to the test. I’ve never seen my car so filthy. Previously unseen fingerprints on the doors lit up with dirt like an exaggerated CSI demonstration. Dust was caked into every nook and cranny around the exterior. It was unrecognizable, which is to be expected on a trip like this. Just like the windshield, the front of the bag was peppered with bugs but the gray color we chose hardly even showed the dirt. And the material is so durable it can just be hosed off (I’ll let Greg deal with that – ewww… bugs).

It is what it is

It’s a bag. It goes on your vehicle’s roof. So they call it the Roofbag. Not a car rack container system with a name like Thule that many people can’t pronounce (I think it’s Tooly), but a roof bag. Simple. Affordable. Comes in gray or black. It may not be as convenient as the locking, snapping hard case jobbies but it does the job. And for us, it will probably do the job again and again until we feel like going fancy and can make room to store a sleek, pretty Thule.

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