Mirage drive stow bag - necessary?

Hi everyone,

I am purchasing two hobie compasses - my local dealer says they should be expected to arrive at the end of this month. As such, I am in a hurry to purchase some necessary items before they arrive.

The stow bag seems to be ideal, but I am leaning towards a bag that can store the seat and paddles as well. Are there any alternatives any hobie owners here have used that might be cheaper than the $70 price for the hobie mirage drive stow bag? Would it be safe or sensible to purchase a single sports duffle bag or is this asking for trouble? What makes the stow bag ideal - is there some sort of padding or is it the snug fit?

Any opinions and comments welcome!

Thank you for your help!

PS- does the compass come with the loader as standard?

The bags are quite nice. They make the drives easy to carry and protect them from UV rays, etc. Only problem with trying to find a larger bag that carries multiple items is that they start to get very heavy as you load multiple items into them.

I found that my old surfboard bags works great and are a lot cheaper. Just be sure that all the sand, salt and wax are cleaned out. The big pluses to them is that they are padded, have strong carrying straps, and easy to load your drive and paddle into.