Zuca All Terrain Disc Golf Bag for Vibram Disc Golf Team Members

Last night I came home late from work, was tired, and had visions of crawling into bed in order to recover from a long day at the office. I was too tired to even want to eat. That is until I walked in to a large box addressed to me sitting on the dining room table. Normally my wife will alert me to the various packages that I get in the mail, but I assume that she is tired of texting me pictures of bubble envelopes and boxes slathered in packing tape. I can only assume she thought this was something that I purchased using my “For His Eyes Only” disc golf account (ie. PayPal). Intriguingly, I did not make said purchase, and immediately my fatigue was whisked away in disc golf enthusiasm. 

I am only vaguely familiar with Zuca carts. I have seen a few on the course, and casually looked at them from afar, without really looking into them. I have used a backpack for the last few years, and have really enjoyed both the Hyzerbomb FlakX and Latitude 64 Luxury bags that I have. I have never really looked into getting a cart, as I joke with my friends about needing them on the course due to their age, and degenerative bodies. That is not to say that I am against them, only that I was content with what I had, and did not feel like I needed to justify getting something else.

All joking aside, I am really excited to check out the Zuca All Terrain Cart. I made a video with my initial thoughts as I opened the box, and started playing around with the card. I compared it to the current bag set up that I have (Latitude 64 Luxury Bag), and randomly described my first impressions. (Ignore the weird shirt.. purple/white stripes don’t show up well on my phone camera.)

As you can tell, this was a major hook up from  Vibram Disc Golf to all of Team Vibram. I’m very grateful to be on Team Vibram, and to have the great support that the company provides to us with awesome discs, apparel, and now an awesome cart/bag…

Since I had never looked into the Zuca cart from a consumer standpoint, I decided that I wanted to check out their website in order to find out more about the bag, and see what other options or attachments might be available. The first thing that stuck out, that I was not aware of, is that Zuca is a company that deals with more than just disc golf. The currently make a variety of cart-like bags and containers for various consumers, including business travel, outdoor activities, pets, etc. Within the outdoor collection, they look to provide services within the camping, rock climbing, and disc golf world. All fun things to know since I enjoy all of the aforementioned activities. Just looking at some of the pictures on their site, I can now envision the disc golf cart doubling as my rock climbing mule.

Within the disc golf selection of attachments, the Disc Golf Rack ($25), and Accessory pouch ($15) came with the shipment, and appear to be standard within the the disc golf setup. Additional add-ons for the disc golf cart include a rain cover ($25), putter pouch ($35), and saddle bags/chair cushion ($65).

While switching bags from the Latitude bag to the Zuca cart, the biggest things that stood out to me in its current (default) configuration, includes the following:

• Disc storage – the Zuca cart could handle everything that I was already carrying with the Latitude Bag, plus an additional 6-7 fairway drivers. Currently I carry: 4 putters, 5 midranges, 9 fairways, 6 distance drivers, and 2 circular pieces of plastic (Firebird and MOAB for rare circumstances)
• Extra stuff storage – The Zuca cart in it’s basic configuration makes it hard to carry a lot of extra stuff. The large storage compartments on the Latitude 64 bag allows me to carry a bunch of random things. The left side pocket currently has 3 minis, the right side picket has a golden retriever. The accessory pouch that came with the Zuca cart is attached to the handle, and holds extra towels in one side pocket, and a range finder in the other. A Nalgene bottle in the larger pouch of the accessory pouch. Inside of the left pocket, in the thin sleeve shown in the video, I placed some extra pencils and reusable score cards, but I was not able to put anything in there that was thick as to not create too much pressure on the discs in the side pouch. At the time of this post, I have not yet found a great place to stick bug spray (though one of the drink holders may work, it appears that they are adjustable), Ript Revenge deck, rosin bag, sweater (for the 3-4 days/year that it gets cold in Houston), and wallet/keys/watch. This is obviously not a deal breaker for the cart, but it may spur me to look into the saddle bags, or putter pouch in order to free up some disposable space. The Latitude bag also has a convenient way to store an umbrella when it is needed. The Zuca cart has places you could shove one, but not a dedicated place for it. I am semi used to having more space than I know what to do with for extra stuff, due to the numerous compartments of the Latitude bag, so it may take some getting used to to not have a kitchen sink with me out on the course. It is great to have 3 designated places for water though, Houston gets hot…
• Weather resistance – The disc golf setup does not come with the rain fly as part of the standard package. Even though most backpacks do include this within their set up, it does not appear to be the end of the world yet. I have not, nor will I attempt to test the waterproofness of the material of the Zuca materials, but it looks pretty think and sturdy. An additional rain fly can be purchased if desired, and I already have a golf umbrella that I assume should be sufficient in the occurrence of rain. The obvious issues of weather related problems would come  from when the bag is opened, and potentially at the seams and zippers. I would assume that putting a water resistance coating over the bag would help if someone did not wish to purchase a rain fly.
• Maneuverability – The cart seemed pretty stable and maneuverable in the rest run that I did around my living room at 11:00 pm at night. So when you are out and about playing on flat ground with a wooden floor surface, know that you are in good hands. I actually tried rolling it over shoes and stuffed animals to see if it would flip on me, but it was pretty stable. I did not try using it like a push cart, and only pulled it.
• Travel and Storage – The Zuca cart is a little taller than the backpack, and about as wide when the wheels are taken into consideration. My bag mostly stays in the trunk of my car, so there does not seem to be an issue with storage as it is pretty close to the same size, give or take 8 inches in height. The handle is collapsible,  and uses an attachment similar to a bicycle tire quick release to allow the pole to telescope to the desired height. Some of the guys that commented on the picture that I posted of the Zuca cart indicated that they bent the pole when the bag was knocked over. The pole/handle is not steel (probably to keep the weight down). Another comment from another poster shows that 1/2″ PVC pipe can be used to replace the pole if needed after bending it. Zuca sells replacement parts to pretty much everything on the bag though, so if push comes to shove, you could always get the exact part if something gets damaged.

I am really excited to take it out on the course and see how the Zuca cart works for me. In Houston there is not a lot of elevation so I am not sure how it will do going up and down things, but I am looking forward to the long courses where I can drag the weight behind me on wheels instead of carrying a backpack full of water and discs. On casual days when I do not need every disc that I own, it looks like the bottom disc storage compartment would be a great place for an ice chest too. It looks like a lot of possibilities with this cart, and I am excited to try them out. Thanks again to Steve Dodge from Vibram Disc Golf for having me on Team Vibram, and thanks again for the sweet Zuca All-Terrain Cart!

(In case you were wondering.. I finally went to bed around 1:00 am, after playing with the disc golf stuff…)