Hardshell padel bags and accessories

NomadX makes one padel bag, the NomadX Hardshell Padel Backpack. It has a moulded compressed EVA shell, a dedicated zone for one racket, room for balls, a bottle and the small things you carry, and a lined pocket for your phone, keys and cards. It comes in ten colours at R1,150.

A hardshell padel bag has a moulded shell rather than padded fabric panels, so it holds its outline whether it is empty, half packed or full. A soft bag collapses into whatever is inside it. The trade-off is that a moulded shell is less forgiving about over-packing, because it holds its volume rather than stretching to meet yours.

Buy soft if you carry a lot and want the bag to stretch. Buy hardshell if you want the bag to keep its shape and its finish over a season, and if you would rather the thing on your back looked like a designed object than a full sack. Hardshell costs you flexibility on volume and gives you form.

Count what you actually carry, then buy for that rather than for the heaviest week you can imagine. One racket, balls, a bottle and your valuables fits a compact backpack, which is easier to carry and easier to store. Two or more rackets, a change of clothes, or kit for a partner needs a paletero of 45 litres and up. Buying small and over-packing is the most common mistake and the most common reason a bag goes back.

A paletero is the long shoulder bag you see on tour, usually 45 litres and up, built for several rackets, a change of clothes and often a thermal compartment. A backpack is the smaller everyday version, carried on both shoulders, for one racket and what one match needs. Most club players own a paletero and use it at a fraction of its capacity.

Yes. It is built around a single padel racket, in its own zone. It is deliberately compact rather than a two or four racket paletero, so if you carry two rackets to every match this is not the right bag for you.

Ten: Forest Green, Cherry Red, Electric Blue, Sunset Orange, Hot Pink, Deep Burgundy, Pitch Black, Lilac Purple, Snow White and Butter Yellow. Every colour is the same bag, and every one has its own page with its own photographs.

It is one bag in ten colours and it is not split by gender. The backpack is proportioned for a single racket rather than a tour kit, which suits anyone who wants to carry less, and Hot Pink, Lilac Purple and Deep Burgundy are the three colours most often asked for by women buying for themselves. Every colour is the same bag at the same price.

Yes, and they are selling now. Frame protectors come in two shapes, Toothed and Round Edge Only, in Glitter, Cat Eye, Carbon Fibre and Transparent finishes across nineteen colour combinations, all at R185.

If you play off the glass, yes. Every hard shot into the wall and every low scoop off the court surface puts a mark on the frame, and frame damage is what ends a racket. A protector takes that instead, and replacing one costs a fraction of replacing a racket.

Toothed has a scalloped edge that follows the frame profile and gives the widest coverage across the head. Pick it if protection is the point and you do not mind seeing the protector. Round Edge Only is a clean strip along the rim, lower profile, and leaves the racket looking close to untouched from the front. Both are the same price, so the choice is coverage against appearance.

Wipe the frame dry and clean so the adhesive has something to hold. Start at the centre of the head and work outwards to each side, pressing as you go rather than stretching the strip. Trim at the throat if you have length spare. Leave it an hour before you play. If a corner lifts in the first week, the frame was not fully clean: peel it back, wipe it and press it down again.

65mm. The mainstream is around 35mm. The extra width is coverage higher up the head, which is where the frame meets the wall on a defensive shot.

Not in any way you will feel. It adds a few grams at the head, which is less than a wet overgrip adds at the handle.

Directly from this site, and from selected padel pro shops in Gauteng and the Western Cape. Buying here gets you every colour, because a shop carries a selection.

Branded padel backpacks on a South African shelf run from about R700 for an entry model to around R1,500 for a premium one. The NomadX Hardshell Padel Backpack is R1,150.

Yes. Delivery is R110 flat nationwide and free on orders of R700 and over. A small number of remote postal codes carry a R150 surcharge, shown in the cart before you pay, which applies even when delivery is otherwise free. We do not ship internationally yet.

You have seven days from delivery to cancel for any reason under South African consumer law, and beyond that we run a 30 day exchange on unused stock in its original packaging. Colour is the whole point of these bags, so we would rather you ended up with the one you actually wanted.