It sure is a very good product, it was the only bag I ever used for my CT 22. It is as you say, rugged and long lasting. Only the black bar is not. Always be careful when you remove and replace that one. It breaks easily.

The clinch bar is easily replaced by a slit section of pex tube... I've been happy with my longlife bag, but then I bought mine used for $80 or so.  works great even for drywall dust and mdf cutting, not too mention using the vac for a benchtop planer port.

I'm not sure if it'd be worth $200+ to me... does seem like a total scam price.  Especially in light of all the money I've wasted on the CT22 paper bags that blew out on me for no good reason.

Don't get me started on the fact that I thought I bought a HEPA-rated  vac only to discover that what I am really supposed to do is buy another "real" HEPA in the form of a $600 CT26...

Julian

couldnt live without the long life bag. saves loads of money in the long run.
still use some disosable ones for sanding drywall etc

The price for a long life bag in Oz is $AU375. On current exchange rates that's almost $US400 ... It's a cloth bag with a plastic socket and a plastic sealing strip 

The CT36 here is $AU1199 and the tradesman cleaning kit (Sys5, D36, metal tubes, etc) is $AU399

I'd add a scathing comment - but it'd be redundant.

...self cleaning filter bags, (5 @ $37.00) plus these

...magic setup and cheap.

Tim, definitely was a "content description" or really first impression as Ive been in the shop since I wrote that and actually havent even used it yet bc i have a ct22 with sys5 DD that i use in the shop.  i just wanted people to get a better idea of what it looked like compared to the paper bags which are obviously working better for you then me. I have been on and off this forum since 2007 and have never seen anyone post about this product before.  I will give a repost when i first empty it and then another a couple years down the line.  I was merely trying to explain that i thought it was much nicer then the paper bag set up, thanks Eric

Ive been using this bag since early April at which point I blew out the inners of the CT22. This is what it looks like after daily use. At one point while sanding a ceiling that we had skim coated, no Planex yet, the bag became so full that I almost couldnt get it out of the vac. Well this is what it looks like inside months later. Cant say what it will be like in five years, but seems to be containing the dust quite well. The price is still an embarrassment, but Im using it like 300 days a year, so mathematically it works out.  Eric

Im not too fond of my long life bag. I've came no where near the 500 fillings and the vac suction is no where near as good when I use the long life bag compared to paper or cloth. I keep meaning to try and wash is by hand and see if it's any better.

Dave

Interesting experience -- I have been using mine and have had no ill effects so far and suction seems just as high as it was with the paper, but I have only filled it up a few times since installing it.  My guess is that a washing would help as the inside is probably caked with dust.

Scot

Hi,
I have had a reusable bag for 12 years and it is still going strong, admittedly it only needs emptying about once every 6 week and even less when I get a cyclone put on it.
Regards
Michael

Shane, is there any info from Festool about the maintenance or "washing" of these bags to keep the suction at a new level? There is basically no information about this product on the web. Thanks Eric

That's a really good question - I don't have a really good answer.

Running a sales and distribution business across all of Australia is expensive because of the spread out population and very high cost of living (operational costs suffer).

Freight into Oz isn't too bad, particularly in bulk and there's nothing in terms of protective taxes to note ... Plus the 10% GST gets claimed back if you're a business.

I don't know what Festool Germany offer Tooltechnic Australia in terms of prices (we're not serviced by Festool directly - Tooltechnic Australai is a privately owned Australain distributor).

Bottom line, with the Aussie an US dollars hovering around parity, we're paying close to double what our US brothers are paying on many items. Not much change from $2000 on a Domino XL and $300 on a Syslite if we look at the latest releases.

Euro pricing is still higher than US pricing and bringing goods in from Europe as one offs isn't that attractive when you consider warranty implications and the general "dancing with grey" issues.

If you were equipped with a crystal ball, you would possibly wire your Aussie home workshop for 110v and holiday in the US with a full container of "luggage" on a boat for the homeward leg!

Kev

I didn't know you'd lost three fingers 


Sorry - couldn't resist that.