Best Bag to use for Carry On

[fisheater]

One of the flaps on the dive caddy wraps over the tips and folds them down, which works nicely to shorten long fins.

No long term problem with the fins after a flight (or two) in such bondage?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dvankirk]

+1 on the Dive Caddy. Packing my now heading to the keys (bp/w, 3mm wetsuit, mask, fins, reg set, gloves, boots, smb, reel, light).

 

[ScubaND]

Dive caddy is kind of what I am leaning towards. The only thing that concerns me is how well your gear is protected. Is the dive caddy padded at all?

I have tried to call them but no answer

 

[agilis]

I use an 'Old Banger' made by Crumpler. A solid beautifully made intelligently designed canvas carry-on just the right size.

Stay away from bags that are purpose designed for scuba. The manufacturers take advantage of the adolescent 'look at me I'm a diver" idiocy that afflicts many new divers, some of who behave like eager children, pathetically anxious to broadcast their new largely imaginary status to an uncaring world. Thieves love them, and the junk peddled to them is usually second rate.

Avoid specialized non-diving gear. It's not a big happy in group club out there.

 

[ams511]

I am able to fit an entire set of warm water gear, including BP/W (or BCD), fins, mask, regs, computers, 3/2 full, diveskin, hood, booties, gloves, flipflops, and short/tshirts in my Dive Caddy without any difficulty. And I've never had to gate check it.

A Dive Caddy is not airline regulation size, so an airline can make you check it. Also it is too big if traveling on a commuter plane and will wind up in the cargo hold with the rest of the luggage.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

No long term problem with the fins after a flight (or two) in such bondage?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nope.

A Dive Caddy is not airline regulation size, so an airline can make you check it. Also it is too big if traveling on a commuter plane and will wind up in the cargo hold with the rest of the luggage.

Are you sure? The most I've ever done is take the turtle pack off. Then it fits in the overhead bin just like any other bag. With the turtle pack on, it does need to go sideways, but I've been able to put both of ours in together, covering no more space than they would placed individually facing out.
I've never been asked to gate check them, though.

 

[dmoore19]

Do you have a dive caddy or any experience with one? I own one and can tell you that it is in fact regulation size if packed properly.

I can load mine with everything but my fins, they are a bit long and go into my checked baggage. If I wanted to tighten it down and bend the tips down the fins would fit, there are travel fins that will work because they are shorter. When loaded it will fit in the cage that you are supposed to use to check your bag before you get on the plane. It works well.

I make it a point to ensure the thing is loaded properly and it fits in the cage provided at the check in window. I am much more irritated by the guy that sticks his guitar in the overhead, I see that a lot.

The commuter planes I have been on allow the bag to be gate checked and you pick them up when you deplane.

A Dive Caddy is not airline regulation size, so an airline can make you check it. Also it is too big if traveling on a commuter plane and will wind up in the cargo hold with the rest of the luggage.

 

[ScubaND]

I am not that familiar and have never seen a dive caddy in person. The dive gear I would be putting in it is:

aqualung axiom bc
3mm suit
boots
aquabionic warp 1 fins

I plan to put my regulator, computer, mask, snorkel, etc.... In my regulator bag or backpack

 

[ams511]

No, I do not own a Dive Caddy. I did look into buying one (don't remember which generation) and found it is not regulation size. Their website (which is down at the moment) even said as much and gave a few tips on how not to get noticed. US airlines are lenient when it comes to bag size and weight, hence the guy with the guitar. Foreign carriers are not, I had a big fight with a Cathy Pacific gate attendant over the size of my bag and it is regulation size.

When you gate check a bag it winds up in the cargo hold with the other bags, they just go in last and come out first. Also just because a bag fits in the bin does not mean it is regulation. Different planes have different size bins so a bag could fit in the bin of a Airbus 320 but not in an MD-80, as a matter of fact different vintages of the same aircraft can have different bin sizes. I have experienced this myself when changing planes and going from a newer 737 to an older one and trying to fit the bag into the overhead.

 

[dmoore19]

Strange, it seems me there are some pretty precise measurements stated in an airline's policy. They also have the cages you can put the bag into that checks to make sure you are withing their guidelines, these are generally located at the ticket counter, I have used them. The bags on the commuter planes I have flown on have always given a me a gate check. The bags are then found either on a cart when I got off the plane or were unloaded in the jetway by the gate and I picked it up there.

I checked the dive caddy website before I got my dive caddy (gen 2) and it never said it was not a regulation bag, in fact it said it was. I also watched the video you speak of and while it may appear that they are showing you ways to cheat. I had heard the same information you posted and found it all to be nothing but a rumor. Bottom line, if you follow instructions and load the bag properly, the system is within the guidelines and policy of the airlines I have flown on. It may take a few minutes to figure out how everything fits but it isn't a big problem.

Granted I have not flown on all the airlines around the world but I have never had a problem using mine.

I suppose YMMV. Mine never has.

No, I do not own a Dive Caddy. I did look into buying one (don't remember which generation) and found it is not regulation size. Their website (which is down at the moment) even said as much and gave a few tips on how not to get noticed. US airlines are lenient when it comes to bag size and weight, hence the guy with the guitar. Foreign carriers are not, I had a big fight with a Cathy Pacific gate attendant over the size of my bag and it is regulation size.

When you gate check a bag it winds up in the cargo hold with the other bags, they just go in last and come out first. Also just because a bag fits in the bin does not mean it is regulation. Different planes have different size bins so a bag could fit in the bin of a Airbus 320 but not in an MD-80, as a matter of fact different vintages of the same aircraft can have different bin sizes. I have experienced this myself when changing planes and going from a newer 737 to an older one and trying to fit the bag into the overhead.