Diving gear backpack

[Frod]

Why in dive industry nobody makes a nice backpacks for diving gear like they do it for hiking and camping?

I do love Apkes DRY75L Twin Core
http://www.apeksdiving.com/us/produ...l-twin-core-for-combined-wet-dry-storage.html

Or 100L version
http://www.apeksdiving.com/us/products/dry-bags/product/dry100l-single-core-with-drain-dump.html

Or Fourth Element Manta Bag
Manta and Remora - Fourth Element

BUT they lack ONE BIG element, which could made them the perfect bag for dive gear and travel - Comfortable back support system with compression straps (fully adjustable shoulder and waist straps) like on every good backpack/rucksack for camping and hiking. Those back straps that are on all the three models are just a mock of the real back straps. It is mostly impossible to walk with this back if the gear is more then 20Kgs (which is the weight of the usual set is: reg, suit, fins, etc).
There are dozens of models of rolling bags with about the same capacity 100-120L, but they are a nightmare if you have to go up and down on laders, stairs, walk along the beach, etc. Why not to drop up the wheels, telescopic handle and other useless stuff and put a nice back support system with harness, while keeping about the same profile: front open for easy loading and unloading gear, wide instead of tall size? So basically like a good tactical backpack, but some size modifications and loading mechanism?

 

[Zef]

Sounds like a product for you to make/market.

Perhaps its because it really is not necessary. For air travel those features add unneccessary weight. I would rather pull my bag than wear it. I wouldn't take it across sand to the dive boat...I would wear my BP/W or BC and carry the rest in a mesh bag with my exposure suit slung over my shoulder the first and last day or stuffed into the mesh bag...in fact the mesh bag only gets used the first and last day. On a live-a-board I am typically boarding the boat from a dock/pier so other than some short stairs I can typically roll my bag to the boat. I don't plan on walking for miles with my gear in a bag on my back so for those short excursions where I need to carry it those crppy straps that make it backpackesque work fine.

But hey, its a free market...if you think it will sell then make a prototype and pitch it to the industry.

Or just find a hiking backpack that has the capacity you are looking for and use it for diving....I have friends that use northface duffel bags that have straps and waistbelt to be worn as a backpack and the bags are made of a coated material to make them fairly waterproof.

Perhaps you just need to expand your search for a suitable product to find what you are looking for.

-Z

 

[Frod]

Sounds like a product for you to make/market.

yeah, i was thinking about starting campaign on Kickstarter, but I am bad at drawing design stuff... need a partner in crime )

Perhaps its because it really is not necessary. For air travel those features add unneccessary weight.

actually NOT! on the contrary it will take the weight OFF!
how much the usual diving ROLLER bag weights? The lighest one from , I think , Aqualung is like 2.5KG. But usually most models from most makers (Spro, Cressi, Mares) with their wheels, telescopic hands, heavy plastic bottoms, etc, etc, etc is like 3.5 - 5KG.

So ideal for me is the diving duffel bag something like from Fourth Element
https://fourthelement.com/expedition-duffel-bag/
(or about the same model from Santi Dry 100L)

but with THIS harness! and not a ****** weak and thick one they all have now (

 

[Frod]

I would rather pull my bag than wear it.

again... pulling a bag is not always an option, when you have to walk on sandy/stone areas or go on stairs in the airports and railway stations where there are not elevators or escalators...

I wouldn't take it across sand to the dive boat...I would wear my BP/W or BC and carry the rest in a mesh bag with my exposure suit slung over my shoulder the first and last day or stuffed into the mesh bag...in fact the mesh bag only gets used the first and last day.

in fact mesh bags are mostly never used... as far as I traveled, usually they just give you a plastic crate to keep all the stuff for a diving trip. or they give you rental mesh bags.

But hey, its a free market...if you think it will sell then make a prototype and pitch it to the industry.

i gave idea to Fourth Element a couple of years ago. the one i wrote in the post above. they said they would think.... but i think they are just too busy working on tother projects, or at least maybe their Japanese representative didnt give the whole info report to the head office.

Or just find a hiking backpack that has the capacity you are looking for and use it for diving....I have friends that use northface duffel bags that have straps and waistbelt to be worn as a backpack and the bags are made of a coated material to make them fairly waterproof.

1) i am using hiking bag pack for now, but it is a little bit complicated.
it is still halfway solution yes it is big, and even with good harness, but.... what i would love to have is generally a big (100-110L duffel bag , for exmaple the one Fourth element has), but with harness like on tacktical or hiking bag pack.

as for diving gear bag you dont have to have all those small pockets on the side. for hiking - yes, you can put small items as water bottle, ammo rounds, matches, etc, but for diving gear there is nothing to put there.

2) oh,yeah the the size!

usually hiking BPs are slim and tall! it is good when you need to roll things like tshirts, sweaters, etc and stuck them over. but for a dive gear it should be more wide and round, then tall. so you can put many things not stuck on each other but next to each other. for example, put fins on the left and right side , reg bag on the bottom and inside this "box" roll your wet suit and.

3) duffels with back straps are ****. well, the duffels themselves are still good (as one from FE above), but the straps are ****! weak, thick, if bag weights more then 15+kgs they are mostly dig into my shoulders, especially if i am wearing nothing but tshirt , and just the weight distribution is killing mine spine.

Perhaps you just need to expand your search for a suitable product to find what you are looking for.

i have been looking for a couple of year now, and yeah... there are good dry bags and/or duffels ones like from Apeks or FE, and there are good hiking bags from Osprey or other famous brands, but not a good hybrids ((

 

[Zef]

I personally would rather diving equipment companies stick to making diving gear instead of slapping a label on a luggage product and marking it up a few hundred percent. What you are looking for has been tried and tested in other recreation genres. Look at some of the backs used for bigwall rock climbing for instance. A quick google search came up with the following, check these out:

Eagle Creek Cargo Hauler Duffel Backpack
Patagonia Black Hole duffel backpack
Cotopaxi Nazca canvas overnight duffel backpack
Fjallraven Splitpack
Cotopaxi Chumpi Travel Duffel backpack
Nomad Gate convertible duffle
Bago Travel Duffel Backpack
Boreas Erawan Duffel
North Face Base Camp
Red Oxx Safari-Beanos PR4
Dakine Sherpa Duffle
MEC Duffle Bag
Black Diamond Demon Duffel
Maxpedition Fliegerduffel

-Z

 

[Lorenzoid]

I think the reality is that most divers who prefer a duffel (or duffel-backpack) over a roller bag avoid having to walk too long a distance with it on their backs, so a true long-distance backpacking-style harness would do nothing for them but increase the cost (and weight). I use a Patagonia Black Hole backpack duffel, which has the minimalist, removable type of shoulder straps similar to those of the bags you linked to. I can manage a typical walk through an airport, but I agree that it can become uncomfortable if my itinerary takes me through multiple transport connections. I tend to combine my dive trips with non-dive activities, so I might find myself lugging dive gear and other stuff through a major city in Asia--and it sucks. But I think that style of "dive" travel is uncommon. Most traveling divers who prefer a duffel to a roller bag need only lug the duffel between ground transport and check-in or baggage claim at an airport.

 

[NAUI Wowie]

Why in dive industry nobody makes a nice backpacks for diving gear like they do it for hiking and camping?

I do love Apkes DRY75L Twin Core
DRY75L Twin Core For Combined Wet/Dry Storage

Or 100L version
DRY100L Single Core with Drain Dump

Or Fourth Element Manta Bag
Manta and Remora - Fourth Element

BUT they lack ONE BIG element, which could made them the perfect bag for dive gear and travel - Comfortable back support system with compression straps (fully adjustable shoulder and waist straps) like on every good backpack/rucksack for camping and hiking. Those back straps that are on all the three models are just a mock of the real back straps. It is mostly impossible to walk with this back if the gear is more then 20Kgs (which is the weight of the usual set is: reg, suit, fins, etc).
There are dozens of models of rolling bags with about the same capacity 100-120L, but they are a nightmare if you have to go up and down on laders, stairs, walk along the beach, etc. Why not to drop up the wheels, telescopic handle and other useless stuff and put a nice back support system with harness, while keeping about the same profile: front open for easy loading and unloading gear, wide instead of tall size? So basically like a good tactical backpack, but some size modifications and loading mechanism?

I bought a Hydros Pro backwing bcd and it comes with an awesome backpack. Ive used it on multiple international flights. It fits the bcd, regulator, 2 dive computers, 2 dive masks, and my 3 mil full wetsuit. and its super duper light and compact like the bcd which is flat as a pancake.
Not a scubapro or fan of any brand but that bcd and the backpack are the best travel companions I have. I mean aside from the filipina when shes not pissin me off

fyi this is used as my carryon on flights to mexico and philippines. Im not meaning this as a replacement for ALL your scuba gear to go on a diveboat

 

[MAKO Spearguns]

https://www.makospearguns.com/Spearfishing-Longfins-Freediving-Backpack-p/mslfb.htm

 

[Frod]

https://www.makospearguns.com/Spearfishing-Longfins-Freediving-Backpack-p/mslfb.htm


View attachment 492850

dont see how you can fit DIVING gear in it?!
for spearfishing you need only fins, mask and wet suit. there is no space for BCD and regs in this bag.

 

[Frod]

I personally would rather diving equipment companies stick to making diving gear instead of slapping a label on a luggage product and marking it up a few hundred percent.
-Z

I am not asking for a NEW product! most brands ALREADY make luggage back backs/dry bags... at least BIG ones like Mares, Spro, Apeks, Fourth Element. all they need is just add ONE small modification to it - nice harness!

it wont change the weight of the bag that much. maybe another 500 gr or something.