KUFan452
Registered
After paying tons of money for overweight bags and not wanting to pay more for our upcoming 2 week dive trip, my BF and I finally found what we think is the optimal gear bag for traveling with a full set of full size scuba gear. We considered the "Dive Caddy" but as a female who actually wants dry clothes on a two week trip, this wasn't going to cut it. Our solution was Eagle Creek luggage, which is not scuba specific but much better than anything else we could find.
Eagle Creek has a couple of good bag options, but we selected the "Switchback Max 25", which weighs 9 lbs 13 oz/4.45kg empty and costs about $210 USD (w/ free shipping) online. The bag is covered by a "no matter what" guarantee that even includes airline damage. The bag has a base unit and "day pack" backpack that zips onto the base unit or can taken off as a carry-on for weight considerations. The day pack contains a padded slot for a laptop. The bag has sturdy wheels, but also has serious straps so that it can be carried as a backpack. It has a total capacity of 83L, 28L of which are in the day pack. The total dimensions for the bag 36x64x25 = 125 cm, which is under most checked bag limits.
Here is what we packed in the bag:
L Apollo Bio-fins (which are heavy)
L Zeagle Stilleto BC
Size 11 booties
Atomic M1 reg w/ Aqualung Legend octo and Gensis React 2 gauge console (also heavy!)
Mask
Snorkel
XL 3/2 mm wetsuit
There are a few tricks to getting everything to fit:
1. We put one bootie inside a fin and the mask inside the other fin.
2. We used Eagle Creek's compression sack to pack the wetsuit (like the bags you suck the air out of but no vacuum required).
3. We wrapped the BC around the reg to give it extra padding.
All of the above gear fit in the base unit and with the day pack not attached, the bag weighed 31 pounds!! There was a bit of space to spare in the base bag for small toiletries. We think one more large compression bag will fit in the base unit and two medium bags will fit in the day pack to keep our clothes nice and dry.
Although we're not completely packed yet, with 19 lbs to spare, we think we can add our clothes & toiletries for 2 weeks and still be under the 45/50 lbs weight limit and size restrictions for most airlines. No more overweight fees!!
Eagle Creek has a couple of good bag options, but we selected the "Switchback Max 25", which weighs 9 lbs 13 oz/4.45kg empty and costs about $210 USD (w/ free shipping) online. The bag is covered by a "no matter what" guarantee that even includes airline damage. The bag has a base unit and "day pack" backpack that zips onto the base unit or can taken off as a carry-on for weight considerations. The day pack contains a padded slot for a laptop. The bag has sturdy wheels, but also has serious straps so that it can be carried as a backpack. It has a total capacity of 83L, 28L of which are in the day pack. The total dimensions for the bag 36x64x25 = 125 cm, which is under most checked bag limits.
Here is what we packed in the bag:
L Apollo Bio-fins (which are heavy)
L Zeagle Stilleto BC
Size 11 booties
Atomic M1 reg w/ Aqualung Legend octo and Gensis React 2 gauge console (also heavy!)
Mask
Snorkel
XL 3/2 mm wetsuit
There are a few tricks to getting everything to fit:
1. We put one bootie inside a fin and the mask inside the other fin.
2. We used Eagle Creek's compression sack to pack the wetsuit (like the bags you suck the air out of but no vacuum required).
3. We wrapped the BC around the reg to give it extra padding.
All of the above gear fit in the base unit and with the day pack not attached, the bag weighed 31 pounds!! There was a bit of space to spare in the base bag for small toiletries. We think one more large compression bag will fit in the base unit and two medium bags will fit in the day pack to keep our clothes nice and dry.
Although we're not completely packed yet, with 19 lbs to spare, we think we can add our clothes & toiletries for 2 weeks and still be under the 45/50 lbs weight limit and size restrictions for most airlines. No more overweight fees!!