Flying with 2 people's gear....

[Lorenzoid]

I pack the same for myself as I do with my wife, we have nearly identical suitcases.

I happen to use a 29" Travelpro Maxlite spinner. It weighs just over 8 lbs, leaving at least 40 lbs for packing. I have never had a problem staying under the 50 pound limit. I pack my fins, mask, BC, wetsuit for conditions, hooded vest, booties, mesh backpack, and accessories (light(s), cutting, gloves...). In addition, I pack the majority of my clothes. There's always room left over for other stuff, coat, raincoat, etc.

I pack regs, computer, camera, toiletries, swimsuit, some clothes, and all personal items in a small, light spinner carryon and a backpack. On occasion, I have arrived without my main suitcase and do fine for a day. The backpack generally gets use after arrival.

I use a digital luggage scale to check the weight of my main back, my carryon, when needed, or my total luggage weight. This has saved me aggravation.

How big is the backpack if you also take a spinner carry-on (rollaboard)? I assume it is small enough to be considered a mere "personal item," like a briefcase or ladies handbag? I used to put regs in one of those dedicated regulator bags and take the position that that was my personal item, but I soon found that too annoying. Now I carry on only one bag, generally a medium-sized backpack.

 

[kelemvor]

I put my regs and computers in a pelican air case as my carry-on and take a regular size laptop computer backpack as my "personal item" (with laptop and a few odds and ends). Might be different if you go to a small island on a little plane.

 

[Damselfish]

Why stuff all the gear in 1 bag? Hard to stay under weight limit, and there’s no reason a bag has to be all gear or all clothes.

We each have a checked bag with a mixture of gear and clothes, clothes can help pad the gear. And each of us is responsible for keeping our own bag under 50 pounds!

We usually put regs in carryon, but if I had to make a choice I’d want my mask in carryon. Much harder to find a well fitting mask at pretty much any destination.

 

[scubadada]

How big is the backpack if you also take a spinner carry-on (rollaboard)? I assume it is small enough to be considered a mere "personal item," like a briefcase or ladies handbag? I used to put regs in one of those dedicated regulator bags and take the position that that was my personal item, but I soon found that too annoying. Now I carry on only one bag, generally a medium-sized backpack.

Yes, the backpack is relatively small, is not packed tightly, and easily fits under the seat. The carryon spinner is also small, meets both domestic and international specs and is packed lightly, if there is a carryon weight limit. I quit taking a reg bag and wrap my reg in some clothes, probably smaller too. Occasionally, the carryon must be checked, usually planeside, on small commuter planes. That leaves me with the small backpack for my personal items onboard

 

[skearse]

We each have a checked bag, roll-on carry-on, and a "personal item" bag (in my case a laptop backpack; hers is an American Tourister cabin bag). All of them are "regular" bags (ie, not dive-gear specific bags). In the carry-on rollers, we each carry our regs, BCs (Transpacs), change of clothes (swimsuit & t-shirt type stuff). Camera, computers, toiletries, lights, etc. into the personal bags, and everything else into the big bags, where we try to keep the weight balanced. Only exception is for fins; only one of the checked bags is tall enough for them so they both go in the same bag. Check the weight on the big bags and even it out as needed, and then off we go.

 

[WinfieldNC]

We use this Traveler 1550 Md Roller Bag.

It holds two sets of fins, two BCs, two sets of booties, and two masks. It is large enough to hold more. Keeping the weight under 50 lbs is the limiting factor.

 

[Morgan_5]

Does anyone have/recommend the Akona Globetrotter Backpack? I saw it on Amazon and ideally if we can each fit all of our gear in a carry on size backpack it would be perfect.

 

[Shasta_man]

Without reading all the responses, I'll say I pack all of my clothes and dive gear in a large scuba roller bag. I put all of my clothes in the bags that you roll up and seal the air (and sea water) out. So you can put both dive gear (that could be wet) and clothes type stuff in one bag, so you could each still carry all of your gear in your own bag. Electronics are carried on.

 

[caruso]

By spreading your gear between two bags, if the airline loses one of them, at least one of you still has gear, and only one of you will need to rent gear until if and when the other bag shows up.

If you spread your gear between 2 bags rather than one, the odds of the airline losing some gear increases approximately 100%. I'm also not seeing a distinct advantage as far as one person not having to rent gear as compared to 2 as a reason to spread the gear between 2 bags.

As far as the Op goes, our mesh bags are nothing more than that- thin collapsible mesh bags that are no bigger than the palm of the hand when folded up, and snorkels are the foldable type that live in pockets in our BCDs. Everything gets carried on except BCDs, fins, and exposure protection and dive knives and tools.

I don't recommend fancy scuba diving branded luggage, it's like screaming "Please steal my expensive dive gear!". Better off with drab, beaten up luggage that speaks of poverty but is readily identifiable with bright colors, a pattern, or else tie a couple of colorful ribbons on the carry handles.

 

[Damselfish]

If you spread your gear between 2 bags rather than one, the odds of the airline losing some gear increases approximately 100%.

And the odds of losing all gear go down. Either way, 2x a minuscule number is still a minuscule number.