Flying with your gear... & spare air?

[Fourseventeen]

How do you all recommend traveling with your gear. I have a bunch of trips planned this year and I am fairly new to diving. I am wondering...do most of you just put your gear in your dive bag and pay for an extra checked bag on the airline and HOPE its not overweight?

And can you have a spare air tank in your checked baggage if its empty? I assume full is a no go but what about if the tank is empty??

 

[sunkmail]

How do you all recommend traveling with your gear. I have a bunch of trips planned this year and I am fairly new to diving. I am wondering...do most of you just put your gear in your dive bag and pay for an extra checked bag on the airline and HOPE its not overweight?

And can you have a spare air tank in your checked baggage if its empty? I assume full is a no go but what about if the tank is empty??

Take your Spare air in your Carry-on - empty. Be prepared to reomve the valve assembly to visually show the tank is empty.

I try to carry anything like regs and masks in my carry-on, plus whatever else I can fit. Rent tanks, if you can, rather than try to travel with them.

Hope that helps

 

[Cave Diver]

All my gear goes in a carry on bag when I fly. If you're carrying a compressed air cylinder, the valve has to be out of it.

 

[Fourseventeen]

Thanks Sunkmail. yeah I would rent tanks without a doubt. I would carry my mask and my reg/computer in my carry on bag. Just mainly wasnt sure about the spare air. I am looking to buy one but since I know most of my diving is going to be vacation dives I wasnt sure if I should buy one since I was unsure if I could even fly with it. I own all my own gear so I would like to take it with me when I dive as apposed to renting crap I am not familiar with.

 

[Fourseventeen]

forgot to mention...I would be traveling with 2 sets of gear...both mine and my wifes. So carrying on our BC's, fins, wetsuits, regs, comps etc might be much lol. Usually when I travel I am gone for 7-8 days and each of our checked bags already are pressing the 50lb weight limit. I have an Akona rolling bag I assume I would need to pay the extra bag fee and try to keep that bag under 50lbs too....so renting tanks and soft weights at our location would probably be best. Do most dive shops rent soft weights (integrated BCD)

 

[sunkmail]

Thanks Sunkmail. yeah I would rent tanks without a doubt. I would carry my mask and my reg/computer in my carry on bag. Just mainly wasnt sure about the spare air. I am looking to buy one but since I know most of my diving is going to be vacation dives I wasnt sure if I should buy one since I was unsure if I could even fly with it. I own all my own gear so I would like to take it with me when I dive as apposed to renting crap I am not familiar with.

Not to get on too much of a tangent, but think about the SpareAir thing before you buy one. For some people they are great, and to each their own, but many think of them as more of a false sense of security.

There are many threads here, just do a search.

We don't want to turn this into a SpareAir thread - Trust me!

 

[sunkmail]

forgot to mention...I would be traveling with 2 sets of gear...both mine and my wifes. So carrying on our BC's, fins, wetsuits, regs, comps etc might be much lol. Usually when I travel I am gone for 7-8 days and each of our checked bags already are pressing the 50lb weight limit. I have an Akona rolling bag I assume I would need to pay the extra bag fee and try to keep that bag under 50lbs too....so renting tanks and soft weights at our location would probably be best. Do most dive shops rent soft weights (integrated BCD)

I've never had a problem with weights, but you can always email or call the shop where you are going to confirm.

I look at the bagge things this way - what are you going to do the most?

If it's diving, take as much as you can in your carry-on - it's easy enough to buy a shirt and shorts if needed, in case they lose your luggage, but pretty expensive to buy or rent replacement gear in the same situation.

Just my opinion, take it for whatever you think it's worth.

 

[Fourseventeen]

thanks again. Ill do some searching here on the forums. I mainly want one to keep with my rescue gear (non diving) for work incase I come across a rolled over vehicle in water and then figured I could also use it for a backup while diving as well. I know a lot of people have a tendency to use them to extend bottom time...not what I would be using it for.

 

[Dr Wu]

thanks again. Ill do some searching here on the forums. I mainly want one to keep with my rescue gear (non diving) for work incase I come across a rolled over vehicle in water and then figured I could also use it for a backup while diving as well. I know a lot of people have a tendency to use them to extend bottom time...not what I would be using it for.

Re-read that response.

Then imagine how a Spare Air would be anything more than a recipe for two victims dead from same accident.



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[vladimir]

How do you all recommend traveling with your gear. I have a bunch of trips planned this year and I am fairly new to diving. I am wondering...do most of you just put your gear in your dive bag and pay for an extra checked bag on the airline and HOPE its not overweight?

I dive exclusively on vacation, so I fly with my gear often, including a lot of camera gear. I have a few strategies:

1. Minimize gear. Not only should you re-evaluate the Spare Air with regard to efficacy, but with regard to traveling weight. Do this with all your gear; I found excess weight on my BC, save-a-dive kit, and luggage. The biggest weight savings come from leaving unnecessary gear behind.
2. Fly with a non-diver. And use most of their luggage allowance.
3. Fly business class. This might not be as extravagant as it seems at first blush when you factor in the savings in overweight luggage charges. And it's a lot more civilized.
4. Cosmolite luggage. A lot lighter than the luggage it replaced. A little pricy, but again, if you take into account excess luggage charges it might make sense for you.

And can you have a spare air tank in your checked baggage if its empty? I assume full is a no go but what about if the tank is empty??

As mentioned above, the valve has to be off. Spareair.com has instructions.