We went to Mexico in November 2011 and packed all of our side mount cave diving equipment in a Gen 2 Dive Caddy.
For me this included:
(1) Dive Rite Nomad XT,
(2) sidemount tank harness kits (cam bands and bolt snaps to put on rental AL 80s)
(1) an AL 80 stage kit (another cam band and bolt snap arrangement)
(1 pr) OMS slipstream fins, size XL
(2) Mk 17 G250V regulators with 5' second stage hose, 12" inflator hose and 6" SPG hose.
(1) Mk 10 G250 regulator with 40" second stage hose
(1) Light monkey 12 Watt LED canister light with 5' cord.
(2) shearwater predator dive computers
(1) 400' primary reel
(1) 150' safety spool
(4) finger spools
(1) side mount helmet with 2 Princeton Tec Torrent LED dive lights (this strapped on top of/around the accessory bag)
(1) 5mm full length one piece wet suit, size XL
(1) aviator style 5mm dive beanie
(1 pr) size 11 7mm wet suit boots
(1) wet notes
(1 pr) Scubapro neoprene/spandex shorts with pocket
(2) masks
(1) the over bag and repair kit (just in case we broke something or had to check it at some point.)
If it will hold all that, the average single tank rec trip will be a breeze, even with a 7mm farmer john or a dry suit.
More importantly for our purposes it all fit in the dive Caddy AND the Dive Caddy fit in the over head bin with the accessory bag removed - and did it the right way, long way pointed out. Now, it weighed 56 pounds, total (49 pounds with the accessory bag removed) so is was not something I wanted to let the airline staff handle to weigh, but it fit in the overhead bin and prevented me from having to check about $4000 worth of dive equipment.
The longer fin keeper arrangement on the Gen 2 really helped with the longer fins and with the fairly long Nomad XT - I don't think the Gen 1 would have worked.
The roll out design was very handy for getting through TSA on departure and through customs in MX and the US on our arrival and return, and all of the customs and TSA inspections were snag free. The only downside on the trip was the normal chaos in Miami for customs and TSA clearance on the connecting flight. It resulted in a lot of walking and carrying what was now a 56 pound back pack - but it was still pretty comfortable for the half mile or so we had to trudge.
My only negative observation with the Dive Caddy is that some of the construction and seams could still be slightly more robust, even though the Gen 2 is already a bit more robust than the Gen 1. We had a seam rip in the accessory bag and it was never overly stuffed, which suggested either a QA issue or inadequate sticking. No big deal, but it's a $300 dive bag, and we were disappointed with a failed seam on our first trip with it, especially at that price point.
Still, I highly recommend the Dive Caddy, every bit as much as recommend coming back into the US through any port of entry other than Miami as those folks just never seem to get their act together.
For me this included:
(1) Dive Rite Nomad XT,
(2) sidemount tank harness kits (cam bands and bolt snaps to put on rental AL 80s)
(1) an AL 80 stage kit (another cam band and bolt snap arrangement)
(1 pr) OMS slipstream fins, size XL
(2) Mk 17 G250V regulators with 5' second stage hose, 12" inflator hose and 6" SPG hose.
(1) Mk 10 G250 regulator with 40" second stage hose
(1) Light monkey 12 Watt LED canister light with 5' cord.
(2) shearwater predator dive computers
(1) 400' primary reel
(1) 150' safety spool
(4) finger spools
(1) side mount helmet with 2 Princeton Tec Torrent LED dive lights (this strapped on top of/around the accessory bag)
(1) 5mm full length one piece wet suit, size XL
(1) aviator style 5mm dive beanie
(1 pr) size 11 7mm wet suit boots
(1) wet notes
(1 pr) Scubapro neoprene/spandex shorts with pocket
(2) masks
(1) the over bag and repair kit (just in case we broke something or had to check it at some point.)
If it will hold all that, the average single tank rec trip will be a breeze, even with a 7mm farmer john or a dry suit.
More importantly for our purposes it all fit in the dive Caddy AND the Dive Caddy fit in the over head bin with the accessory bag removed - and did it the right way, long way pointed out. Now, it weighed 56 pounds, total (49 pounds with the accessory bag removed) so is was not something I wanted to let the airline staff handle to weigh, but it fit in the overhead bin and prevented me from having to check about $4000 worth of dive equipment.
The longer fin keeper arrangement on the Gen 2 really helped with the longer fins and with the fairly long Nomad XT - I don't think the Gen 1 would have worked.
The roll out design was very handy for getting through TSA on departure and through customs in MX and the US on our arrival and return, and all of the customs and TSA inspections were snag free. The only downside on the trip was the normal chaos in Miami for customs and TSA clearance on the connecting flight. It resulted in a lot of walking and carrying what was now a 56 pound back pack - but it was still pretty comfortable for the half mile or so we had to trudge.
My only negative observation with the Dive Caddy is that some of the construction and seams could still be slightly more robust, even though the Gen 2 is already a bit more robust than the Gen 1. We had a seam rip in the accessory bag and it was never overly stuffed, which suggested either a QA issue or inadequate sticking. No big deal, but it's a $300 dive bag, and we were disappointed with a failed seam on our first trip with it, especially at that price point.
Still, I highly recommend the Dive Caddy, every bit as much as recommend coming back into the US through any port of entry other than Miami as those folks just never seem to get their act together.
