Going through the airport with my gear for the first time

[Jaan]

No worries. The hard shell case will house thousands of dollars of photo equipment you’ll likely be buying as you continue your diving journey .

 

[formernuke]

No worries. The hard shell case will house thousands of dollars of photo equipment you’ll likely be buying as you continue your diving journey .

I've managed to avoid that, just a rebreather for me.

 

[Joneill]

Regulators, dive computers, laptop, cameras, batteries, lights, Nitrox analyzer, passport, medication in my carry-on.
The rest gets checked, preferably in a hard case. Non-SCUBA branded goes out the window when you start applying stickers, so I just use a Pelican case with TSA approved locking latches.

I add my mask to carry on as well as it's not easy to replace a good-fitting mask at most destinations if your checked bag gets delayed or lost.

 

[formernuke]

Carry on

Mask, rebreather, bailout regs, backup computer, meds, laptop, primary light (this can't be checked) passport if needed. Checked has everything else.

Prior to ccr my bpw went into carry on with fins strapped to outside of the bag. Next time I fly I might see if I can strap fins on the rebreather.

 

[KenE]

I would like to add, for those who want to take advantage of it, some airlines check recreational gear for free. Golf bags, skis, and diving equipment can be checked free. I use a hard case with wetsuit, bc, fins, accessories and check it free. I keep regs, mask, and computer with me.

 

[FreqFlier]

Any input and experiences is greatly appreciated

My mask is in checked luggage and resides in my fin foot pocket
My knife is in checked luggage together with my wing and fins
My computer is in my carryon together with regs and transmitters.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

That's a bit of overkill. All that can get thrown into a carry-on (no lithium batteries in check-in luggage). Scuba gear is pretty resilient. Shove your mask into a fin foot pocket and get rid of all that padding.

 

[Bigbella]

Hi everyone! Rookie diver here , not long ago AOWD certified.

I decided to get a hard case, so I can group my gear easily (picture below). I travel to Malta in two days, and I've never been through customs with something like this... This will fly in my checked luggage. I was wondering: did you ever had any issues transporting this kind of equipment? Maybe the question sounds silly, yet I wonder what will happen during check in, when I get asked if I'm carrying knives, and I have to mention my scuba knife.

Any input and experiences is greatly appreciated

Yeah, ditch the knife from your carry-on baggage -- it's definitely verboten to carry in the US, and every other place, I would think; otherwise, you may well find yourself doing time in the stripey hole.

I had a few TSA issues (in the US) over the years, most recently, dealing with a gas-exchange block, with ports for hoses, roughly the size of a deck of cards, with a switch to one side; and they weren't too happy until I threw the switch a few times; briefly explained its purpose; and, because they asked nicely, attached some random loose hoses from my bag to the manifold, which looked, to me, far more squirrelly and threatening than it did before.

At least it hadn't been the syringes, the vials of KCl with the even longer explanations, from a previous flight . . .

 

[Bloody Marvelous]

Yeah, ditch the knife from your carry-on baggage -- it's definitely verboten to carry in the US, and every other place, I would think; otherwise, you may well find yourself doing time in the stripey hole.

They're not going to throw you in jail for having a knife in your carry-on. They'll just confiscate it, and maybe give you a fine, and that'll be the end of it.

 

[Bigbella]

They're not going to throw you in jail for having a knife in your carry-on. They'll just confiscate it, and maybe give you a fine, and that'll be the end of it.

If the TSA (much like the IRS, only without the whimsy and hot dance moves) decides that there was any effort at "smuggling" such an object, say it's just innocently "buried" in a Pelican case -- it's entirely up to those agents, paid anywhere between US 14 to 43.00 per hour (many of whom would now make more flipping burgers at McDonald's in California) -- to determine whether a real "threat" exists, with their so-called "TSA Interpretive Rule," and you're likely to be fined, arrested and shopping for a lawyer, particularly if "attitude" was ever involved (and who wouldn't really like to stick it to some mouthy well-heeled traveler with his size-zero girlfriend, headed to Papeʻete with 10K in gear?).

I saw arrests happen at security at SFO on a couple of occasions -- cops, cable ties, the whole shebang -- and I was delayed and threatened with detention for only carrying a few undeclared syringes and a tiny vial of KCl in a field kit, much less some honking "Sea Hunt" dive knife . . .