How do you store your gear for transporting?

[Jocasseegirl]

I've been keeping my gear in a Rubbermaid bin. However, I've just purchased a new car with a much smaller trunk. The bin won't fit. I could put it in the backseat, but I'm planning to dive with a friend soon, so we need to be able to accommodate her gear, too. Sometimes we also carry a cooler. What have you all found to be a sensible way to truck your gear around without having it in bits and pieces? I like to be very organized, and it drives me crazy to have things scattered all over the place. I'm considering a couple of large duffel bags. I always carry an extra mask and a small tool box, so I need a little more room than you would typically need for a standard set of gear. Would sure appreciate your input!

 

[whodunit68]

large dry duffles for wet stuff (wet/drysuit, booties, etc), mesh bags for the rest.

 

[EastTNDiver]

I haul mine around in one of these.
Akona Deluxe Duffel Bag. AKB206 with reviews at scuba.com

I usually organize very small items in something like a toiletry bag/pouch, and place that in the duffle. My Flip/Ikelite video rig is in a padded camera bag, and placed in the duffle. I also carry a spare mask, reg, tools, straps, o-rings, etc. I place all of that in an extra reg bag as my save-a-dive kit, and carry that kit in the above duffle as well.

In other words, except for the tanks, everything I haul is in that duffle. The interior is lined, so any damp items put in there post dive doesn't make a big mess, but since I haul it around in the back of a pick-up, I don't pay close enough attention to know whether it leaks some. Once emptied, that duffle also compresses down to a small size, so it is my universal bag...whether shore diving, or going out on a boat.

 

[Peter_C]

What kind of car do you have? Might be time for a different car or a second vehicle?

I have seen people dive out of Miata's and out of Mini Coopers. They can only fit themselves and their gear in the car.

Myself I use a bin for my dry gear, save-a-boat dive kit, can light, etc., then my drysuit/shoes/fins/hood go in my drysuit bag. Typically my tank(s) is/are rigged the night before.

 

[a22shady]

We sometimes take my G/F Honda Civic. What we do is assemble our gear completly at home that put it in the trunk and lay our Drysuits between the tanks and misc Things on top of BC. It seems to all fit very nicely

 

[Jocasseegirl]

Thanks, everyone, for the info. I remembered that I had a large, rolling zipper bag in the attic, along with a mesh bag. I put my wing, fins and a few misc. items in the mesh bag. Everything else fit perfectly in the rolling bin. Carrying these items was a problem for me. Hopefully, it won't be now.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

I'd recommend sticking with the Rubbermaid bins. I have a 2 door Honda Civic. I fit two sets of cold water dive gear inside easily. In fact, I can fit everything in the backseat if necessary. The two Rubbermaid tubs are turned lengthwise. Tanks can go either at the foot of the backseat area or in the trunk. Same with lead weights. A waterproof tarp can be used to line the trunk if wet stuff will be transported inside.

If you have a drysuit, I recommend keeping it separate from anything heavy (tank, weight, backplate, etc.). The dry zipper can be very easily damaged by getting pinched between two heavy items or if a heavy item is placed on top. And, as any drysuit diver knows, that dry zipper is very expensive to replace. For transport, my drysuit rides on top of other dive gear inside the Rubbermaid bin for protection.

Another thing to keep in mind is that your large, rolling zipper bag and mesh bag should have saltwater corrosion-resistant zippers if you are diving in the ocean and going to be transporting wet gear inside of them. With fresh water diving, this isn't an issue.

To be clear, the Rubbermaid bins don't accompany us on our boat dives. That's when we use our boat/duffel bags with backpack straps. Ours are big enough to fit all of our gear (except for tanks and weights). In most cases, we don our drysuits before carrying our gear to the boat. When we come back from our boat dive, we can throw all of our wet gear inside the bin and the car stays clean/dry. For shore diving, the Rubbermaid bins get carried to our chosen gearing-up spot. During the shore dive, our street clothes are protected from the elements inside the bins which most times are left out at the gearing-up spot but can also be stored inside locked cars during a night dive. After the dive, we fill the bins with freshwater and let our gear soak for a while. For storage after rinsing, our gear lives inside the bins, sealed and ready to go for the next dive.

 

[sabbath999]

Amazon.com: Deep See Heavy-duty mesh backpack for snorkel or scuba gear: Sports & Outdoors

I use a slightly larger model of this bag, which has a "drybag" area to it. Works good, but you need to put a tarp down under the bag in the trunk to keep the water out of your trunk after the dive.

 

[Straegen]

I use either the Stahlsac Bonaire:

Stahlsac Bonaire Mesh Backpack Gear Bag

which comes with a built in dry bag or the LLBean Adventure Rolling Duffle:

Rolling Adventure Duffle, Extra-Large: Duffle Bags at L.L.Bean

The duffle often holds mine and my wifes gear. LLBean also replaces their luggage without question in my experience if a problem arises (such as a large steel tank being dropped onto the wheel which happened to mine).

Those are my two favorite methods of transportation.

 

[Redzepp1011]

I have a Volvo station wagon, so transporting dive gear isn't really an issue. However, transporting whitewater kayaks is (we try to transport them inside the car so we don't have to deal with racks). I would say to try and figure out what the best way to fold your back seats down, and invest in a tarp to protect your interior. After a day of kayaking we toss our gear (wet kayaks, soggy dry tops and all) into the back on the tarp, and the vehicle seems to do just fine. Plus, everything fits really nicely. Folding down your seats might make just enough room to squeeze in all your stuff...

Good luck!