How Much Gear Do You Bring When You Travel?

[Dizzi Lizzi]

My last (hehehe) 1st dive trip we had 1 checked bag between us and 1 carry on, and 1 personal bag each.

Checked bag had fins, bcd, big liquids, booties, save a dive, torches, first aide, clothing/sandals, smb/reel, it was not full and weighed 50#.

Carryon had reg/computer console, mask, plb, bathing suit, wetsuit, 1 qt bag with small liquids-sunscreen, lotion,2 tops, 1 pair of shorts, panties and a bra. Land camera, wide angle lens (that i did not use and will not bring again), go pro, tablet, chargers/cords, meds. 2 hats (only used 1)

Personal item, more clothes, id's itineraries, logbooks, snacks, water bottle, phones.

In the past I flew to Hawaii and put my fins in my back pack since they did not fit in the carryon, they stuck out a little but no one said anything. Rented a wet suit. I had the joy of staying with friends so I could borrow any clothing I did not pack and didn't have to bring any large amounts of liquids. Have to admit it was quite tricky, I'm sure if they weighed my carry on I would have had to check it. Good Karma was with me that flight.

 

[Heruhur]

Everything except tank and weights and specific cold water stuff.
So that's a reg, computer, mask, log-book and certifications in the carry-on.
And a duffel with fins, a longy, a shorty, a cap (for night dives), neoprene shoes, bcd, action-cam, canister light, backup torch, compass, mag.shager, reel, smb, knife, "save a dive" stuff (o-rings, mask strap, fin strap, allen-keys and a wrench, etc), fish identification book and a few towels used as padding. (probably forgot something)

As for a bag, The North Face duffels are my recommendation. 150L for the largest one. It can take all my gear with room to spare.

 

[Schwob]

On our first dive trip ever to Bonaire a tad over a year ago my son and I brought everything (equipment wise) except for tanks and weights... but including camera compact) housing, bracket, arms, , flash, lights, rigid alu water bottles to get the improvised rig to neutral buoyancy (streamlined it was not, but the bottles made for a nice sounding device), more lights, batteries, spare stuff & first aid & repai kit, spare fins straps, 3mm shorty for me 3mm full for son, 2 hoods for in case we get cold, 2 computers (mine cause in case work interferes, his 'cause the world comes to an end w/o the computer game and I did not need that on that trip...), bunch of chargers etc... one set of ea. spare fins, mask and snorkel between the two of us... and three reef ID books (heavy guys "the reef set" by Paul Human - but hey, we left the box at home) ... some lightweight food for the first day or two for in case ...and whatnot ...and and we flew Spirit air (part of the way) and for that reason did it between us with two (total) checked (cheap duffel) bags limited to 40lbs ea. and one carry on bag and the two allowed personal bags - exactly to "size".. Came back with one more book (for me) and souvenir t-shirt (for son) (there was no more room or weight allowanc beyond that)... That was workable, except for showing all the individually baggy packaged lithium ion batteries (and spares for all the lights) and taking apart several lights in almost any airport .... and having that "discussion" with the security personnel... - came to dread that.
But it all worked out, had a great (sort of budget) trip - dove into diving head first (self supplied self sourced and self guided - admittedly quite easy to do on Bonaire) and may have even smartened up a bit in the process (packing that dense into light duffels such that all is protected takes a bit too much time...)... but not immediately... only after bringing all the same onto a "regular cruise ship" trip a few month later... knowing that drying all this stuff in the cabin bathroom might be a bit constricting... well, lets just say my son and I got to share that bathroom and my wife moved in with my daughter....

 

[DiverDownD3]

Last night I started packing for my trip. I was in the garage when I came across my boot/helmet bag I use for ski trips. It's large enough where I can fit everything but my fins, but small enough where I can carry it on.

In the helmet compartment- Mask and computer (which are in a hard case), SMB/finger reel, light, aquasketch, and Go Pro
In the boot compartment- wetsuit/gloves/booties, regs, BP&W (I took the wing off the backplate so it would fit better). Nice thing about the boot compartment is it is water proof, so I can put everything wet in there until I get back to the condo to let everything dry out.

Anybody ever had an issue with carrying on their BP&W? From what I could find, it doesn't seem like it will be an issue.

 

[Dish]

(snip)
Anybody ever had an issue with carrying on their BP&W? From what I could find, it doesn't seem like it will be an issue.

I have not had an issue carrying my SS BP in my carryon... they will probably want to take a look, but that's to be expected.

BTW, I always separate the wing from the BP for travel to protect the wing. May be overkill, but discovering a pinch flat at my destination is not a risk that I am willing to take.

@Heruhur - +1 for the North Face roller duffel. I normally hit max weight before its full and it holds my Mares fins quite nicely.

 

[Newdiv]

Worst case was Egypt Air a couple years ago, from Hurghada to Cairo ... $125 for overweight carry-on. Seems pretty aggressive, but compared to what the trip cost me it was barely in the noise level. I just paid it and got on the plane. Once we got to Cairo and were boarding the larger (Lufthansa) flight, there wasn't any p

Hey Bob, I will be doing this in October round trip. How overweight was your carry on?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Hey Bob, I will be doing this in October round trip. How overweight was your carry on?

Egypt Air's limit was 8 kilos ... my bag was around 20. It was almost all camera gear, and there was no way I was going to let them check it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Wingy]

Everything I need (dive gear to clothing and personal items) for unlimited duration of time and destinations has to fit in 1 x checked bag (17kg is the most it has ever weighed) and my backpack (8kg max). Last trip required being a little inventive..and uncomfortable..I had to go from Banda Sea to Europe in late autumn so required heavy clothes as well as the usual dive trip clothing - I wore my snowboots on my feet flying to Bali and my leather jacket over my shoulder. That was not the most comfortable choice of footwear for the Bali leg but it saved having to get more bags. Leaving Berlin in minus 7 I did the reverse..had a stopover in Abu Dhabi luckily to take some clothes and winter boots off and change into the layers I had on underneath so landing at 2pm on an Australian summer day wasnt too bad.

 

[Newdiv]

Egypt Air's limit was 8 kilos ... my bag was around 20. It was almost all camera gear, and there was no way I was going to let them check it.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Thanks!

 

[ls1dreams]

Absolutely nothing. I like traveling light. Will probably buy a dive computer, though. MAYBE a mask. Nothing more than that ever.