Innovative Dive Bag

[victorzamora]

So, I couldn't figure out how to properly make this PDF an image without it making it look funky. I'll try something later, but we'll see how it works out.

As far as your bag goes, I like the majority of it....but I think I solved the problem of how to attach it. I think I came up with a pretty clever design. I'm still trying to figure out how to hold the bottom on. I was thinking maybe a loop for the crotch strap so the crotch strap goes up through the loop and then pulled tight up to the top of the bag to help hold the bottom down and forward.

My plan was to make something kinda like the Dive Caddy in how the rest of the "bag" rolls up, as that's definitely the easiest method to pack a bag. If I make it roll, I'll ensure to include a thing to hold the fins in place. About the water bottle pouch, I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's more to get snagged, more to have to pay for, and I know I wouldn't use it often. I am considering a sleeve for a hydration bladder....possibly between the wing and the bag. For the cambands, I was thinking you could unthread the cambands (leaving them on the backplate) and thread them "forwards" around the backplate but behind the part of the bag that touches your bag. Either that or just crush them between the wing and the bag.

View attachment Scuba bag.pdf

 

[raftingtigger]

Having sewn a lot of non-patterned creations. First make a paper pattern, make sure all things go together in the shape you want. Tweak. Then make the bag out of an old sheet (very cheap fabric). Tweak. THEN make it from your real fabrics. It definitely helps if you can think in 3D. Also in the planning stages look at as many similar bags as you can. fjpatrum's drawings above looks very practical.

 

[fjpatrum]

Well, I am in the process of taking apart an old backpack to see if I like the design I came up with and see how difficult it is to actually make. I'll put some pics up in a new thread once I make a little more progress.

victorzama, I think the bladder pocket is a practical idea and certainly the external bottle pocket is optional. I happen to use the external pockets a lot but other people don't. (I usually carry both a camel back and a water bottle when traveling.)

I considered my design based on the desire to minimize having to add/remove stuff in order to make the bag function with the plate. Using sex nuts, to me, is somewhat impractical, especially in a "traveling" environment because if they get lost, for whatever reason, you no longer have a pack. That's why I went with zippers. That said, if you're removing the wing/STA and tank bands anyway, which may or may not be necessary in either design, then adding nuts probably isn't that much extra effort.

 

[victorzamora]

I don't know how to deal with an STA in terms of my plan. It seems like this bag simply won't do well with an STA hanging off the back of a BP/W. Not super bad, but not as good as a BP/W without STA. I was thinking the bag could use the screw holes not used by the wing/STA. Also, when I said sex bolts, I simply meant "screwed in place" but I didn't necessarily mean sex bolts. You could carry some spares without too much effort or cost involved. However, you're right....I really like the zipper idea. However, there needs to be a solution without unthreading your harness every time.

How about a top "tongue" that fits between your shoulder harnesses and then you zip on either side (where the zippers aren't permanently connected). That way, you line up the back of your backplate, put the tongue through the shoulder harness, zip on both sides (and bottom?). Then, to help compress it all down (and fit a whole bunch of different wing/plate combos), you could do that same criss-crossed paracord idea that I had for my first bag design.

 

[fjpatrum]

I don't know how to deal with an STA in terms of my plan. It seems like this bag simply won't do well with an STA hanging off the back of a BP/W. Not super bad, but not as good as a BP/W without STA. I was thinking the bag could use the screw holes not used by the wing/STA. Also, when I said sex bolts, I simply meant "screwed in place" but I didn't necessarily mean sex bolts. You could carry some spares without too much effort or cost involved. However, you're right....I really like the zipper idea. However, there needs to be a solution without unthreading your harness every time.

How about a top "tongue" that fits between your shoulder harnesses and then you zip on either side (where the zippers aren't permanently connected). That way, you line up the back of your backplate, put the tongue through the shoulder harness, zip on both sides (and bottom?). Then, to help compress it all down (and fit a whole bunch of different wing/plate combos), you could do that same criss-crossed paracord idea that I had for my first bag design.

As I designed my bag, the zippers stop around the harness so there's no need to unthread it. Your second paragraph is exactly what I was trying to show with my pictures... the flap is sewn in at the top, folds down between your back and the plate and zips down the sides and bottom of the plate, around the harness.

Your parachord/shock chord idea is a good one for dealing with compressing the wing somewhat, if you have a large-ish wing. I was thinking about sewing in some "slots" for the cam bands to come out the sides and use as compression straps around the bag too. I'll see what I come up with once I get mine started.

 

[Rich Keller]

First I would use a small enough bag to qualify as a carry on so adding fins would probably not work. I would stick to items that need to be protected like your reg and computer. I would then steal an old idea from the Mark-V connection of the diving dress to the breast plate using the holes along the edge of the back plate. You would need to put holes in the bottom of the bag that line up with those in the back plate and have strips of metal (these were called brails on the Mark-V) with corresponding holes on the inside of the bag. You would then put bolts through the back plate, bag and the brails on the inside so the bag is sandwiched between the plate and the brails when you tighten down on the nuts. If you want to incorporate your weights into this then you could cast lead that would take the place of metal strips as your brails and leave them attached to the plate when you dive later. You could then use the bag, with drain holes, to carry wet gear.

 

[victorzamora]

Do you mean "carry on" or "personal item" when you say carry on? On MOST flights, I can get a backpack and a "personal item" (carry-on). One fits under the seat in front of me. The other fits in the overhead compartments. I think that as long as your dive bag fits in the overhead compartment, and your "other stuff" fits below your seat, you should be fine. If that's the arrangement you choose, however, the size of your carryon is reduced....and you could just go with a rolling carryon for your dive gear. However, it would allow for a LARGE backpack.

 

[Tracy]

I think you are over thinking this. I use a pelican 1510 roller as a carry on. I drilled two 5/16" holes in it and fitted carriage bolts through them eleven inches apart. When traveling with a backplate and wing, two wing nuts and it is a backpack. Takes eleven pounds out of my checked bag.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[victorzamora]

You drill holes in a $200 bag? Also, the case is no longer waterproof....which is a major component in the cost of the bag. I'm looking for a much cheaper solution that's much easier than that carry-on. However, I DO like where you're coming from and I've never seen that done before.

 

[Rich Keller]

My understanding of the airline regs is that a carry-on is a small suit case and a personal item is a brief case. I am talking about a back pack style carry-on using the back plate and harness to carry it with.