Lightweight travel solutions

[Nemrod]

What are your solutions to modern travel reality?

The last two trips I have taken resulted in airline overcharges of nearly 400 dollars for excess weight etc:11:. This will not do. Now it is obvious restrictions will get even more confineing. Scuba travel with personal gear at this rate could become impossible. You might in the future have to switch to a rental solution.

No, it is not because I have vintage gear, I also have new gear, none of it is light weight. What kinds of solutions have those of you who travel found for your travel gear? Heck, I went to get a scuba travel bag and the lightest I found was oversize and weighed 13 pounds empty--that will not do.

My solution in progress (for warm water travel):

****** OLD ********************************************* NEW ******

Oxy Cheg Mach V 30--------------------------------------> Oxy Cheq Mach V 18
Scuba Pro Jets-----------------------------------> Plastic Jet copies or full foot Planas
Watch, depth guage, compass----------------------------> Aeries Atmos computer
Stainless FreedomPlate BP-------------------------------> OxyCheq cloth Micro Plate
Weight belt/metal buckle (no weights)---------------> Weight pockets (no weights)
Typical 3/2 Shorty---------------------------------> Rash guard and swimsuit and bennie
Large B&G spg------------------------------------------> Mini B&G spg or composite spg
Metal buckles, cambands, D-rings---------------------------> All plastic or composite
Square framed mask--------------------->Framless Scuba Pro or Aqua Lung Mini Mask
Standard rubber LP/HP hoses---------------------> Niflex hoses, no heavy long hoses

Other considerations: no lights, no cutting tools, no repair kits, no scooters, no carried lead, no snorkel, no bulky neoprene, no first aid kits

Complications: Canon P&S/Inon strobe/lenses/ batteries/chargers

Clothing: the cloths on our back, flip flops and two changes, all light weight as possible and minimal as possible.

Regulators: well, right now Titan and Legend, what else can people do here?

Possible but also objectionable: no octopus or Air Too or secondary, no power inflate either--------------> buddy breath/oral inflate

THE GOAL: carry on everything we need between my wife and myself splitting the load between two carry on suitcases, her giant purse and small duffles. No checked luggage, no overcharges for oversize or overweight.

N

 

[Nismo]

It's got to be your weights and the backplate.

My wife and I each use a mesh dive bag for our gear. It carries fins, suit, mask, bc, flash lights. Carry on I take the regs, computer, and camera. Never got charged. We use AquaLung mesh bags and they are holding up well after a trip to cozumel and a trip to bonaire both with lay overs. I don't know how what I own compares to yours. We use Cressi masks, Cressi Frogs, I have a Zeagle Ranger, she has the Zeagle Escape, we take shorties, and we both use Zeagle DS/V ZX. This years trip may prove to be a problem since I don't know if we will get two carry ons as we did the last two years.

I'd say an aluminum or composite plate and use the weights at from your location. Use a bathroom scale for checked luggage to make sure you are a few pounds under in case of scale calibration differences. Maybe checked baggage should be dive gear since you can have usually up to 50 pounds. Shorts and t shirts can be rolled up into a small carry on easily. I'd keep the octo and ditch the back up air.

 

[vkalia]

Do people actually fly with their own *weights*?

For starters, ask yourself which of your gear you really need. I generally travel with my own fins b/c I like their thrust/power, but my wife always borrows fins from the dive operator. BCDs - if you are not doing something like wreck penetration or photography, you can get by with a rented BCD quite easily. Regs - I know a lot of people like to use their own regs as this is "vital life support gear" but the simple fact is that professional dive shops maintain their gear very well (I've seen more malfunctions with customer-owned regs than with rental regs... go figure). Save a lot of weight and headaches by renting atleast SOME of your kit.

While you are correct that having lighter gear can save weight, I am not a big fan of having separate travel gear. The whole point of carrying my own dive gear is so that I can dive the kit I always dive. If I have to wear something I wouldnt wear normally, I might as well rent. I

It is possible to fly with all your own gear and stay within weight limits. Here is what I do:

1/ Use a light bag. Specialized dive bags are rarely light. Travel stores have plenty of light and rigid-sided bags. You dont need a lot of padding on the bag to protect your gear - use your wetsuit and clothes as padding and make sure there is no space for your gear to move. I generally use a plain, robust duffel bag with a rigid bottom and soft sides/top. Provided I pack it properly, never had a problem.

2/ Carry small, heavy stuff in pockets when approaching the airline counter and stuff into your carry-on bag once you are safely through. I chuck camera batteries, regulator first stages, small lenses, etc. into a camera vest (time-honored tip among traveling photographers) whenever I am at a point where my gear may be weighed. A well-known wildlife photographer actually carries a 500/4 in his vest!

3/ I use a cut Al backplate (which, along with the tank adapter, clocks in at <4lb). If I needed to take a steel backplate, I'd put it in my carry-on

4/ Use a small carry-on and load the bejesus out of it. Even if they do weigh it while boarding and decide to put it in the cargo hold, they'll seldom charge you extra for it at that stage.

5/ Take a separate carry-on (largish briefcase sized or daypack sized) for the stuff that you really DONT want taken off you, and keep this within weight limits. Also get a roomier camera vest. If they decide to separate you from your "real" carryon or if you need to get it within weight limits, put stuff in the vest

6/ Rethink the gear you are taking. Ixnay the first aid box, the spare bottle, the carried lead (!!). As the Rolling Stones almost sang, you cant always carry what you want.. but if you try, you find you can carry what you need.

Steps 1 & 2 alone typically solve most travel problems.

I wouldnt bother with getting rid of inflator hoses, using a different mask, changing from steel to plastic buckles, etc. Those things dont add up to a lot of weight but do affect the convenience/ease of use of your gear.

Vandit

 

[Nemrod]

One of the charges incurred was due to specialty weights for a specialty event, the other trips involved no weights, just baggage charges for overweight, oversize etc. I am not talking about weights when I said weight belt, I meant the belt/weight pockets MINUS the weights which would always be picked up from the resort or wherever. Y'all might not have noticed I guess but in the last few weeks increased scrutiny and weight restrictions are in place and some are charging for even the first bag. The other problem is that checked luggage often is damaged, stolen, lost or never gets to where your going, this has happened several times to us thus my "diet" to attempt to get everything---everything into carry on including our cloths and personal items.

I took the heavy plastic built in plate out of my wife's BC and now I am sewing another fabric plate inspired by my new fabric Cordura Oxy mini BP. This allows both my wing and her BC to roll or fold since there are no hard parts. If fuel stays high--and it most likely will and airlines continue to employ ever stricter baggage limits and all of the Home Land Security code BS it will become very difficult to travel for diving. I am just trying to be proactive by reducing weight and bulk. N

 

[alchemist117]

Instant weight saver- Tigullio Searider BCD about 2kg

 

[vladimir]

I haven't traveled in the States since the new regime of luggage expenses was imposed. In the past, I have looked into using Fedex or Luggage Concierge (Luggage Concierge: Frequently Asked Questions) to ship my gear ahead. At that time it looked like an expensive convenience. It may start to make financial sense now.

 

[TSandM]

My husband and I travel to cave dive. We take, between the two of us, 4 regulators with SPGs, two can lights, four backup lights, two backplates (we use DSS Kydex plates), a DUI Weight&trim and an XS Scuba weight pocket belt, two sets of Jet fins with spring straps, a reel, four spools, backup masks, wetnotes, markers, an O2 analyzer, a voltage meter, two 5 mil wetsuits, two hooded vests, as well as a modest amount of clothing. We also take Peter's 2 cameras, batteries for them, a variety of electronic gadgetry and chargers. We DO take 2 bags each, but all the bags are 40 lbs or less. We use rolling duffel bags from Costco; they're light and capacious, and don't scream "Dive gear within".

If I were going to travel on an Asian airline with highly restrictive weight allowances, I'd have to change fins and leave the can light at home, I suspect.

 

[thomjinx]

I travel often in SE Asia and the smaller planes that get me from say, Bangkok or Manila down to a nice island have very restrictive weight allowances. So over the past few years, I have put together a very lightweight set of scuba gear. Some of my choices may not appeal to you, but this is what works for me.

DSS Kydex BP and TTW17 wing on a hog harness with weight pockets-3.08 lbs. Composite buckles, but I use metal D-rings
Oceanic Titanium TDX5 and Delta3 Titanium with a Promate mini SPG that is marked in both psi and bars-3.01 lbs
AquaLung ABS octo-.73 lbs
Wrist computer, lightweight tropical wetsuit, Oceanic Shadow frameless mask....
The fins I use depends on where I will be diving, but I am partial to good stiff full-foot fins when I can get away with them. They are lighter and more streamlined than open-heel fins. I really like the Tusa FF Expert Zooms at 2.25 lbs. (My Jets weigh about 6 lbs)

The camera gear is a tough one, I try to carry on as much as I can.

I am planning on switching to the new Miflex hoses too, but haven't yet.

This rig dives great for me. I do not feel that I am compromising on safety or performance.
YMMV

Thom

 

[Nemrod]

Anyone have a good source for light weight composite D rings, clips etc. Perhaps D rings are not needed for a lightweight travel rig?

I wish it was possible to count on checked luggage getting to the end destination at the same time I do but my last few buisness/pleasure trips have proven that is not something that can be counted upon, the airline industry is collapsing, between fuel cost and all the security crap. I think it is possible to get it all into carry on--unless---they change carry on rules--again. I like to have my laptop ALWAYS so let me add that to my list.

The OxyCheq mini plate is cloth, it only weighs nine onces. I am seriously considering getting rid of the power inflators and inflator hose but keep the octopus. We dove for a long time with oral inflate BCs. That would save some weight and make the regulators more compact. Most dive charters will require an octo and BC but oral inflate should satisfy the requirments. I usually weight myself and wife such that it is often possible to complete the dive without ever introducing air into the BC anyways.

Another item, while most wings use two cambands, most other BCs use one. I am thinking to use only one camband with the Oxy mini plate. I think it will work with just one camband. I will have to experiment with that.

Plastic full foot fins like Mares Planas allow me to dump the boots as well since they work fine barefoot.

Do those LED 600 lume mini lights such as the DiveRite really produce light equal to a 10W HID can light as they claim?

N

 

[underwasser bolt]

recent trip to bonaire:
2 bc's
2 sets of fins & booties
3 masks
2 weight belts
other light gear such as 3AA LED lights

all came in at 45 pounds in 1 bag

all clothes in another bag for a weight of 30 pounds including 2 3mm wetsuits.

regulators with computers carried on (my rig fit in the front pocket of my laptop bag).

no problems. i even packed a large pack of batteries. we carried every battery and every plastic bottle we bought while on bonaire back to the states in our bags. no problems.