Question Packing a backplate for travel

[Tigerman67]

I saw some advise from one of the manufacturers that you should disconnect your backplate from your harness, and wing to prevent damage to the harness during travel.

I'm just getting into BP&W, so curious if people actually break down their gear or if most just pack it up assembled. If you are breaking it down, do you do anything special to make sure that the backplate doesn't poke or rub your gear or suitcase when it gets manhandled by the airline baggage handlers?

i was thinking you could probably pull an old tshirt around it or something to hopefully take the abuse rather than wearing a hole in some other gear, or am I really just overthinking this.

If you do break down your gear before travel, do you just count on the bent areas of your webbing to know how to put the harness together correctly without too much adjustments, or do the people that have multiple setups like skins, vs 3mm vs drysuit have to put little paint ticks on the harness or something to know how to setup the harness quickly without too much fuss.

 

[steinbil]

I saw some advise from one of the manufacturers that you should disconnect your backplate from your harness, and wing to prevent damage to the harness during travel.

I would disconnect the backplate from the wing to protect the wing bladder from potential pinch-friction damage, but I definitely would not unthread the harness. The whole point of the single-piece harness is that it is bullet-proof, they can take a lot of wear, and is not an expensive replacement. Comfort harnesses and quick disconnect buckles and all that stuff could break, which is one reason I wouldn't use them – they also cost more and are unnecessary, the good old harness is comfortable enough.

If you do break down your gear before travel, do you just count on the bent areas of your webbing to know how to put the harness together correctly without too much adjustments, or do the people that have multiple setups like skins, vs 3mm vs drysuit have to put little paint ticks on the harness or something to know how to setup the harness quickly without too much fuss.

This is the beauty of the Halcyon harness, the H's are evenly spaced and symmetrically placed along the harness, so in the case you want to adjust between setups, replace the harness, or even borrow/rent a backplate, you can easily get the right fit by counting the number of H's from the top to the bottom.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Defintely remove the wing, fold it carefully, and pack it separately from the backplate. I sometimes pack the backplate (with harness attached) at the very bottom of my duffel bag, then pile clothes/wetsuit on top of that as a cushioning layer, and then place the wing on top. Sometimes I have taken the wing in my carry-on bag, along with regulators, computer and mask, and used my duffel to hold the backplate/harness and all other gear and clothing. Dive gear is pretty durable in general. The important thing is to minimize the likelihood of the backplate being smashed into the wing by rough baggage handling.

 

[Soloist]

I would disconnect the backplate from the wing to protect the wing bladder from potential pinch-friction damage, but I definitely would not unthread the harness. The whole point of the single-piece harness is that it is bullet-proof, they can take a lot of wear, and is not an expensive replacement. .

Exactly! All of my dive gear (less fins) goes into my carry-on bag. It's a Kelty Redwing 50 backpack. I separate my (VDH) wing and cam straps from my (Freedom Contour) backplate, but leave the one-piece harness in place. I then remove the inflator hose from the wing (edited). My open cell Mako Spearguns wetsuits weigh less than half of my old closed cell Waterproof suits, so I use them to pad my regs and wing resulting in a very manageable pack for travel.

 

[CanadaDan]

My kids and I dive and travel with X-Deep Zen BPW's. I pack them in hardshell suitcases intact. plenty of room for the wings to lay flat with no folds. The hardshell is key to prevent external pressure from having any impact.

As a little extra insurance I now use a thin sheet of of tough compressed foam between them... although I've also used our wetsuits or fins in the past.

Never had any issue with abbrasion or folds.

 

[Lorenzoid]

My kids and I dive and travel with X-Deep Zen BPW's. I pack them in hardshell suitcases intact. plenty of room for the wings to lay flat with no folds. The hardshell is key to prevent external pressure from having any impact.

As a little extra insurance I now use a thin sheet of of tough compressed foam between them... although I've also used our wetsuits or fins in the past.

Never had any issue with abbrasion or folds.

What does your hardshell case weigh? I've been considering going that route, but I fear that the weight will cost me a surcharge. My loaded duffel already clocks in at nearly 50 lbs. as a checked bag.

 

[CanadaDan]

What does your hardshell case weigh? I've been considering going that route, but I fear that the weight will cost me a surcharge. My loaded duffel already clocks in at nearly 50 lbs. as a checked bag.

~11lbs/5kg... Samsonite S'Cures and F'Lites. I'm usually 1lb under limit all in. One major factor is light fins and as thin a wetsuit as I can get away with. Currently travel with a Bare 3mm Ultrawarmth wetsuit and Mares X-Stream fins.

For posh resort trips I check two bags, one with clothes & shoes and a second with dive gear. For a liveaboard or short trip I can get away with one checked, a full carryon and a personal item. If I switched to an aluminium plate it would be a cake walk but cutrrently I still travel with a steel plate.

For either type of trip my regulators, perscription mask, dive computer, chargers, batteries and cables etc go in the carry on.

It should be noted that the airlines I use do not weigh carry-ons

 

[Wants2divemore]

I also take my wing off my BP but leave the straps in place. Although I don't take the straps off, I also have the Halcyon webbing and as @steinbil mentioned, the Hs make it easy to make sure the straps are even when adjusting the strap length between using my BPW for drysuit and 3 mm wetsuit/skin.

I pack everything dive related (BPW, regs, mask, computers, wetsuit, save a dive kit minus cutting devices) into a standard rollaboard and backpack (with fins strapped to the outside) my carry on and personal item, then check a bag with clothing and cutting devices. That way I can be gentle with my scuba stuff and don't have to worry about the weight of my gear or it getting lost. If my checked bag gets delayed/lost, it's a lot easier to replace some clothing than my gear.

 

[MidOH]

In my suitcase, wing goes in first, then some clothes, then fins and toiletries, then the rest of my clothes, then the backplate on top.

Even my 20# plate won't push through all those clothes to damage the wing. I usually wrap a towel around the plate so it can't slice through my luggage. But I use a light Ti plate for travel now.

Tsa is going to want to see what the big metal plate is. Seems like if I avoid air travel for a while, I always get inspected. But after a few trips, never again for a while. Wonder if our suitcase scans get saved in the computer, to reduce labor?

Regs, lights, primary mask, and camera, go in carry on due to weight.

 

[Lorenzoid]

In my suitcase, wing goes in first, then some clothes, then fins and toiletries, then the rest of my clothes, then the backplate on top.

Even my 20# plate won't push through all those clothes to damage the wing. I usually wrap a towel around the plate so it can't slice through my luggage. But I use a light Ti plate for travel now.

Tsa is going to want to see what the big metal plate is.

That the TSA is going to take a look at the plate is a good argument for packing the plate on top rather on the bottom, as I said I do. Either way, it doesn't really matter. What matters is simply that, in a soft-sided bag, the plate and the wing are separated from each other by stuff that would absorb the impact force if someone were to stomp on it. Or put the wing and backplate in separate bags. Or get hard-sided luggage and don't worry so much about impacts.