Pelican 1650 case...

[swsurgeon]

Good point on the stinky stuff. I just got back from Belize early this morning and noted that the guys who packed a bunch of dirty, nasty stuff on top of their gear seemed to get through pretty quickly. One other note concerns plastic quick ties. I secured a soft-sided bag with one of them. None of the inspectors in Belize City had anything with which to cut it, so they simply x-rayed the bag rather than inspecting it by hand.

 

[army_roofus]

1650- For the Rugged Durability. Ever seen some of those bags get thrown around? Glad I have a hard case.

All of the Dive magazines hate it. They say it does not fit all off their gear or not well at least. I have no problem. As long as you pack it neat and organized you can not go wrong. Even when I thought I had no more room I had no choice but to fit a small pelican camera case in also. I got it to fit with everything secure and nothing damaged.

My case fully loaded- 55 pounds. I don't possible know what else I can buy in diving to put in there. I am sure I will find something though.

Airlines - The weight never goes over unless you travel with weights. Thats a no-no. But they always look at the case funny like there is something of importance or a safty hazard so you will get questioned from time to time. The size is no problem. Fits in the smallest planes for an island hop.

www.Leisurepro.com $150.00 with the Foam(which you will have to remove of course. But can be used for other things.)

 

[army_roofus]

Above I said the smallest plane? not true. Did not think of the Cessna 182 you might have to take for a hop. Thats a consideration. RPanick has a great idea. Watch out for the smell. The Water in Belize stinks and taste terrible.

 

[gsxr1997]

if you fly delta they charge $25.00 if its over 50 lbs.

i used my 1650 on a cruise last year and it fit my oceanic probe bc,fins,,reg set,a 3mm shorty,3mm full ,mask ,reefmaster camera and strobe, and a 13 cu ft pony with reg set, and a gear bag to put it all in for the dive boat.

 

[geraldp]

I was thinking about getting this case to travel with, but I have read some people posting that the airlines are getting more strict/uptight about their 62" dimension limitations (L+W+H).

Knowing that the 1650's dimensions are 64"...has anyone experienced or know if this case creates problems? I just read that penalties can run $80 per leg of a trip for an "oversized" case!

Also, does anyone have any experience with this case...good or bad case to carry gear (drysuit, fins(quattros), bc, etc...)?

Thank you very much!!
Lisa

Hi Lisa: I was set to purchase a 1650 earlier this year and my LDS recomended against them (even though they sell a lot of them). The 1650 weighs in at 29.4 pounds EMPTY! (see Pelican Case Specs). Since domestic travel dictates a max of 50 pounds, that doesn't leave much weight for gear. Instead I got a Deep Outdoors Hail Mary case. It's slightly larger than the max size also (H+L+W = 64"), but on the two trips I've taken it on nobody has noticed (one domestic and one international) - probably because it's a soft-sided case. The case weighs in at 9 pounds empty, and has multiple pockets, including the main area for wet stuff. The rest of it is broken down into smaller dry compartments that truly keeps your stuff dry. It's got a pair of wheels on both ends so you can pick up either end and roll with it.

It also has a zip-out expand-o area that can increase the volume to over 9200 cu. in. (vs. the 1650's 5500 cu. in. internal dimensions). Of course fully expanded out it's too large to carry on an airplane, but you can still use it on road trips and on live-aboards.

The price was identical to the 1650. The only drawback that I could see was that it isn't hard-sided.

Jerry

 

[geraldp]

if you fly delta they charge $25.00 if its over 50 lbs.

United Airlines is the same (for domestic). 70 lbs for international.

 

[ChrisA]

I travel with a 1650 as well. I use the long shank locks that pelican sells for the case and tape them down with duct tape. It keeps them from flopping around and prevents them from getting snagged.

While marking them in ways that suggest that there is dive gear inside is not a good idea, you do need to boldly mark them in a manner that prevents other divers from picking up yours...they do look alike unless you see mine. Lots of fun things you can do with model car paint and stick on letters. I can spot mine across the airport.

To find the size of the case, just go to Pelican's web site.

That's the key to anti-theft too. If there are two bags, one is generic black and the other day-glow pink with green strips. No thief is going to risk walking out with the unique brightly colored bag.

For cruising sailors the number one thing stolen is the dinghy and/or outboard motor. But if you spray paint some stripoes on the engine cover it will make the engine very hard for a thief to sell. Same with a dinhy if the larger boat's name is prionted a foot tall on both sides.

The thing is that if a guy is going to steal some luggage he will steal some luggage you just have to make sure it some other guys luggage that gets swipped so make your less attractive.

Photographers have the same problem but thier stuff is even more expensive and esier to break. I saw one who had a nice official New York City seal and professional looking lettering that reads "sewage samples".