the_one_who_waits
Registered
(Backstory; pics attached so scroll down to skip)
When I travel, I enjoy maintaining the freedom and flexibility to do what I want when i want. Thus, I never plan out the entire trip in advance. At most, I would buy a departure and return ticket and then decide where to go and what to do after I arrive at a destination. I would bounce around cities and countries via one-way tickets on planes, buses, trains, ferries, etc. This means traveling as light as possible is top priority, and this also means I never check-in any luggage. My typical loadout is a backpack and the standard carry-on wheeled suitcase.
When I got into diving a few years ago, my travel plans began revolving around dive destinations. And after a week or so of diving, I'd trek around the country/region. As much as I enjoyed diving, I was still very adamant against being encumbered by getting my own gear due to the likelihood of needing to check-in luggage. I ended up getting only a mask and a dive computer as their size and weight are negligible. And so I settled on renting all the rest of the equipment indefinitely. No matter how many mouths those regulators have been in (not to mention the times they've been puked in), how many people peed in the wetsuits I was just putting on, nor how infrequent everything was cleaned/washed....this was the compromise I resigned myself to, until.
I've always assumed that, at minimum, rental equipment would be in working order. After all, customer safety would be every dive shops' main priority right? I'd imagine dead customers are not good for business. Which led me to blindly trust and believe the equipment I'd be renting, no matter how gross or disorderly, would at least keep me alive. Long story short, I experienced, not one, but 2 complete regulator failures within the same year, on different trips/different locations. At that point, I decided it was enough and purchased my own regulator set.
Things kind of spiraled out of hand from there and I went on a shopping spree for the rest of the setup. I scoured the internet (mostly this board) to research every piece of equipment while maintaining the objective of keeping it as travel-friendly as possible. Although I was meticulously measuring, down to the half centimeter, the cubic space in my backpack and suitcase and reconciling that with each piece of equipment, there was no way I would be certain until everything had arrived and I attempted to pack it all together.
Well, my final order arrived earlier today and I am proud to say that it was all able to fit into my carry-on luggage (and with space to spare!). I have come across some posts where people would mention they achieved this as well but didn't provide specifics so I figured I'd share mine.
Details:
When I travel, I enjoy maintaining the freedom and flexibility to do what I want when i want. Thus, I never plan out the entire trip in advance. At most, I would buy a departure and return ticket and then decide where to go and what to do after I arrive at a destination. I would bounce around cities and countries via one-way tickets on planes, buses, trains, ferries, etc. This means traveling as light as possible is top priority, and this also means I never check-in any luggage. My typical loadout is a backpack and the standard carry-on wheeled suitcase.
When I got into diving a few years ago, my travel plans began revolving around dive destinations. And after a week or so of diving, I'd trek around the country/region. As much as I enjoyed diving, I was still very adamant against being encumbered by getting my own gear due to the likelihood of needing to check-in luggage. I ended up getting only a mask and a dive computer as their size and weight are negligible. And so I settled on renting all the rest of the equipment indefinitely. No matter how many mouths those regulators have been in (not to mention the times they've been puked in), how many people peed in the wetsuits I was just putting on, nor how infrequent everything was cleaned/washed....this was the compromise I resigned myself to, until.
I've always assumed that, at minimum, rental equipment would be in working order. After all, customer safety would be every dive shops' main priority right? I'd imagine dead customers are not good for business. Which led me to blindly trust and believe the equipment I'd be renting, no matter how gross or disorderly, would at least keep me alive. Long story short, I experienced, not one, but 2 complete regulator failures within the same year, on different trips/different locations. At that point, I decided it was enough and purchased my own regulator set.
Things kind of spiraled out of hand from there and I went on a shopping spree for the rest of the setup. I scoured the internet (mostly this board) to research every piece of equipment while maintaining the objective of keeping it as travel-friendly as possible. Although I was meticulously measuring, down to the half centimeter, the cubic space in my backpack and suitcase and reconciling that with each piece of equipment, there was no way I would be certain until everything had arrived and I attempted to pack it all together.
Well, my final order arrived earlier today and I am proud to say that it was all able to fit into my carry-on luggage (and with space to spare!). I have come across some posts where people would mention they achieved this as well but didn't provide specifics so I figured I'd share mine.
Details:
- I elected to go with a BP/W as it packs flatter, and can be separated if needed, which is what I ended up doing (BP in backpack and wing in suitcase).
- Instead of a wetsuit, I went for 3-piece Sharkskin suit: pants, zip-up hooded vest, zip-up jacket. This allows for more flexibility in packing since they can be packed in different places (zip-up jacket ended up going in the regulator bag)
- The fins were a no brainer: Scubapro Supernovas. Disassembled and stacked in the suitcase.
- The lime green square folds out to be a large and sturdy duffel bag that I will use to transport all my equipment to/from dive shops and boats. Plus, for when my suitcase (currently at ~24lbs) exceeds weight allowance on some airlines, I can use that to check-in BP/W, fins, etc...
- My backpack is from 5.11 tactical. I put the BP, tech shorts, dry bag, and collapsed duffel bag in it. There is plenty space left in there and the side clips can be adjusted or released for more storage.
- also just realized that the suitcase has another zipper that can further expand its volume
