Travel Bags

[Finesse]

What is a good rolling travel bag for TWO sets of gear???

Two BC's, Reg's, sets of (Mask, snorkel, Fins) and maybe two 3mm suits.....

And places to purchase (Leisurepro is showing a lot of “out of stock” on the web site)

Thanks

Scott

 

[ladycute1]

Scott,

I don't have an answer for you, but I wanted to caution you about weight -- I know iwth just one set of gear and a few clothes, if I include lights and such I am quickly approaching the airlines "let us soak you for some more money" limit.

Liz

 

[Dee]

I'm with Ladycute on this one. I pack just what I need on a trip with little extra and still come close to some limits.

Other than the weight issue, if your bag gets stolen (it DOES happen) you'll lose 2 sets of gear instead of one!

Why not two nice bags on wheels?

 

[Finesse]

Thank you for the feedback ladies!!!!!! we will keep that in mind.

One problem with that however are bag limitations during inter-island flight. I know on the big commercial guys its not a problem....I'm just thinking when we get to the prop planes in the islands......I'll need to find out the limitations this week....

Anyone with info on good bags for gear ????

Thanks

 

[Dee]

There are lots of good ones on the market, some larger ~ some smaller, priced between $100-300+. My first one was wheeled Tilos™, similar to the Armour™ today. It had a hard bottom, soft top with removeable reg bag (which I didn't use for regs) and a seperate section for wet stuff. I packed dive gear and clothes in it and stayed right on the weight limit line! When the zipper finally gave way, I started looking for a replacement.

The prices were sky high, the quality had dropped and most bags were plastered with dive logos. Most of them screamed "Steal ME...I've got expensive dive gear in here!" In fact, the only time we an attempted theft of dive gear was with a large Pelican 1650 case.

I went to one of the outlet malls, found a luggage store and picked out the most common looking suitcase with wheels. It fits all airline regs as far as size goes (you can find sizes to fit those puddle jumper restrictions), holds all my dive gear and clothes, and no one looks at it twice on the airport carasel (sp?). I think I paid all of $35 for it. It's well made but even if not, at that price I can afford to replace it every couple of years.

 

[Finesse]

We were discussing just that ..... Getting regular wheeled duffels to do the dirty work......We’ve even seen a few in catalog's travel bags that have an area under the bag for "shoes/boots" which is perfect for the fins and anything else thats flat.....but they dont have the "Scuba gear price tag"

 

[Reeflover]

My husband and I travel for dive vacations pretty frequently and we have found the easiest way is a bag for each of us. Trying to cram all the gear in one bag can get over the airline weight limits and the thought of having both sets of gear stolen is worse. We bought plain looking bags that serve the same purpose as the "dive bags" for alot less money and no logos so we aren't advertising what gear is inside for someone to steal.

You might want to check a general luggage website and see what is available. Many of the bags we saw were almost exactly the same as the dive bags we had been looking at.

Reeflover

 

[sactomags]

it can get too heavy and we once did have to pay the $50 surcharge to get it to Hawaii (we divided things up for the trip home, so got rid of the heavy surcharge). That was two full sets of gear, except for our regs/computers which we carry on and my camera/video gear which stays with me as well.

Another diver we saw in Florida on a May trip had an Armor bag that held two sets of gear, which he said loved as it also had the backpack handles (that would be one heavy bag!).

We now travel with two bags (one each) and take mesh bags to put our gear into once we get "there." I've learned to really pack well and can get by with one bag for everything -- scuba gear and clothing. Our last trip was 10 days and we each had just one bag -- and neither of them were too heavy. Of course, remember to pack an extra (we travel with one that is collapseable) bag to bring back any extras (such as gifts, coffee, t-shirts, etc).

I posed the following awhile ago, but perhaps it will assist you in finding out what the airline you will travel on accepts/charges:

Because we all travel with so many goodies -- dive gear, cameras, housings, strobes, not to mention clothes, I just found this info on a site. Although they sell bags, etc., the info is still good to have/note for future travel, plus they also give the airlines' number to call.

http://www.ebags.com/info/media/ind...Approved Bags

Good luck whatever you decide!

Margaret

 

[KZMAN]

I realized before my last trip, that I had needed a new bag, and agonized over it for weeks. I also wanted one that could accomidate a lot of gear, although single, I take back-ups,(from experience) I searched all the obvious sites,(diving & retail) and I found myself returning to the same bag, which I purchased, unfortunatly, I waited too close to my departure date, that I ended up paying much more for it at my LDS, even with a discount, as opposed, to what I found it on the web. Could'nt wait for shipping.
Anyway it was Akona's new for 2002, adventure bag, with dual fin pockets, seperate reg bag w/console cover and its own compartment. Dry bag area, many nice compartments. Large heavy duty wheels and zippers, Hidden pull handle, or back straps. Plenty of room for two, etc...... All for about $149.00 if you shop the usuall dive sites.
I had almost two full sets of gear, and about 18lbs of weight, 2 dive lights etc.... excluding my regs/comp.,( I always carry with me) and I would have guessed the total weight around 70lbs, and although I was concerned, I had no problem, between 2 airlines. It does have one small Akona emblem, but you'd have to be a diver, familar with them to know the contents.
I'm very happy with it, and can see many years of rugged use, and thought it was quite resonable, considering....
Anyway, good luck, I know I lost some sleep over this...

 

[Stone]

I use a large Samsonite hardsided suitcase. It had about 800,000 miles on it before I started using it for my dive gear, and it has over 1 million miles now (real air miles). It provides more protection than any rolling duffles I have tried (zippers and seams "seem" to fail regularly). My Akona semi-mesh bag goes into the suitcase with the gear for use on the charter boat.