Traveling to Coz - Locks on dive gear/luggage

[scubasherry]

Hi everyone, we are heading out next Sunday- the 29th!!! So my question is do you lock your dive gear bags and checked luggage? I see they have those travel locks that the airport personal are suppose to be able to open. Do you reccomend them? or just fly with em unlocked? Of course our regs and computers will be with us in our carry on's but we have never traveled with expensive items (dive gear) before.
Thanks!
Sherry

 

[reikopm]

re: locks
I saw some luggage being saran-wrapped at one airport, which they must do after the security check. You might want to call your airline to see what they recommend. It's also good not to have obvious dive indicators on your luggage (dive decals etc).

I would carry all dive essentials as carry-on just in case your luggage gets lost for a few days. I carry on my mask, fins, and diveskin, in addition to my reg and computer. I'm a small person so finding small gear is difficult.

Happy Diving!

 

[jayjoans]

re: locks
I saw some luggage being saran-wrapped at one airport, which they must do after the security check.

I don't think this is the case... I think they were probably wrapping it with a strong pallet wrap type of material because they either couldn't get it closed again or the zipper had broken. My luggage has been inspected a few times after international trips and the only way I knew is they leave a preprinted note inside stating that they had inspected it. Leaving Cozumel they had EVERY passenger open up their checked luggage and stand there while a uniformed person inspected your stuff, just prior to putting it on the conveyer belt out to the baggage handlers. Returning from Cozumel one of my bags was inspected twice, once at the CZM airport with me standing there, then again in Houston before we connected to San Francisco becuase there was a US immigration note inside when I got home.

I've never figured the locks were any good, if the guys behind the counter have access , then who are you protecting your stuff from? I use big colorful caribiners to clip the zippers together so they dont open and let stuff fall out. It was good I did too, last time we arrived at CZM airport I counted 5 Akona dive bags just like mine. Actually I saw somebody pull my Akona bag off the conveyer and pile it with their other stuff, I could tell because of the colorful caribiners. I was in line at the customs agent so I could do nothing about it. As I watched, I saw the lady finally figure it out and push my bag to the side and take hers off the belt. 2 other people in front of me got to the baggage area first and headed for my dive bag again, they had the same bag, and as I got my bags yet another was still on the belt. I'm now looking for white permanent markers to mark all of my black dive luggage and gear.

Oh, and this is the same trip that my clothes luggage did not make it until the next day....but at least I could dive. I had a little $50 shopping spree at the Chedraui at Continental's expense.

 

[BurBunny]

I recommend the TSA locks. While the inspectors can open them, hopefully the luggage gorillas (who are the ones most frequently convicted of theft) don't yet have the keys.

Just to be sure, I get the ones with the indicator on them to show they've been opened by the override key. That way I know before I leave the airport if they've been opened and can quickly check for theft.

P.S. And yes, in some airports they do have the shrink wrap services available for protection. I believe last time I saw it was in Miami.

 

[bgillis]

We tried the TSA locks on one trip. Only three of the six we started out with made it back home. We both carry on the largest roller bag allowed with all our valuable items and one day change of clothes and swimsuits. We also carry on our regulator bags stuffed full.
It is a good idea to pack your items in your bags in zip lock bags. We have always done it since one trip when all our clothes got wet from setting in the rain on the tarmac.
Have a great time.

 

[ggunn]

A new one on me this year (last week) is that in leaving Cozumel, each person can have a maximum of four flashlight type batteries of any size in their carry-on luggage. I lost about 30 bucks worth of AA, C, and D cells to the gate inspectors. They are also concerned with metal hooks for some reason; they nearly confiscated my bungee cords.

 

[bgillis]

Thanks for the warning Gordon. They are very picky about bags in Cozumel. We went to Puerto Vallarta in November since Wilma did in our fall Cozumel trip and they did not even look in any of our bags.

 

[reikopm]

It is a good idea to pack your items in your bags in zip lock bags. We have always done it since one trip when all our clothes got wet from setting in the rain on the tarmac.
Have a great time.

You can also use one of those vacuum packed travel bag inserts instead of the zip lock. This compresses your clothes so you can fit more into your suitcase as well as protecting your clothes from water.

The colorful carabiner is also a great idea for identification and keeping those luggage zippers closed. I have seen many suitcase zippers open on the baggage claim converyor belts. I use safety pins to hold the zippers together and a bright yarn pom-pom for quick luggage ID.

Suitcases with wheels are the only way to travel, especially with dive gear.

 

[ggunn]

Suitcases with wheels are the only way to travel, especially with dive gear.

My dive gear bag is an Igloo rolling cooler. It is long enough to hold my fins, it's rigid for protection of gear, it's not obviously dive gear, and it has rings on the ends where I can bungee a duffel bag to the top of it for rolling through airports. When I move into the hotel room, it keeps my beer cold. When we catch fish, it keeps dorado filets frozen all the way back to Austin.

 

[skippy77]

hi there i travel a lot with my dive gear nearly all airlines now let u put diving equipment through for free and as for locks sorry but they are a waste of time if your case has a zip all the ppl have to do to get into it is push a pencil in to the zip and it will seperate and then they can zip it up like normal after and u are none the wiser till u get to were u are going and notice some thing is missing any way keep the regs and comps with u and happy diving