Traveling with scuba gear

[vmsgeek]

Hello,

We (my son and I) are new to diving, he just completed his OW classes, I start mine later this week, and we plan on doing the cert dives next month in Florida.

I've been looking at gear, and will have many questions eventually, but the first one that comes to mind is... you have your pile of gear, and a suitcase... with the airlines watching bag weights carefully these days and charging non-trivial amounts for overweight bags, how do you all manage to cram even a basic rig with enough clothes and stuff for a week's diving excursion somewhere?

We travel often, we're good at packing light, and I realize you don't take weights and tanks with you in most cases, but it seems that with even just two people bringing the basics it will be pretty difficult to stay under the per-bag limit.

Thanks.

 

[Guba]

First, look at your gear carefully and decide what is ABSOLUTELY necessary. Be brutal. Do you really need that 3 mil jacket if the water is 80 plus degrees? Dive slate? Backup snorkel? Back up knife? You get the idea.
Second, really trim the clothing. Do you REALLY need a pair of shorts for every day of the week when you only wear them in the morning and the evening (and you are in swim trunks the rest of the time underwater)? Can you wash some clothing at your resort/hotel? Pare down anything that isn't absolutely necessary, just as you did with the gear.
Then, decide what gear goes in what bag. I take my computer, regs, and camera gear in my carry on bag, along with ONE change of clothes (usually shorts and t-shirt if it's a tropical destination). I pack by stowing my gear in a rolling pilot bag (important stuff first, right?) and then packing it all into place with clothing around the sides. Not only does this maximize space, but it also pads my gear. I tend to roll t-shirts and shorts instead of folding them because iit tends to use less space.
It goes without saying that if you plan on flying with gear often, you might want to invest in the lightest weight gear that will still meet your needs. Talk with other experienced traveling divers and see what they have chosen for their kit. Valuable insights can be gleaned by looking around and seeing how others solved the problem.
Welcome to diving!

 

[melanie.]

My simple solution - pack the dive gear first, everything after that is optional. Stops me from bringing more crap then I need

 

[gcarter]

Mind you, I did have a 2 bag limit on my flight, but still...

In my XS Scuba duffel, I carried my Balance BCD, fins, 7mm FJ & shorty, hood, gloves, boots.

Small (carryon size) roller bag (that I did check since I could, and I was already checking something anyway) with my clothes.

Regs, lights, mask, and computer in a backpack with my laptop, ereader, camera, and other assorted stuff as a carryon.

This was for 9 days in Victoria.

If you are going south, your clothes are lighter, you don't need all of that neoprene, and you should be able to easily get what you need in a single suitcase under 50 lbs.

Unless you are a woman

<ducks>

 

[melanie.]

Unless you are a woman

<ducks>

Ya you better duck!!!
I would like to point out that as a woman I have never had to pay for excess weight or bags. And no I didn't have a male's bag to put my stuff in either thank you very much :mooner:

 

[kiming]

It is a challenge but I'm able get 50 pounds of scuba equipment in a checked bag. One item that helps make sure I don't exceed that limit is a luggage scale. Also, avoid using a 15 pound suitcase.

 

[Boardndave]

Don't forget that you generally can take two bags on board. I usually pack my clothes (for a warm destination) in a carry on bag and put my regs/computer/mask with my laptop and other personal items in a backpack.

 

[herman]

Its not too bad if you trim down your items to what is really needed and take full advantage of your carry on. Your regs are one of the heaver items and you should carry them on board along with any other expensive/hard to replace item. Buying a travel BC of some sort can save a fair amount weight, some of the more ....fancy.... for lack of a better word...BCs can weight up to 9 lbs, a good travel BC comes in at 4 lbs or less. Avoid heavy suit cases, each pound your suit case it, that is a pound less you have to work with. While on the subject, avoid the urge to mark the suit case with dive related items...dive stickers, DAN tags and the like. If you do, you just put a sign on the bag saying "expensive dive equipment inside, please steal it". Drop by a sporting goods department and buy a 50 lb fishing scale. These are great for weighing the bags and making sure they are within the weight limit. Unless absolutely necessary, I limit my bags to 45lbs to avoid a weight dispute.......and one last item, tell your wife that buying large ceramic figures for Christmas presents is not allowed.....

 

[rongoodman]

I can pack for a cave diving trip to Mexico in one checked and one(sometimes heavy, depending on how many regulator sets) carry-on. As someone mentioned above, don't use up a good part of your 50# allowance on a heavy suitcase. I use heavy ballistic nylon duffels from Wild Things, but there are others too.

 

[Colliam7]

As several have said, it is simply a matter of:
1. Minimizing what you take, both in personal gear and in dive gear
2. Minimizing the weight of what you take
3. Distributing the essential remaining weight across three items - a) your checked bag, b) your one allowed carry on bag, and c) your one allowed personal item.

My wife and I just spent 8 days in Bonaire. We each took fins and a full exposure suit. We both even dove SS backplates (not terribly travel efficient, but it is what we dive). I took a canister light and several additional flashlight-style lights, my video camera, and 4 regs total for the two of us, and we still made the weight limit. Each of us checked one, 49 pound, bag, each of us carried a medium size rollarboard that easily fit into the overhead bins (remember, they check your carry-on bag for size, not weight) and each of us carried a backpack with a laptop. As an example of minimizing personal items, I wore a pair of shorts and a knit collared shirt on the plane down there and back, took (only) one extra pair of shorts, two t-shirts, and some undershorts and a toiletries kit, wore the same shoes (Keene's) the whole time in route and on Bonaire and was quite comfortable. (We washed some clothes mid-week in the hotel room.)

Drop by a sporting goods department and buy a 50 lb fishing scale. These are great for weighing the bags and making sure they are within the weight limit.

YES. Small, lightweight, can go in your backpack, and can be invaluable at the AP check in line.

Also, avoid using a 15 pound suitcase.

Avoid heavy suit cases, each pound your suit case it, that is a pound less you have to work with.

Ditto! I use an Akona mesh dive bag, put inside an Eagle Creek cloth duffel, for all scuba gear, including regs - NOT a hardshell suitcase. If I find that I am a couple pounds over the limit, I shift the reg to either my personal item (backpack) or carry-on.

While on the subject, avoid the urge to mark the suit case with dive related items...dive stickers, DAN tags and the like. If you do, you just put a sign on the bag saying "expensive dive equipment inside, please steal it".

Very good additional advice. I purposefully do not buy ostentatiously logoed luggage, especially not luggage that has a dive equipment manufacturer logo on it. That's is part of the reason I put my Akona mesh dive bag inside of a plain, brown cloth duffel.