Use a cooler to transport your housing?

[Shasta_man]

preparing for a trip and this time, I'm checking the housing. Of course, not the cameras, just the housing.

Don't want the Pelican case.

Someone noted that people are transporting their housing in coolers. It seems an ideal vessel.

Has anyone used one for air travel?

I'm wondering at the success at getting it on the plane, the housing surviving the trip and, in particular, how you secured the cooler (locked it).

 

[dittohead]

I have been using this for years. I simply put my housing inside a pillowcase, then inside my wetsuit. I travel all over the world with it and have had no problems yet. I usually take several housings on each trip for testing and they always come out in one piece. Hope this helps!


Stanley Hand Tools :  029025R  -  Stanley® Mobile Tool Chest

 

[marshallkarp]

I looked at the coolers, but they would have been too bulky to fit in my checked bag. I made this:

Marshall Karp's Blog: 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007

scroll down the page. I would have preferred a hard case housing, too, but hope it helps.

 

[crpntr133]

I have used one of the soft sided coolers and placed a collapsible crate inside it. Folds up nice and flat when not in use.

 

[Shasta_man]

Sorry if this wasn't clear...

I meant a hard shell cooler which I check as bag #2.

Thanks for the soft sided suggestions but here's the problems:

- I already use a camera backpack as a serious carry on with regulator, video camera, chargers, batteries, video tapes, dive computer, etc, etc. So one carry on rule stops here.
- I've carried the housing in a second carry on before but next trip airlines says 1 carry on.
- The thing is very heavy to lug around.

This is why I'm looking to check it.

 

[crpntr133]

With a crate inside I don't see any reason why you couldn't check a soft sided cooler. This also doubles as a boat bag with or without the crate.
If packed properly mine will fit in a regular milk crate. Zip tie a piece of wood to the top and it could be checked.
I really see no ideal way of checking a hard sided cooler and keep it securely closed. How about a rubbermaid style tote? Drill a few holes in the top lip and zip tie.

 

[ronscuba]

"Packed properly" can be a problem with the baggage inspectors. Once they look at your stuff, they typically are not too careful how they repack your bag. Be careful with the fragile stuff.