What to pack in carry on luggage for the tropics?

[JGBrown]

QUOTE]

I know this guy that cuts all the tags off his shirts and the handle off his toothbrush. (hiker).

Does he drill the head of the toothbrush out too?

 

[Divrdug]

As a guy who has to travel for business reasons on a regular basis this is an interesting thread. I am wondering how many times I have been waiting to get to my seat or had bags dropped on my head there were divers on board trying to stuff barely legal carry ons into already too full overheads. If you have to check one bag you may as well check it all except maybe regs and computer. The rest you can rent. Dont forget if you are going to get onto anything smaller than a 737. i.e. regional jet, which is common to smaller destinations, I have actually been halfway across the country on them, anything bigger than a brief case or small backpack is getting checked at the gate anyway. Also planes are getting more and more crowded these days and if you are not one of the first on you may not find a spot for that big carry on and it will get gate checked. Dont get too carried away, your going on vacation. Relax.

I hear you just "reeeelax". Wait until YOUR $1500 of Dive gear goes to Sitka instead of your diving destination and you have to rent some crap that you are unfamiliar with and is not as well maintained for a dive trip you been saving for for a year and waiting on for 2

 

[HawaiiMSDT]

Well, you could wear your BC, that would be interesting....

nice.

 

[munitor]

As a guy who has to travel for business reasons on a regular basis this is an interesting thread.

I hear you, but I seem to spend my life on international flights so certainly qualify as a frequent traveler. If I had my druthers wouldn't check anything. Dive gear is just too bulky, though, so what I have in my roller and bookbag is what I consider too precious to lose or too risky to rent (whether due to quality or lack of familiarity). Can't relax if your trip is ruined, and airlines lose way, way too much luggage. I say max out your carry on and take advantage of frequent flyer status for early boarding.

 

[Chocoholic]

I hate checking in luggage, especially with expensive gear in it. I want to try to fit my BC, Reg, computer into my carry on. Do you think I can get it all to fit? The BC is the only thing that will give me a problem. Any suggestions to cram it all in one bag small enough to carry on? My computer is a AI wrist mount so I could even wear that.

Oh, the BC that I am leaning towards getting is the Scuba Pro Knighthawk.

I have a weight integrated BCD and I take the weight pockets out and tuck everything in and it fits in a 20 inch rollaboard, I also put my dive computer and camera and a bathingsuit in there. Then I take my regs and put them in a reg bag that looks about like a soft computer bag. I check the rest mostly because my fins wont fit in my carryon.
I fly Alaska Airlines a lot and they have a waiver in the fine print on their website that says that they WILL NOT cover dive equipment over and above the regular bag allowance. So if you are going to check your expensive equipment look at the carrier's fine print to see if they will cover it if they 'lose' some of your equipment.
Have fun on your trip.

 

[sytech]

Was wondering how folks handle the issue of locking their checked in luggage?

As I said in an earlier post in this thread, I can get my BC and most other gear in my carry-on-roller suitcase. The regulators go in a backpack with me.

However, many times I have used a full sized hard-suitcase (had to be checked in of course) with the built-in combination locks. On several occassions while waiting for my flight Jet Blue paged me to come to their desk so they could tell TSA what the combination for the locks are because they wanted to inspect my suitcase. I thought it was a nice courtesy on Jet Blue's part because my luggage doesn't have the "TSA approved" locks (which they know how to open) and TSA would have busted the locks to look inside.

I was told that the best thing to do in this regard is to leave the combination locks at their "open" position. The suitcase has several other closing "clamps" which are not locked so I don't have to worry about the contents spilling out but theft of some contents can be easily accomplished by non TSA personnel.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Sy

 

[dive_lover88]

i travel with 3 bags. Dive gear bag, Haversack and reg bag.

Dive gear- Everything goes in except for regs and comp
Haversack- My clothes and toiletries and other stuffs
reg bag- regs and comp and some o-rings and batteries.

 

[barrmust]

I carry a bag on that is 22 x 14 x 12. it is within the airline limits for carry on. when i am done it weighs about 38#. i pack almost everything in it. i figure that my gear is to expensive to loose and i really dont want to use some rental junk on my vacation. i am on vacation to relax as some have said and having to wory about getting my gear returned after the air line lost it wont help that. also i wont be relaxed if i dont have my gear that i am comfortable with.

i pack in my roller carry on:
regs with long hoses, b/w, 3mil wetsuit, mask, boots, gloves, camera strobe, smb, finger spool, snorkel, shears, 2 computers,

in my small carry on:
camera and housing, batteries, charger

in checked luggage:
knife, fins (they are to long for my carry on)

i normaly come within a pound or two to the weight limit for carry on. its worth it to me just for piece of mind. the only time i have been gate checked was on a very small plane in st lucia. but they gave me the bag right as i got off the plane. we normaly pick our seats when we fly and pick towards the rear so that there will be overhead storage available when we get on.

Russ

 

[Saltair]

I hear you, but I seem to spend my life on international flights so certainly qualify as a frequent traveler. If I had my druthers wouldn't check anything. Dive gear is just too bulky, though, so what I have in my roller and bookbag is what I consider too precious to lose or too risky to rent (whether due to quality or lack of familiarity). Can't relax if your trip is ruined, and airlines lose way, way too much luggage. I say max out your carry on and take advantage of frequent flyer status for early boarding.

I agree if I could avoid it I would not check a thing, but the stuff I travel with, clothes and saftey equipment for work on deck on tank vessels, just doesn't carry on and I have decided since I have to check one bag life is easier in the terminal if I check all but a few essential items. I have had my bags lost enroute to the boat. Its no more fun to work on a boat for a week in the clothes you arrived in then it is to go on vacation and rent your gear believe me. All that said I am going on what is a big deal vacation for my wife and I in three weeks or so, and yeah I will try and get as much of my gear as possible in the carry on, but I cant say I will go so far as to buy a compression bag. Maybe if I was flying US Air though....

 

[Skinsfan1311]

I don't want to rent anything but a tank.

My BC (Zeagle Stiletto), regs, computer, 3/2mm shorty, boots, flashlight, mask, camera, batteries & charger fit into a carry-on.

I paid too much of my hard-earned money to let this stuff out of my sight.

Hope this helps!