Help me get my travel weight down

[rgilkes]

Hey everybody,

I prefer to bring my own equipment when I travel, but my camera equipment/underwater housing take up a small suitcase and backpack (carryon + personal item) so I am trying to get my dive gear and clothes into one sub-50lb bag. On my most recent trip, I checked 2 bags and as you can imagine that gets expensive. Looking for some help on getting the weight of my dive gear down as much as possible.

Here's my gear breakdown:

• Aqua Lung Traveler 850 Roller Duffle Bag
• Cressi Big Eyes Evolution Mask/Case
• HOG stainless steal backplate
• HOG 23lb wing
• Edge fins
• 3mm or 5mm wetsuit
• Mares Cruise Mesh bag (for boat)
• Atomic Aquatics Z3 reg, first stage and Aqualung transmitter
• Atomic Aquatics SS1
• 5mm dive boots
• Snorkel
• Smb

All-in-all everything comes out to 42lbs. I think the most obvious place for weight reduction are with my BP/W and fins. Any suggestions on alternatives for my BC (I'd like to stay bp/w or back inflate) or fins? Or any other areas I could potentially reduce weight?

Thanks in advance!

PS. I'm sure some folks are going to want to comment on my decision to use the SS1, but it's a decision I've already made and am extremely comfortable/practiced with so we can skip those.

 

[diversteve]

I'd look at two areas:

Weigh the Roller Duffle Bag, you may find it heavier than you think empty. I use a lighter weight all canvas roller with a thin plastic bottom - it still has wheels/handle but is 3-4 lbs. lighter than my buddy's Akona roller dive bag.

If you can part with the bp/w, the steel plate probably weighs 5 or more lbs. by itself. A Zeagle Covert complete weighs 3.9 lbs and the Aqualung Zuma around 4.5. IIRC a Scubapro Lighthawk is about that also. All 3 are back inflate.

Lose the mask case, I pack my Visualator (same size as yours) in a couple pairs of socks. It's not much but it might help. Or stick it in a boot.

 

[elmo]

Take your regs, mask and computer in hand luggage.
Pack as little as possible of anything that isn't dive gear.

 

[MichaelMc]

Travel/Aluminum plate + some weigh pockets on it, such as from the Halcyon rig. Either way add lead as ballast there, not carry steel as ballast on the plane. Having flown myself with a 9 lb. plate as part of 42 lb. of gear not counting luggage.

Sidemount?

ForceFin Pros, very light; old thread over on photog site talks about photog fins, Fins for photographers - Unrequited Gear Lust and DIY Projects

Aluminum hardware. There was a thread on very low travel weight for small plane travel. Replacing D-rings and buckles with aluminum figured into it. Two that were close:
https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/light-est-bp-w-combination.490020
www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/recommndation-for-bc-well-suited-for-plane-travel.408823

 

[rgilkes]

Weigh the Roller Duffle Bag

If you can part with the bp/w, the steel plate probably weighs 5 or more lbs. by itself. A Zeagle Covert complete weighs 3.9 lbs

Online it says my duffle is 8.8lbs dry (need to weigh myself) and the lightest bag I've seen is 6.4lbs. May need to look into non-diving roller duffles.

I need to get to my local shop and take a look at the Covert. Looks nice and that weight is hard to beat.

Take your regs, mask and computer in hand luggage.

Unfortunately, my carryon + personal item are pretty much completely taken up with camera gear. My computer is an Aqualung i450 so that stays on my wrist.

Travel/Aluminum plate

I think the difference in weight between SS and aluminum is only 2-3lbs, but anything helps. Any idea how Kydex from DSS compares?

Sidemount?

Didn't even think about trying side mount.

ForceFin Pros ... Aluminum hardware

Looking into both. Thanks for the links!!

---

Thanks guys for the responses so far. Some great feedback!

 

[northernone]

I won't touch another man's equipment choices. I will suggest you can drop 6lbs by going to a lightweight duffle bag.

I'll second the idea of sidemount. My complete SM dive gear is carry on, this summer I managed to include a DSLR and housing but using a 'personal item' full of regs and hardware along with my carry on duffle bag.

Regards,
Cameron

 

[Wingy]

My travel gear - an aqualung Zuma back inflate bc, aqualung micron regs with miliflex hoses. Aeris accel fins, 5mm Aqualung everflex, 3mm full wetsuit, lavacore hooded vest, a smb, pointer stick, boots and gloves, Reef hook.

All my dive gear and clothing for trips that have stretched to a month are in a heavy duty canvas and mesh duffle bag without rollers or frame, just a simple bag - total weight 17kg.

 

[guruboy]

Switch to an AL or Kydex plate and call it a day.

Maybe leave the wetsuit at home and borrow one local.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Hey everybody,

I prefer to bring my own equipment when I travel, but my camera equipment/underwater housing take up a small suitcase and backpack (carryon + personal item) so I am trying to get my dive gear and clothes into one sub-50lb bag. On my most recent trip, I checked 2 bags and as you can imagine that gets expensive. Looking for some help on getting the weight of my dive gear down as much as possible.

Here's my gear breakdown:

• Aqua Lung Traveler 850 Roller Duffle Bag
• Cressi Big Eyes Evolution Mask/Case
• HOG stainless steal backplate
• HOG 23lb wing
• Edge fins
• 3mm or 5mm wetsuit
• Mares Cruise Mesh bag (for boat)
• Atomic Aquatics Z3 reg, first stage and Aqualung transmitter
• Atomic Aquatics SS1
• 5mm dive boots
• Snorkel
• Smb

All-in-all everything comes out to 42lbs. I think the most obvious place for weight reduction are with my BP/W and fins. Any suggestions on alternatives for my BC (I'd like to stay bp/w or back inflate) or fins? Or any other areas I could potentially reduce weight?

Why? The listed gear and its weight (about 42 lbs.) are about the same as what I take. I stuff another 7 or 8 lbs. of clothing and toiletries in there, and it's right at the 50 lb. limit. My situation differs from yours, though, in that I don't have camera gear, so if the airline agent says I am a pound or two over, I can usually transfer something from my checked bag to my carry-on. The key is to dive in warm locations where you don't need more than t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops

 

[Rred]

I wonder how much weight you could lose by taking the backplate to a proper machine shop and having them replicate it in titanium, fully skeletonized/lightened. I'd take a WAG that half the weight could be lost without any strength lost, but having titanium worked is damned pricey.

"right at the 50 lb. limit."
You must be flying on Delta. They literally couldn't tell the French couple ahead of me at the ticket counter how many pounds were in twenty kilos. The international limit, 20 kilos, about 44 pounds. Or now that you have to pay for the peanuts, has that been changing too?