Transporting my D90 and aquatica housing

[ozza]

Elo all,

Got my aquatica housing, strobes, camera and lenses, bought a peli case for transport which I can take as carry on, only issue is the weight (5kg max), im sure wont be allowed to carry on (from the uk)

So question is, does anyone know a way around this, or/and know a top notch insurance to cover my dive photographic equipment in case it has to go in the hold?

Thanks all

 

[divengolf]

Elo all,

Got my aquatica housing, strobes, camera and lenses, bought a peli case for transport which I can take as carry on, only issue is the weight (5kg max), im sure wont be allowed to carry on (from the uk)

So question is, does anyone know a way around this, or/and know a top notch insurance to cover my dive photographic equipment in case it has to go in the hold?

Thanks all

The 1510 Pelican case (largest allowable carry on) is about 5 kg empty. Most folks that I know carry on the housing and camera in hand or in a backpack. Then check most everything else.

There are plenty of threads on packing on SB . Also check wetpixel.com.

 

[John Gulliver]

I agree with divengolf. Pelican and similar cases are far too heavy to use as carry on luggage nowadays. You are allowed to take a camera (plus an umbrella, magazines etc) in addition to your carry on luggage and I have always got away with a fairly large camera bag under the camera rule, so I take my camera, lenses and various accessories in my camera bag and my uw-housing, flat port, one strobe and sync cord and a short arm in a backpack. That way I can photograph even if my main luggage doesn't make it to my destination at the same time as I do.

 

[jbb]

I agree with divengolf. Pelican and similar cases are far too heavy to use as carry on luggage nowadays. You are allowed to take a camera (plus an umbrella, magazines etc) in addition to your carry on luggage and I have always got away with a fairly large camera bag under the camera rule, so I take my camera, lenses and various accessories in my camera bag and my uw-housing, flat port, one strobe and sync cord and a short arm in a backpack. That way I can photograph even if my main luggage doesn't make it to my destination at the same time as I do.

Do you then check-on your regulators? I have been able to carry on so far but it is surprising how heavy my first stage is.

 

[John Gulliver]

Do you then check-on your regulators? I have been able to carry on so far but it is surprising how heavy my first stage is.

For the last few years I have left all my dive gear at home (except my mask and computers) and rented. All the dive centres (and liveaboards) I've been to in recent years have had first-rate rental gear, including quality regulators, and the cost of renting full gear (including a wetsuit) has only been about 15 US dollars a day. 5 kg excess luggage can cost a lot more than one or two weeks' gear rental. I always book rental gear in advance as some places have a limited amount. It is also usually cheaper if you book it in advance.

 

[mjh]

Use a F.64 backpack as a carry on. I like it because it is a real backpack and great to use on land for other day trips etc.... That said bought one with rollers for the wife and it is nice when at the airport as they both way around 15k. Only Qantas has actually weighed our backpacks and made us repack. While we bring all our own gear, we only carry on cameras. As others said everything else can be rented.

 

[AussieByron]

I pack my D90 housing, strobes, domes, ports, recharger etc etc all in my pelican 1620. It weights 24kg and it goes in the hold.

I pack my cameras and have in my laptop bag as carry on.

So you spent several $1,000 already on a setup and mostly a few more $1,000 on a trip. What is a hundred or so dollars in excess baggage in the end of the day??? And to have piece of mind that its packed very well in that pelican case......

Its not just the airport too. Transporting your gear from the airport to maybe the resort or liveaboard...I like the feeling that if its in my big pelican case its not going to be broken when I finally arrive.

Also look at the airline your flying with or other airlines....some offer allowances for "Dive" gear......big pelican case with dive stickers all over it.......well underwater camera is dive gear. Some airlines offer larger baggage allowances at a very cheap rate prepaid online.

But if your doing alot of flying around the world joining an Airline Club ie Qantas Club (yes i am Australian), you get more baggage allowance for you and your partner and access to their/associate airlines lounges. I think its like 64kg for you 32kg for partner when normal economy is 20kg (Baggage allowance in Australia). Also you get quick check in.

Something to think about.

Regards Mark

 

[diverdoug1]

How many of you are traveling? The following is how my wife and I pack our dive gear and 2 DSLR set ups. We do 5-6 live aboards a year.

-I truly think that Pelican cases invite theft at the airport! I think they are very sturdy, and used to use them, but had too many losses.

-Checked bags 1 and 2 are rolling duffels containg each of our dive gear and toiletries/clothes (45 lbs each). These are not "dive" duffels, but are just ordinary looking codura nylon rolling duffels. Wetsuits in first, masks,regs and lights in bubble wrap, BC goes in next, Clothes, then fins on top.

-Checked bag 3 is a ugly lime green samsonite hardsided suiter that contains all ports, chargers, camera handles, sync cords, strobe arms, accesories, Our backup housing, and lots of bubble wrap. We wrap duct tape around the latches.(wt 48 lbs)

-My carry-on is a backpack holding laptop, dive computers, camera bodies, lenses (wt 40 lbs)

-My wife's carry-on has 3 DS200 strobes, batteries, and our main housing wrapped in copious bubble wrap (wt 38 lbs)

If we have to go on a puddle jumper, I can still get the backpack on, but we might have to check Her carry-on.

 

[John Gulliver]

I pack my D90 housing, strobes, domes, ports, recharger etc etc all in my pelican 1620. It weights 24kg and it goes in the hold. Regards Mark

And if your checked-in luggage goes walkabout for three days, as happened to me and two friends on a trip to Manado, Indonesia, you won't be able to take any uw images for the first few days of your trip.

 

[vladimir]

Some airlines (Qantas) have been weighing carry-ons for a decade or more and some have started more recently (Singapore Air), but no matter where you fly, it's more likely to be an issue than it has been in the past. I have just changed my baggage strategy to adjust to the new climate, going from this Porter Case, which is indestructible, but weighs 12 pounds (5.5 kg) empty, to this Cosmolite which only weighs 4.9 pounds (2.2 kg), but looks commensurately flimsier. The padded dividers from the Porter Case fit nicely into the Cosmolite. The new bag is also more easily wheeled and less conspicuous, in case you have to check it. If they enforce a 5 kg carry-on limit, or even a 7 kg limiit, no bag is light enough to allow me to bring my camera, lenses, and housing into the cabin; my goal is to keep the bag light enough for them to let me slide, or inconspicuous enough to escape weighing altogether.