need a travel bag - advice

[madfish]

Need to buy a wheeled travel bag to house all my new equipments (bc, fins, but not Reg)..has been advised it is better to buy a proper dive bag, rather than a normal travel bag, for durability. Is that true?

Thanks.

[crpntr133]

Yep, most normal travel bags will not last as long as a good dive bag. Pay the price once and be done with it.

[mike_s]

This should help you.

My first "dive bag" was bought at Wal-Mart. It wasn't fancy but I got a roller duffle bag for $35 or $40 bucks. I had cheap metal zippers that quickly went bad with a little salt water on them. THe fabric was cheap also and tore easily after only a few trips.....

So... then I broke down and got a real gear bag. I paid about $125 (+/-). It has heavy duty zippers and re-enforced seams and is just made about 100 times better. It also has an extendable handle like the new suit cases do so you can pull it easier through the airport. With the old bag, I had to hold onto a "soft handle" on the end of the bag and almost had to bend over a little to pull it.


There are several different brands to choose from and your choice might be different based on your individual needs. I chose to get one that didn't have many external pockets. For example, many have the external regulator pocket. I would never put a regulator in it because you are asking for it to get crushed, especially as checked airline luggage. Also very few divers will put their regulator in checked airline luggage.

Also don't get a bag that has "dive logos" all over it. It tells airline worker theives exactly what type of gear is in the bag, as opposed to regular clothes, etc.

Most divers carry-on their regulator, camera gear, and perhaps other items they are fond of such as their mask.

You might also want to throw in a large nylon or mesh duffle bag to use as a boat bag if you don't want to take your wheeled bag on the boat with you.

Hope this helps.

email if you have questions.

-mike

[Charlie99]

Need to buy a wheeled travel bag to house all my new equipments (bc, fins, but not Reg)..has been advised it is better to buy a proper dive bag, rather than a normal travel bag, for durability. Is that true?
.
Depends on how you use it. Normal bags don't like saltwater. OTOH, I find that a large standard wheeled suitcase will hold all my dive gear and my clothing also. Works fine for travel.

To haul stuff to a boat I just carry a small duffel bag (with nylon zipper) for everything except the BCD. The easiest way to carry a BCD onto a boat is to simply wear it. This method also avoids the problem of trying to store large bulky bags on a boat.


On my return trip, the non-wheeled duffel bag just folds up and goes inside the suitcase, unless I'm overweight because of wet wetsuits or extra stuff purchased while on the trip. In that case, I just throw a bunch of indestructible stuff like wetsuits and dirty clothing into the soft duffel.

This works for me, but YMMV.

Charlie