Recommendations Needed for Good Checked Bag

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aeweems12

Contributor
Messages
97
Reaction score
107
Location
Alabama
# of dives
25 - 49
Hey y'all!

I'm headed to Roatan for the Invasion and I'm hoping you might have a suggestion of a good bag to use for my checked gear. I am going to be transporting basically two sets of gear.

Any suggestions?
 
I have a Stahlsac. You will pay more for it but it is first class/top shelf all the way. My friend bought a cheapie piece of luggage figuring he could buy several for the price of a nice one. Well when his stuff was coming off the conveyor, it came off in bits and pieces with clothes here and there. Then he spent the next few days walking all over the island to find some luggage to use for the way home. He ended buying another piece of crap but for $100 because that's all he could find. You may be able to buy several cheap pieces of luggage for the price of a nice one but when your luggage decides it's had enough, you don't want it to be in the middle of a trip.

Have a great trip to Roatan!
 
Hey y'all!

I'm headed to Roatan for the Invasion and I'm hoping you might have a suggestion of a good bag to use for my checked gear. I am going to be transporting basically two sets of gear.

Any suggestions?


Please check out our gear bags. They are rugged, very large and priced very well because we sell direct.

Some people have found our heavy canvas gear bag to be "more than they need" for use on the boat. So.. we introduced a newer (and very sturdy) mesh bag as well. This bag is lighter and rolls up easily and can be tucked out of the way on the boat.

Many of our customers chose to buy both bags. They work together incredibly well for air travel, because you can load gear into the mesh bag, place it inside the canvas bag and then spin it around 180 degrees (upside down), so the zippers don't line up. Makes it much harder for someone to "lift" expensive items from your luggage in transit.

The bags have a capacity of something like 5 cu-ft. They will easily hold a full set of scuba gear... maybe even two.

MAKO Freedive Gear Bag

Ballistic Mesh Dive Bag


MFGB-2.jpg


mmb-in-gear-bag_dtl.jpg


MMB-2.jpg
 
I've gone a couple of different ways. I have used a GatorPac wheeled roller. It shouts, "Dive Gear" in here. But, it had external pockets and fit a full kit plus nicely. I don't think it is made any more, but I still have it and the daughter traveled to study abroad with it as it held a lot.

I also have a Deep Outdoors that is a roller, but has a stowable strap handle instead of the extending metal handle. It pulls a bit awkward, but works. I use it for vehicle travel as it packs well. It is a more basic duffle without any external pockets. It has traveled a few times on a plane, but hasn't held up so well, so I now only use it for organizing my gear in the truck.

Finally, I have gone thru a couple of Columbia roller duffles. They are not the kind with the separate lower compartment, just one main compartment. They are not extremely robust, but they are cheaper and don't advertise dive gear. They hold up for a few trips pretty well. They aren't extremely big, but hold a kit. Don't have to worry about size or weight penalties with them.

If I were looking to get a bag for a trip, I'd get the generic roller, use it for the trip and then general use and chuck it when it got tattered.
 
The Aqualung Traveler 850 is a great, wheeled duffel style bag. VERY roomy & very light weight. It is so roomy that you will likely hit your airline weight limit before you fill it up. The great thing about the bag is the lifetime warranty on it. Aqualung will repair or replace it, even if the airline tears it up. I have had one for 3 yrs & have put it through hell, I have even drug cave diving gear in it through the Mexican jungle while cave diving, over boulders, gravel & sand,... still going strong.
 
I am divided among the Stahlsac Smuggler or Clipper or the Aqualung Traveler. Might have to do some road tripping with the dive gear on an off day and visit some dive shops to see how I like them in person.

Thanks for all the recommendations!
 
OP, believe it or not, the OLD hard Samsonite (bigger size) suitcase IMO is the best.......NO ONE(in the airport etc) will know you've got expensive etc stuff inside--plus, it's hard for maximum protection......It's almost like going incognito....:)

EDIT...you can basically get 2 sets of gear(total wt 40 lbs) in the bigger ones......

mwctwCKy8LPqbVx4FDCCuGA.jpg


Think about that for a while........


EDIT.: .too many people in this world try to show off their 'things'---when basically they don't have a pot to pee in to start with.....
 
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A bag that DOES NOT scream "scuba gear". A quality conventional suitcase is your friend, i.e. Briggs & Reilly or TravelPro.
 
Mako Spearguns------------all those SCREAM "Take Me..Take Me....You'll Like Me.'.......I wouldn't (jet)travel with that to save my neck......

Now, what I do is fold up my mesh dive bag & stick it in my (incognito hard suitcase---see above post) for transporting all my gear to/from the boat once we get to destination etc etc......

EDIT.....something like this
images
 
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https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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