Innovative Dive Bag

[victorzamora]

Hey guys, I've been kicking this idea around for a while and I want some opinions on this. I'm trying to design/make a dive bag that hooks to a BP/W, so that you use your harness as the backpack straps. The way I see it, that means no worrying that the bag's straps will give, and no double-weight of straps. If your harness can hold doubles all day, every day, for a while without giving....any gear you throw in there won't over stress it. Plus, you can just shove all your crap in that bag, strap it to your BP/W and go about your day. One of my motivations is that I own a Hollis SMS100 that I'd like to travel internationally with. It's too big to put in a bag, but if it WERE my bag it'd be an easy carry-on item to take with me. However, it doesn't have the storage space needed for at least fins, regs, computer, mask. I'm planning on making the bag big enough for all scuba-related non-exposure-protection gear. MAYBE large enough to fit a skin or a thin shorty.

Has anyone seen anything like this? I sure haven't. Would anyone want something like this? Would anyone want to help design something like this? What are your thoughts on something like this?

 

[nimoh]

do the straps really add that much weight to go to all of this trouble?

Not trying to rain on your parade, but it seems to me that it would be quicker to put the backplate in the bag, than to attach the bag to the backplate.

 

[The Chairman]

I want to protect the straps as well. Airplanes play hell on luggage.

 

[elan]

On most back plates the straps cannot be adjusted quickly so if you just keep the same way as you dive you will be either wearing it lose or wearing it tight. The crotch strap will also have to go somewhere.

There can be some stuff like lights and buckles attached to the D-rings , this all needs to be disconnected.

IHO to much hassle for saving the weight of the straps.

 

[j2s]

Go to E-Bags.com.......Look at their military backpacks.....Better quality [especially the zippers !!] more space, more compartments, better arrangement, 'customizable'.....W/the exception of tanks and wet suit, I can put ALL my cave equipment; SS bp, 2 wings, reg's, fins, masks, gauges, lites, reels, boots, gloves etc. in one backpack and carry it over my shoulder.....They're better made than dive bags and a lot less expensive.......

 

[Peter_C]

The backpack I use for a carry on has the straps failing on it. It is very old (I believe 1992), and probably worthy of the garbage, but it could easily be connected to my backplate. This would accomplish two things. First let my backpack live on. Secondly get my heavy stainless backplate out of my checked bag and allow me to carry it on thus saving weight in checked luggage. My luggage always seems to hover right around or slightly over 50 lbs.

Crotch strap could be tied up with a zip tie. Waist harness would probably get used. Knife...well it would have to get checked. Double ender could be stowed and backup lights could probably remain in place. Don't notice them when diving, why would I care on land?

Someone mentioned putting the plate into the backpack, well it won't fit, especially not with all my gear in the backpack. I don't want a bigger backpack as it needs to fit under the seat in front. My carry on goes in the overhead bin.

Now the bigger question is how can I leave my lead wedge mounted without raising an eye brow with TSA?? I wouldn't need any extra weight in the tropics then, yet have a nice balanced setup.

 

[fjpatrum]

Personally, I'd design a "snap on" bag that covers the bottom of the plate and allows the straps to come out of the bag. This would add a little padding to the plate for standard carrying and let you "hide" the crotch strap as well. As for the bag itself, I'd make a long outside pocket for fins and a couple of medium sized pockets for computer/mask and then the main compartment for everything else. The bag itself would be very easy to sew. I'd go with at least 800 denier but probably 1000 weight cordura nylon and some decent thread, most likely polyester. Double/triple stitch all the main seams and you'll have a bag that will last for years. A couple of gear loops/daisy chains and maybe a mesh water bottle pocket on the outside and you've got a truly versatile bag.

If you want real backpacking/traveling comfort consider some wrap around shoulder strap padding too, a la seat belt neck protector things and you're golden.

 

[victorzamora]

What do you mean by "snap on". This seems like close to what I'd want. I was thinking of doing two layers of cloth around the backplate. One "behind" the wing, and one between you and the backplate. Sex screws hold the whole thing on together. Up top it would need to go "around" your shoulder straps. For different length backplates (or to allow my SMS100 and a typical BPW) I was thinking of making the thing be "bottomless", but go around the sides.

As for the fin pocket, I was thinking of going a totally different direction. Have you seen skateboard bags? They hold skateboards in place with two straps at the farthest outside point so that they're mostly external. Either that, or immediately behind the backplate. As far as the smaller pocket is concerned, I like that idea. I hadn't thought about it. I know this might be getting ambitious, but if this is travel-specific....how about a slot for papers/passport? Tucked away. Thin, but easy to access when you know where it's at. How about a camelback bladder slot (empty through the airport, but handy later??).

I'll start sketching stuff out today, but I really wonder how that'll go. I have experience with CAD modelling, but not enough to do stuff like this. Doing stuff like this in 3D purely in theory is going to get hairy, I'm afraid.

 

[fjpatrum]

I'm having trouble uploading my pic so I'll edit and add the pic later. That should help explain what I mean.

Basically, I'd sew a flap into the back wall of the backpack at the top of the pack that was then zippered on both sides and bottom ("snap in" originally but I think zippers will be better). The flap has cut-outs for the straps to feed from the plate and then you zip it under the bottom of the pack. You can zip at the bottom of the back panel of the pack or further underneath (maybe the bottom of the front panel) to allow for varying length plates. I personally wouldn't go "bottomless" because I think it will allow too much movement of the pack on the plate. The bottom panel will also add some extra support on the bottom of the pack, if it is zipped on the front panel. If doing that, though, I'd make sure there was a "panel" that it went through to keep it nice and tight against the bottom of the bag when the bag's not weighted.

My "board flap" gear flap on the front panel I think might be what you're referring to with respect to strapping on a skateboard. The only issue I see with that is fins don't have a convenient "hangar" to hold onto the strap such as bindings on a snowboard or trucks on a skateboard. I've found, without that extra "positive" holding force, gear tends to slip from these types of strap configurations. Easy fix is to hook a carabiner through the fin straps and then clip to the daisy chain. The flaps do protect the gear somewhat but allow a lot more size variance than a pocket does so it's a good option. Also good for strapping other things if you're traveling for more than just diving.

Internal and external pockets. I like the idea of an ID pocket but I'd incorporate it into the top flap of the pack such that it's essentially invisible and also readily accessible without digging through the rest of the bag. Essentially just sew the pocket opening into the seam of the top flap and you've got a convenient place to store small flat things unobtrusively. As for the rest, they're all optional and what you like might be different than what I like. I find a couple of small compartments/pockets nice but generally they're only good for separating small things you want to get access to quickly. Too many pockets is just as bad as not enough pockets.

I was also thinking that some padded waist bands to attach the waist strap to might be a good option if you're carrying heavy loads. Definitely something to consider if this is going to be a true "travel pack" rather than just a "dive travel" pack.

 

[fjpatrum]

Something I was just thinking about is the fact that the design I sketched up assumes you're removing the wing and STA (and probably tank straps) from the plate. That might make this far less convenient as a "dive bag" but still feasible as a travel bag... I'm going to have to poke a bit at this and see if I can come up with something that wouldn't require removal of the wing and straps, at least. Perhaps you could incorporate the tank straps into the board flap somehow...