Getting all your gear...even tanks, when flying somewhere.

[sealsix14]

So I know most people will say to drive to most destinations, but if flying to a dive site, and wanting to bring all your gear (and by all gear I mean Doubles, bp/w..the whole nine yards), how do you get all the gear there? flying with it has to be expensive so do some people ship it to a location near the charter, or something similar to that? It just dawned on me that I wasn't sure how people did that besides not really taking a lot of your gear.

[Drx6x]

DiveCaddy - Travel Dive Bag System

[50Fathom]

I've taken everything with me, except tanks. Steel BP/W, Regs, can light, drysuit, the whole nine yards. I get tanks and lead where I'm going. It takes some creative packing, and the ability to "do more with less" regarding the rest of your luggage, but it can be done.

If they didn't have manifolded doubles, I've heard of folks also taking bands and manifold and knocking together a set of doubles when they arrive, but it's best to work that out with the operator beforehand. (Though I would just take the time to find an operator who offered doubles from the get-go.)

[Jim Lapenta]

You don't take tanks or lead. You make arrangments with the op you'll be using. That is part of the dive planning process. Your instructor should explain all this to you during the planning lecture portion of the course. I take all my other gear. Even drysuit when I went to Monterey. I like using continental US operations as you can use UPS to ship gear to many places. But for warm water a BPW, regs, mask, fins, etc fit in a roller carryon I have. Extra stuff like clothes goes in a checked bag or I'll just buy a few t shirts and pair of cheap shorts where I'm going.

[rongoodman]

I just put it in my luggage. Last trip was tech cave, with sidemount rig, four regulators, primary light, etc, in addition to SS BP/W for a couple of days of open water diving. Wild Things duffel checked, small pack as carry-on, and a regulator case as a personal item which fits under the seat in front. The only tanks I've heard of people taking were small pony bottles if they wanted one. My first sidemount wing(UTD) had very small weight pockets, so I brought along a couple of bullet weights to fit them when I had it. If you're bumping up against the weight limits, be sure to leave enough slack to account for wet gear on the way back--it can add several pounds, and some airports, like Cancun, will nail you for it.

[sealsix14]

Thanks everyone, This wasn't something that was covered in my courses but its nice to finally have the info. Me and my GF are planning a wreck trip to the keys next march...or sooner if possible so I was just wondering the best options for our gear. Thanks again guys.

O and do you guys have a preferred charter in the keys? I've read up on silent world dive center, rainbow reef and there were few others but don't remember them at this moment.

[Nwcid]

See what kinda of deal you can get on lead. When we went to HI it was going to cost us ~$100 for lead during our trip. For $25 we put our own lead in a USPS flat rate box and shipped our own lead back and forth. We only did one boat dive and the rest was shore on our own.

[nadwidny]

Nationally I use a commercial LTL trucking outfit when I'm diving too far away to drive. Crate everything up and meet it at the other end. It's a pretty cheap way to go with just a minor PITA factor. Cross border I arrange to have tanks and lead there.

I tried to fly once with my doubles, decos, stages, and lead. Once. Never again.

[PfcAJ]

I pack all my stuff into a big-ass Stalhsac roller bag. Drysuit, 400g, Bp, wing, 5 or 6 regs, lights, fins, all the business. Pay the fee for another checked bag and enjoy your trip

[DevonDiver]

Since adopting sidemount configuration, I can travel with all my warm-water tech kit in a daypack and use single cylinders supplied by any dive operator.

I used to use a Custom Divers wing for travelling/remote technical dives - which had the capability to secure cam-banded indie doubles. That was great for travelling tech, but much more bulky and heavy that sidemount.

If I was limited to only tech diving where I could obtain/rent maniflded doubles, or where I could self-carry such cylinders, then I'd have missed out on hundreds of amazing dives.