Flying with Dive Gear - Best Practices

[mikecotrone]

How do you pack your gear in preparation for flying?

- Do you use a Reg bag and carry it on? If so does TSA pitch a fit and provide the "Executive treatment" to you at security?

- Do you use a roller gear bag or your mesh duffel bag?

Also: What Gear do you take when traveling vs. renting on location?


Thanks!!

 

[Garrobo]

I use a soft-sided large roller bag for all the soft stuff and a twenty inch carry-on for everything else. Since I fly Southwest and get two bags free everything goes below. The only thing that I carry on are my meds, some candy and a sandwich. If you are worried about losing your luggage carry on those things that you think you can't do without or afford to lose like cameras, etc. Most dive equipment can be rented for a nominal fee. When I first started flying with dive equipment I used to carry on my regs which only enticed the TSA buffoons to take another look.

 

[danvolker]

How do you pack your gear in preparation for flying?

- Do you use a Reg bag and carry it on? If so does TSA pitch a fit and provide the "Executive treatment" to you at security?

- Do you use a roller gear bag or your mesh duffel bag?

Also: What Gear do you take when traveling vs. renting on location?


Thanks!!

I would NEVER consider doing a dive trip and planning on renting anything but the tank..and maybe a few pounds of weight for my belt.
The cost of transporting your own gear, given the importance on a dive vacation worth going on, SHOULD BE considered as irrelevant. Not to mention, rental gear is not usually free....

I use a large Rob Allen BAG with plenty of room for 2 sets of freediivng fins, my bp/wing, my reg, my mask, snorkel and all needed accessories.
Check out equivalent bags here... https://www.flfreedivers.com/store/index.php?cPath=109_113&osCsid=igrhuq8ne9albbu7gh92ea2476

So you pay a luggage charge. So what? You need to dive your own gear that you are skilled with, that you know works, and diving your own gear should be more fun than diving with rental nonsense.

Regards,
DanV

 

[oldogre]

Flying from the UK, I only rent tank & weights. Everything for 2 weeks goes into a case (max. 20-23 Kg. dependant on airline, & small backpack - about 5 Kg. as "carry on".) The backpack contains the "small valuables", Regs. computer etc. & sometimes get funny looks when it is x-rayed, I always say what it is, & offer to open the bag. But I have never had any problem.

 

[TSandM]

We use rolling duffle bags that we buy at Costco. They tend to last a couple of years, and then we replace them. (We've tried buying expensive luggage, but it didn't seem to last a whole lot better.) Everything goes in them except the computers and the can light heads. We can get the equipment for a cave diving trip (which includes three regulators per person, as well as reels, spools, and spare lights) into two bags each, which DOES incur luggage charges -- but as stated, the charges rapidly disappear in the light of what one would have to pay to rent equipment at the destination.

 

[diverrex]

You will end up getting every possible answer as "best pratices". Some people take every bit of gear as carryon. Others only take things like cameras, computers, mask and regs as carryon. I only take my camera and computers as carryon, my reg gets checked with my BP/W, mask, wetsuit, fins and other misc. dive stuff. In over 11 dive trips I've never had anything stolen, but I do it keep it insured.

I think you'll find that most people with their own gear take their own gear versus renting except for tanks and weights. You have already paid for it so why pay for rentals, plus more importantly it's what you are used to and comfortable with.

When your dive destination only uses jets to get there it's easy to pack within the baggage limits. But once you start going to destinations involving small planes with much smaller baggage limits the challenge to get everything on gets tougher.

 

[raoulsttexas]

my wife and i also bought rolling duffle-ish bags from costco. they fit everything in the bottom section (including lights and miscellaneous gear) and the bc goes in the upper half. it's like they were made for scuba gear. $40. for a warm water trip with only a 3/2 suit, we're way under the weight limits.

we stuff our mesh duffles into the fins and only use the mesh bags once we've arrived.

we have fairly cheap...uhh...inexpensive computers, so we check everything and hope for the best.

 

[johnsona1503]

The last 2 trips to Cozumel I carried on 2 reg bags with regs, mask,primary dive light, and backup light and digital scale. The reason for the lights in the reg bag is for the weight, my one roller dive bag with all our other gear weighed 46.3 pounds going and 51 pounds on the return trip. Damp gear and a bottle of Tequilla. I was a bit worried about being a pound over but they said nothing. When going thru security in OKC the TSA guy running the xray just looked up from the screen and said dive equipment, I just said yes. I have had no problem with putting both reg bags in the overhead on the plane. My wife takes a carry on and a back pack just in case I need to yank out a pair of boots due to being over weight on the trip back.

 

[Downing]

My wife and I each check a large roller bag that contains our fins, booties, wetsuits, empty flashlights (to save weight we wait to buy the batteries until we arrive, then donate them to someone else before we leave), snorkels and BCs, along with all of our clothing and other stuff. We each use a carry-on roller bag to carry our logbooks, prescription masks, computers and reg bags. We also each carry a satchel type bag for magazines, plane tickets, etc.

The large bags are Deep See Travelok 2000s, which I think have been discontinued. Too bad because even though they were expensive they're very well made and designed, should last for many years and worth every penny. The carry-ons are Akona AKB 176s, which come with a dedicated reg bag and pocket as well as an internal laptop sleeve for my iPad.

Last summer I bought one of those hand-held luggage scales to check the large bags to make sure we're under the 50-pound limit. Good investment as I'm typically close enough that I like to shift some stuff to my wife's bag.

Works for us.

 

[Shark Bait!]

I take everything on as carry-on using my Dive Caddy, and put my regs, comp, & mask in my backpack and slide it under the seat. Never had a problem going to any Caribbean island or Mexico. Everything goes on with me, and everything comes off with me..