Packing a BP/W for Travel

[rb9228]

Does your fins fit in the Patagonia BH 60L bag? I didn't see you list them.

Edit: disregard. I reread your post. I see you put them into your checked baggage.

 

[Charred]

Why not put the BP/W in the checked bag?

I want all my gear with me in my carry on. I do not want to risk a lost bag resulting in me not having my gear. Lots of places I go could be multiple days before a lost bag catches up with me.

And I don't consider 26 lbs in a backpack too heavy to carry.

 

[scrane]

I also like to get everything in a carry-on. I traveled to Roatan last time with a steel BP. My next trip to Indonesia I'm bringing an aluminum BP, mostly because of trim considerations. I do carry a separate "personal item" that includes my regulator, camera, and computers. Both bags can be integrated for ease of carry. Outside of dive gear I bring two pairs of shorts and three tee shirts, and toiletries/misc, besides what I'm wearing. And snacks.

 

[scrane]

Yup. It is standard TSA size.

TSA doesn't care. It's the airlines that are fussy.

 

[jjardin]

Never mind. Didn't read OP thoroughly.

I'd be interested to hear if folks with weighted STAs travel with them? I need one for freshwater. I'd need it even more for saltwater.

I carry the Halcyon Steel BP and STA without the weight. I bring the weight pockets if I feel I need extra weight. If I were going to carry the weighted STA I would put in the overhead as I tend to pack my carry on based on volume and not weight--unless I am flying Fiji or some other PITA airline that makes a big deal about carry on weight.

Only time I have ever flown with extra weight was this past October--and that was unintentionally. I was diving off Oahu I needed 2lbs additional weight so I slid two 1lb weights on either side the BP waist belt. Unfortunately I forgot to take them off on the return trip--not thinking that I had two bullet shaped pieces of lead in my carry-on. Got through screening, but only after every item in my pack was removed, reviewed, sniffed for explosives.

 

[Hoag]

I want all my gear with me in my carry on. I do not want to risk a lost bag resulting in me not having my gear. Lots of places I go could be multiple days before a lost bag catches up with me.

And I don't consider 26 lbs in a backpack too heavy to carry.

I agree. I would not find 26 pounds in a backpack too heavy to carry. It also is not relevant.

What is relevant, however, is what the restrictions are on the particular airline that you will be flying on. Each airline has its own restrictions for carry-on and for checked baggage. These restrictions are not universal nor are they set by TSA. It is best to check with the airline that you will be using and if your connections result in the use of different airlines, expect that the limits for both your carry-on and your checked bag will be governed by the most restrictive of the airlines that you will use and base your packing on that.

 

[Lorenzoid]

FWIW - All my main gear goes in a Patagonia Black Hole 60L. It is a duffel bag right at TSA size limits that you can also wear as a backpack. I wear it as a backpack. I also carry a messenger bag for my travel stuff but I do carry a few items in it: my main mask, computer and all my batteries. In my checked bag are my fins, boots, my cutters and the rest of my clothes.

So your carry-on bag ends up being heavier than your checked bag? Fins, boots, cutters and clothes for a tropical trip can't weigh as much as 26 lbs, can they? I suppose your logic of carrying on all dive gear but checking your clothes is that you can always buy clothes if the airline loses the bag, but renting dive gear would be more burdensome?