Should I bring my cold-water gear to Florida?

[Raystafarian]

The only "cold water" gear I think would be different going from warm would be wing - my current wing can't lift the weight needed if I was in a 7mm suit, so I can't imagine any cold stuff not working in warm just fine.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Just to echo what most have said....just went through this myself (also only ~ 20 or so dives in). I have a DSS ss bp with VDH 35lb wing and eddy fins. I'm ~ 175-180. Only rented 80cf all the places we went. No weight in fresh spring with 3mm, no weight in ocean with rash guard. Didn't feel overweight and felt very comfortable (did hours and hours in the pool before we went practicing with just the rash guard to get used to it).

Really nice having my own gear. I didn't feel like it was too much.

I did buy a luggage scale from Amazon ($10). Bags were 50, 49, and 48.....came in very handy. I also had room in the carry on to grab stuff if needed to switch.

Good luck!! My trip was awesome. I did a small report somewhere on here. FL is A+. Hope the seas are more calm for you than they were for us, but the diving was awesome.

I saw what people were diving in that was rented.....no thanks...

 

[nolatom]

I'm just a BC guy, so weighting for backplates is beyond me, and I dive farther north, around Jupiter. Winter diving is comfortable for me in a 3mm full suit, and a hoodie vest. Maybe I'll wear Playtex dishwashing gloves under my tropical gloves.
It'll be a little warmer in Key Largo, so you should be fine in 3mm full. Maybe bring a hoodie vest for second or third dive, when you tend to feel colder.

 

[rhwestfall]

My wife uses a SS BP and a 30# wing for all her diving (Great Lakes, Key Largo, Jamaica, Curacao).... She uses the same fins (Quattros), and only adjusts to some different booties...

We use HP steel tanks at home, and whatever is used where we travel (usually AL-80's).....

 

[AustinV]

My wife uses a SS BP and a 30# wing for all her diving (Great Lakes, Key Largo, Jamaica, Curacao).... She uses the same fins (Quattros), and only adjusts to some different booties...

We use HP steel tanks at home, and whatever is used where we travel (usually AL-80's).....

Yeah, basically I used to do same thing as your wife. Before was mostly flying to travel. Now mostly driving to Florida, so take the HP100s with me.

 

[Addicted2H2O]

I dove out of Destin in December and we had three people (two kids and their dad) diving dry suits. I was in a 5MM with a 6/7 semidry hood, 3MM gloves and 5MM boots and felt just fine. Bottom temps in the Gulf @ about 75 ft were roughly 60 F. And I dive Hollis F1 fins, which are pretty heavy. I don't dive a BP/W (yet) but my Zeagle BC has a 35# bladder. But also, I drove on that trip. But I've flown to Cozumel with two similar sets of gear (minus the 5mm suits) in my bag and not had any issues with cargo weight.

 

[J-Vo]

Thanks, everyone! I'll bring the BP/W and fins/boots assuming I can make the luggage weight limit. It'll be great to dive in my own gear - one less thing to think about.

Put your back plate in your carry on with your regs and mask. I have never had my carry on weighed. It's usually around 50lbs on dive trips.

 

[Kmart921]

Put your back plate in your carry on with your regs and mask. I have never had my carry on weighed. It's usually around 50lbs on dive trips.

Do you separate the backplate and wing? I'm not sure my wing (25lb DGX travel wing) would fit in my carry-on. Especially now that the maximum dimensions have shrunk so much.

 

[Raystafarian]

Do you separate the backplate and wing? I'm not sure my wing (25lb DGX travel wing) would fit in my carry-on. Especially now that the maximum dimensions have shrunk so much.

You need to separate the backplate and wing (physically) else you risk damaging the wing bladder.

 

[J-Vo]

Do you separate the backplate and wing? I'm not sure my wing (25lb DGX travel wing) would fit in my carry-on. Especially now that the maximum dimensions have shrunk so much.

Always.