BCD as Checked baggage or carry on?

[DivePartner1]

Take extra zip lock bags for that compass.

These have to be the same kind of "magic" ziplock bags that they allow for shampoo.

We all know how dangerous shampoo can be if it's not in a little baggie. Last time I went through Montreal they had a whole box full that someone had wrestled to the ground.

 

[diversteve]

I take it it's still ok to carry on regs and computers? The last time I carried them on the plane was prior to the whole Heathrow/gel bomb fiasco. I remember when flying used to be fun......

It was for me last week. But I don't have a compass...and I checked all my liquids.

 

[Fordan]

Am I missing something? What exactly in a bc can be damaged by low cabin pressure?

I suspect the thought was that the air trapped inside a BC would cause it to effectively inflate. But even if the baggage area was unpressurized when in flight (it's not), then this is still no different that ascending and descending in the water column. The BC will automatically dump air from it's overpressure valve if the internal pressure gets too high at altitude, and a relative vacuum inside the BC shouldn't cause an issue when back on the ground, any more than emptying your BC at the surface causes an issue when diving.

 

[ScubaThor]

It was for me last week. But I don't have a compass...and I checked all my liquids.

Cool, good to know. I'll just keep the compass in the checked luggage then. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[HowardE]

I suspect the thought was that the air trapped inside a BC would cause it to effectively inflate. But even if the baggage area was unpressurized when in flight (it's not), then this is still no different that ascending and descending in the water column. The BC will automatically dump air from it's overpressure valve if the internal pressure gets too high at altitude, and a relative vacuum inside the BC shouldn't cause an issue when back on the ground, any more than emptying your BC at the surface causes an issue when diving.

There are no unpressurized areas inside a modern airplane. Baggage area is pressurized.

The only thing I carry on is my reg bag (with dive computer) and my nikon camera.

 

[jdvaughn]

Reg bag is usually what i take, along with myself......and comp. I check my BCD and hope that the luggage gorillas as said before wont damage it! Pack well!

 

[miketsp]

Hello,
I am new to diving. I recently purchased a bcd and plan to go diving in Maui soon. My instructer told us that you should not check your bcd at the airport. She said that the baggage area is not pressurized and that it could damage your bcd. She said to carry on your bcd. Is this correct, and if so, is there anything you can do to make your bcd ok as a checked item?

thanks,
john

In the case of commercial flights this is either a joke, a misunderstanding or your instructor is not qualified.

The only type of damage I could imagine would be due to the baggage being submitted to a very low temperature and vibration. If the plastic bladder lining was exposed to a temperature low enough to make it brittle then it could be subject to cracking and loss of performance.
Something similar did happen to me once on a non-commercial flight at high altitude and I stuffed a small overnight bag in a non-pressurised external storage compartment. In the bag was a camera loaded with conventional film.
When I unpacked the bag I found that the film had broken into various pieces where it crossed the shutter window.
The explanation was simply that the temperature of the film had dropped below -50C, the film became rigid and subject to the vibration from the compartment lid. This was many years ago and apparently modern film plastics have much better low temperature behaviour.

But I have never heard of anything similar on commercial flights. The bags may get cold but they don't go much below freezing.

 

[steve70638]

I think the concern (misguided) of PhxDiver's instructor is that the low cargo area pressure will cause the BCD to expand (the air inside it to expand as the ambient pressure decreases) and thus pop or something. Reality is that BCDs have over pressure valves in them so that if you over fill them with the auto-inflater it lets the excess air out. Furthermore, even if the cargo cabin wasn't pressurized (which it is or all sorts of problems would occur with other things in baggage), I doubt it would be significant enough to damage the BC even if there wasn't a pressure relief valve.

 

[Fordan]

There are no unpressurized areas inside a modern airplane. Baggage area is pressurized.

doh. When I wrote that, I meant it to mean "It's not unpressurized", not "It's not pressurized" but I can see where it's confusing and may not mean what I intended. The rest of the post was that even if that fact wasn't true, a BC is fine in a pressurized or unpressurized environment.

 

[mikerault]

I have flown multiple times with my BCD as stowed luggage, never had a problem.

Mike