nippurmagnum
Contributor
Older thread kinda on the topic: How do you pack your gear for travel?
Trip to Hawaii coming up and would appreciate suggestions on what to get. I will put dive gear and a few articles of clothing into the checked bag.
Last time I went to Hawaii, I brought the weight-belt...
I'm thinking about doing so again, but it's another 20 lbs.
Whatcha think about bringing bringing the weight-belt?
I regularly take my weights on dive trips, when they are not provided by the boat. That is the case on my Florida dive charters, as well as obviously my FL shore dives. And the California charters I dive also do not provide weights with their tanks. I fly Southwest, which provides two free checked bags per passenger, so I have plenty of space and weight allowance to take weights.
I did two separate dive trips to Kona, where I did mostly shore diving (which was excellent), and my daughter and I both lugged our weights all the way to Hawaii.
In my experience, rental charges for weights are NOT cheap. Dive shops know that you need the lead, and they charge accordingly -- I've seen charges of around $7-10 a day, per person.
As for how to carry them, I usually spread them around my checked bags and carry on. I only need 12 lbs so it's not a big deal. I will warn you though that you are 100 percent guaranteed to have your bags checked by TSA if you are carrying lead. But I've never had a bag delayed that had lead in it, FWIW.