Flying and gauges.

[tonyc]

My wife and I are heading to Costa Rica in about three weeks. This will be our first time traveling with scuba gear on a plane (which means I also had to trade in my fancy Tuberware tubs and dolly for real dive luggage). I thought I remember something about depth gauges and high altitude. Do I need to take our computers & analog depth gauges as a carry on?

Tony.

 

[tonyc]

OK maybe this is a stupid question but..... Suunto wrist computers shouldn't be harmed by that xray machine right????
Tony.

 

[diver_paula]

You don't HAVE to take anything as carry-on. You MUST put your knives / scissors in checked luggage.

That said, most divers I know carry on as much dive gear as possible. Why risk losing gear your vacation &/or life depend on to being stolen or missing a connection and arriving 3 days into your vacation?

I always carry on my regs, computers (& no - they xray machine's will NOT harm them), mask, camera. & 'cause my stuff's been late before, a bathing suit, sandals, shorts, change of undies and a t-shirt. All of which make for great padding for the more delicate SCUBA gear. & if I still have room in my carry-on I add my BC &/or fins.

Have a great trip!
Paula

 

[TostitoBandito]

My wife and I are heading to Costa Rica in about three weeks. This will be our first time traveling with scuba gear on a plane (which means I also had to trade in my fancy Tuberware tubs and dolly for real dive luggage). I thought I remember something about depth gauges and high altitude. Do I need to take our computers & analog depth gauges as a carry on?

Tony.

The cabin and the cargo hold are both pressurized to about 8000 feet so all your stuff will be fine no matter where you put it. It's nice to carry important stuff on though so you can still dive while waiting for your luggage.

 

[Padipro]

A little more FYI for you. It's a good idea to pack your dive gear in your regular suit case and your cloths in your brand new Dive Luggage. IF, and it's a big IF, someone were going to steal anything it would most likely be your dive gear, assuming that the expensive stuff they could easily pawn would be in that bag. I'd rather loose most of my cloths then all of my dive gear, my cloths aren't that expensive. Once your at your destination you can switch all your dive gear back to your new luggage and use it for the remainder of the trip.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Air_Miser]

I'm in the same boat as Tony, going on my 1st trip. I'm surprised that regs are not a concern in carry-on items. Big Metal thing with a noose- I mean hose hanging off of it.....the boys with the metal detectors & guns don't mind them?

Sorry to harp on a point, just wondering if anyone's ever had issues with their reg.

You don't HAVE to take anything as carry-on. You MUST put your knives / scissors in checked luggage.

That said, most divers I know carry on as much dive gear as possible. Why risk losing gear your vacation &/or life depend on to being stolen or missing a connection and arriving 3 days into your vacation?

I always carry on my regs, computers (& no - they xray machine's will NOT harm them), mask, camera. & 'cause my stuff's been late before, a bathing suit, sandals, shorts, change of undies and a t-shirt. All of which make for great padding for the more delicate SCUBA gear. & if I still have room in my carry-on I add my BC &/or fins.

Have a great trip!
Paula

 

[TostitoBandito]

I'm in the same boat as Tony, going on my 1st trip. I'm surprised that regs are not a concern in carry-on items. Big Metal thing with a noose- I mean hose hanging off of it.....the boys with the metal detectors & guns don't mind them?

Sorry to harp on a point, just wondering if anyone's ever had issues with their reg.

I carried mine on to Belize and back last week. The only problems I had were the 5/8" wrench and hex wrench that I had in the bag with my regs for changing hoses. Those got confiscated because apparently tools of any kind aren't allowed on planes anymore. They had no problems with the regs or my computer though.

 

[diver_paula]

I'm in the same boat as Tony, going on my 1st trip. I'm surprised that regs are not a concern in carry-on items. Big Metal thing with a noose- I mean hose hanging off of it.....the boys with the metal detectors & guns don't mind them?

Sorry to harp on a point, just wondering if anyone's ever had issues with their reg.

Miser,

Sorry - didn't think to mention this before.

You should plan on extra time getting through the airport security screening. Many of the screeners are experienced with viewing SCUBA gear / regulators on the screen. But, with the heightened security in the past few years there are more and more 'newbies'. Don't be surprised if you get pulled over for a look-see inside your carry-on bag(s). Regs, computers, lead lined film bags and the like can get you pulled over temporarily. But, then so can wearing the wrong pair of shoes.

You'll still get through, it just may take a bit longer.

Paula

 

[fdog]

We travel quite a bit with our dive gear. Our regs + computers travel as carry-on in regulator bags.

Occasionally, the TSA folks will hand inspect the regulator. On a different board I wrote:

For us, a checked bag has had a roughly 1 in 12 chance of being opened, a carry on reg bag with reg + computer about 1 in 6, my carry on with the usual book, glasses, etc about 1 in 16 (laptop out of the bag, of course). No bigger chance of a checked bag with scuba gear being opened (just because it has scuba gear) that I can see.

X-ray machines for both carry-on and checked bags are run at eV far below that which should damage your computer. I've never seen a problem.

I have seen no problems with gauges, BTW, when flown, and actually don't think about it. The cabin altitude of ~8,000' is like driving over a high mountain pass.

All the best, James

 

[WarmWaterDiver]

We always wind up having our carryons hand-checked with scuba gear in them after passing through the carryon X-ray machine now that we live in the Midwest. Often, the screener's face scrunches up and they exclaim "What is this stuf???". When the second bag with regulator and dive computer comes through, we both wind up being pulled to the side.

I had one Midwestern airport TSA employee insist the bag would need to be checked since the regulator first stage at the end of the second stage hose was classified as a bludgeon. After asking him when the rules had changed, showing him my passport with stamps and explaining I'd carried on this same gear to all these other destinations, a supervisor came over and OK'd the bag.

I once forgot and left my wrenches in my carryon too, but they allowed me to take them back to the ticket counter and an employee of the airline took them and inserted them in an outside zippered pouch of my checked bag - so I didn't lose them.

I have been quizzed once by a TSA employee asking whether I had CO2 cartridges in my checked bag with my (modern) BCD - a simple "no" sufficed.

Returning from dive trips, we do not have these issues at point of embarkation or port of entry where we first change planes when returning to the USA. The TSA screeners just apparently don't see much scuba gear in the Midwest.