How Do Divers Travel With Gear and Video Camera?

[TheBigPhillyFish]

Wow, packing for Palm Beach, got my clothes in one bag, and my scuba gear in another. So that is two bags to check, and I have a little back pack for carry on. How the hell am I going to pack a big video set-up also?


What do the Video Diving Guru's do?

 

[Marinevisions]

How the hell am I going to pack a big video set-up also?

How big is your setup and do you have a hard case to pack it in?

I travel with the Gates EX1 in a Pelican 1620 and most of the time I can get my clothes in the pelican case with it. I just take out enough foam so that the clothes will fit. That way it's still protected from the monkeys in baggage handling!

 

[robint]

since I travel with another diver we pack like this:
1 large roller bag, my dive gear (about 45lbs)
1 large roller bag, his dive gear (about 45lbs)
1 large pelican bag, my video rig and his camera rig (about 40lbs)
1 rolling duffle, clothes and toiletries for both of us (about 15lbs)

carryons:
1 backpack with 2 reg/computer setups, chargers
1 roller bag with dive logs, masks, a couple of swimsuits, small laptop
1 camera bag with all the batteries, actual cameras and camcorder

This of course is for 2 divers. It would be impossible for us to travel single! It used to be much easier when our daughter traveled with us as we could use her bag to stuff in some of our stuff. Now that she is in college and doesn't travel with us we have to get creative!

There are some really nice camera carryon bags out there now. We have been looking at them in stores and online at Amazon. We are thinking once I get my new video rig that I will carryon that whole thing and he will have the Pelican to himself for his Dslr stuff.

Just another reason those bigger video rigs are not for me!!

robin

 

[HiDefPics]

When I'm working I travel with the Sony Z1U & Gates housing. We just have to bite the bullet and pay for extra bag charges. There's just no way around it. Although, on the last trip we tried renting some dive gear at the resort to cut down on luggage. Not sure that's worth the hassle, really.

If I'm just traveling for fun & have a smaller camera system, I can usually get clothes & dive gear in one large bag (just under 50 lbs). Then the housing goes in a hard case & I carry on the small video camera in a backpack. So you're still checking two bags, which means you're probably still paying for it - depending on your destination.

 

[BDSC]

I just returned from Bonaire and here is how I did it.

1 bag/suitcase with clothes, extra dive gear like a mask, light, batteries, etc. (Checked)

1 bag/suitcase with my video rig. The rig is in a pelican case with the molded foam. I put the case in a plain old suitcase and can easily fit my wetsuit around it. (Checked)

Mesh carry-on that has my BC, regs, fins, mask, booties. I also put an extra swim suit/shorts, and a shirt. I have no problem at all putting it in the overhead bin.

Small camera bag that has my dive computer, two video cameras, charger for the camera batteries, passport, a book to read, etc. (Fits nicely under the seat)

I always like to take my dive gear as a carry-on going. That way I know for sure it will make it with me. I check my video rig. Right now I have $1000 in my video rig. I got a good deal used. I have more than that in my dive gear. However, if I were to upgrade and put some serious dollars in a new HD video system, I'd probably take that on and check the dive gear.

 

[mjh]

Unlike some of the others we only carry on the camera equipment, figure you can always rent regs and computers at destination.

1 roller soft bag with cloths and some misc. dive gear; 45lbs
1 roller dive bag with BCs, Regs, etc; 45lbs
1 duffel with dive gear like fins, wetsuits, etc; 45lbs
1 Stormcase with extra strobes, batteries, lenses, camera gear; 45lbs

Carry-ons
1 roller/backpack with complete Gates HC7 setup including lights; 25-30lbs
1 Camera backpack with complete Aquatica D200 setup w/strobes, laptop; +30lbs

 

[TheBigPhillyFish]

Luckily I use Southwest Airlines most of the time, which mean no extra charge for two bags. But I am sure when I go out of the country to Cozumel, Bonaire, or something like that I am gonna get hit with the extra bag charge.

I was just curious, to see how others were doing it. I have to but a different bag for my gear I think. Maybe even look into one of those light weight travel BC's, my Sherwood is a monster.

Well thanks for the input.

 

[Empty V]

I bite the bullet as well. I think it cost me about $150 each way in Jan 08 which was ridiculous but I knew that it wasn't going to be cheap when I decided to use such a big camera.

Checked Bags
1. under 50 lbs large roller bag for my dive gear(I bring everything including my wetsuit
2. under 50 lbs Suitcase for clothes
3. over 75 lbs Massive stormcase for housing and some lighting equipment

Carry-on
1. Reg bad
2. still camera
3. camera backpack
4. rolling laptop case

Here's pics of the stormcase and "custom" camera backpack I use. My backpack is a beautiful hazard orange opposed to the green in the pic.

Billy

 

[scuubaadoo]

this has BC/wetsuit/fins and enough clothes to bring it to 45lbs. I shoot a HC-7 in a Light & Motion housing w/ Sunray 1000 led lights with the charger and my mask this all fits in a Pelican 1520 case that is my carry on. Backpack has my computer, reg and anything else I cant live without.

 

[BamaDiveGal]

2 words!! rent weights. good bag with wheels....airport or cruise ship will take your dive knife, so make sure to get it on your way out to the dive...bells and whistles go off everytime you enter or leave the ship due to bringing a "weapon" on board. bring smaller snorkeling bag for when you are just going snorkeling.