How do you pack your gear for travel?

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wolflegresley

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I'm a Fish!
Good Day All,

Getting ready for a trip to Jamaica and my wife and I are looking at bringing our own gear and when we were talking to some fellow divers who travel a lot they advised us to make sure our regs were in the cabin with us because of pressure issues.

How do you guys travel with your Scuba Kit? Are there any other tips that we could use to make sure our gear is packaged correctly and gets to our destination safely?

Thanks in advance!
 
Open circuit: All gear in a duffle bag with all my clothes for the trip, checked in the belly of the plane - I have to carry on the battery for my can light per TSA rules.

Closed circuit: Rebreather in the overhead, can light in my laptop bag under the seat, everything else in a duffle bag in the belly of the plane.

Even for a tech trip with stage kits, multiple regulators, dry suit and undergarments I've never managed to max out the weight on a bag. People make WAY more of a big deal of this than is necessary. Just stuff your sh!t in a bag and enjoy your trip. You'll need two bags if you bring a proper scooter or camera along.
 
Pressure issues? Cargo holds are pressurized. And heated. I hope your friends are just pranking you, rather than really thinking there are "pressure issues".
SCUBA gear is specifically intended to handle pressures in excess of 3000PSI. And your gear can handle pressure changes of far greater degree AND speed than you can.
 
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I carry my regs on - more because they cost $1500 than any worries about pressure - I'm worried about theft or loss. My previous regs rode in checked luggage for a decade with no issues. I carry-on my computer also - and primary mask. My backup mask rides in my checked bag with my other gear.

I tag my checked bag in a couple places. Use the airline supplied handle tag, have another holder on the bag for a business card and I put one more inside somewhere obvious.

Twice I've been asked to gate check my carry-on so now I pack with all travel my documents/passport together in a pouch - grab it, the laptop and the walkman and they can have the rest. First time I was surprised by it so grabbed the laptop but left my passport in the bag. Worried the whole flight that it made it...
 
It depends on wether it is vital for me: the prescription mask goes in to the carry on, as does my expensive camera. Everything else gets checked in, as long as it stays whitin the limit of having not to pay for it. My dive computer also goes in the carry on (if you do that, don't turn it on while flying as you'll get an error message and it renders it unusable for 24 hrs)
The reg's can handle the pressure: it's what they do best :)
 
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I bring my mask, reg set and dive computer in my carry on luggage on the way down, simply because I'd hate to find myself on a dive trip without it. Anything else can be bought/rented/borrowed. On the way back, everything goes in checked luggage.

Pressure issues? Cargo holds are pressurized. And heated. I hope your friends are just pranking you, rather than really thinking there are "pressure issues".
SCUBA gear is specifically intended to handle pressures in excess of 3000PSI. And your gear can handle pressure changes of far greater degree AND speed than you can.

+1.

OP, the cargo hold has to be at the same pressure as the main cabin or there would be serious problems with the structure of the plane. Fun fact: At cruising altitude on your next flight, check the "altitude" on your dive computer, I've seen everything from 6500' to 8000'. Nothing your gear couldn't handle.
 
We bought some German made bicycling backpack with lots of straps, very comfy! Inside goes regs, computer (main and backup, GoPro, lights) iPad, iPhone camera, passports and cash. Usually runs 19lbs.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
My Reg, camera, computers, lights and mask go in a back pack carry on, with a few pieces of clothing.

The rest goes in a checked soft duffel bag, packed so that clothing, fins and any thermo protection act as a buffer in case of rough handling.
 
I do liveaboards, so my packing is based on trying to save my ability to dive if my checked bag doesn't make it to the boat. The carry-on items will be those bits of gear that could not be rented, replaced, or done without on the trip. It will also include medications. All else is optional. :D
 
I do liveaboards, so my packing is based on trying to save my ability to dive if my checked bag doesn't make it to the boat. The carry-on items will be those bits of gear that could not be rented, replaced, or done without on the trip. It will also include medications. All else is optional. :D

Although my motivation is not live aboards, have never done one yet, the overall reasoning is the same. Delicate, high value, and very necessary, go in carry on. Everything else I can rent some sort of usable replacement for.

Airlines do lose/misplace gear. My GF did a couple weeks of relief work in Rowanda years back, and no one on that group's flight got their checked luggage for @5 days! My daughter's checked dive gear disappeared completely at MIA on a return flight to the US (and never reappeared). I had dive gear delayed a few days one time myself.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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