Northwest Dive Club

Hello Everyone!
I'm playing dive gear Tetris!
Any tips for packing dive gear?
I read online that you should pack your regs and prescription mask in your carry on. I padded them with dry glove liners and wool socks.
I put the BP&WING, Weezle extreme plus, rock boots, fins, Drysuit and towels in my the other bag rhat I will check in. Thanks MightyMouse & GratefulDiver for letting me borrow them!

At first I was gonna pack 2 BP&Wings in one bag but that got super heavy fast.

Anyway just wanted to see if you wise all knowing travel exports had any good ideas?

Soooooo excited for our trip to the Channel Islands! Have a great weekend everyone!

I will always carry on my regs and computer. When I went to Coz, American Air delayed my bags for a couple days. I was worried if I'd see them again. If you carry on then at least you can dive with a rental wetsuit. A compression bag that uses vacuum or just squeeze the air out saves a lot of space.

Scubie Doo, where are you?

He has developed a systematic approach to packing for dive travel that includes spreadsheets, algorithms, luggage scales and a wee bit 'o black magic...

mpenders wrote:Scubie Doo, where are you?

He has developed a systematic approach to packing for dive travel that includes spreadsheets, algorithms, luggage scales and a wee bit 'o black magic...

I'd love to share my secrets, but it would take an hour to explain.

The only thing I carry on is my camera gear including housing. I pack my reg and everything else. I do have a flawless spreadsheet and labeling system to ensure I don't forget anything. I think the biggest tip is to pack everything without caution. Then I unpack and repack checking things against my checklist and making a decision to leave it or take it. I usually shed 10-15 lbs in crap I didn't really need. Padi has a decent checklist online for starters. But does not include camera gear. Oh yeah, leave room for gifts along the way. Amazing how much those take up hope that helps.

mpenders wrote:Scubie Doo, where are you?

He has developed a systematic approach to packing for dive travel that includes spreadsheets, algorithms, luggage scales and a wee bit 'o black magic...

Haha true but he has it down cold.

bradmond wrote:I will always carry on my regs and computer. When I went to Coz, American Air delayed my bags for a couple days. I was worried if I'd see them again. If you carry on then at least you can dive with a rental wetsuit. A compression bag that uses vacuum or just squeeze the air out saves a lot of space.

I agree. Always carry on your regs and computer. The rest can be rented.

I only carry on camera gear and dive computers. All the rest gets checked. YMMV

Gdog wrote:

bradmond wrote:I will always carry on my regs and computer. When I went to Coz, American Air delayed my bags for a couple days. I was worried if I'd see them again. If you carry on then at least you can dive with a rental wetsuit. A compression bag that uses vacuum or just squeeze the air out saves a lot of space.

I agree. Always carry on your regs and computer. The rest can be rented.

Agreed. However, now that my eyes aren't what they used to be, I'd also include the prescription lens mask with my carry on gear.

Weight is always at a premium....
I do regs, light, computers and other bits of heavy stuff in my carry-on

Roller bags weight about 8 lbs - Use a duffel bag instead

If you're going on a liveaboard take about half the amount of clothes that you think you'll need. Your schedule will be eat, dive, eat dive, eat, dive eat and then sleep. You'll only need one set of clothes- Don't worry, everybody smells by day two and it is completely acceptable.

+1 to carry on camera kit - it can get cold and humid in the belly of a plane, causing quite a bit of angst in the first hour or so after unpacking as you hope hope hope that everything settles down and you didn't just trash your expensive camera. If you do have to check it, make sure to use an appropriate case and to let temperature normalize before opening.

Don't pack to the gills, not just gifts but straight up humidity after a few days of diving can add a few pounds for the trip home. If you go someplace warm and humid, one thing you can do is put you clothing in the dryer before packing to go home.

I have a carry-on rolling pelican for camera bodies and lenses and wear a backpack for other special stuff. I tend to prefer a clamshell for gear because things like wings can get holes in them from pinching/pressure by hard items. Duffels for mostly non-destroyable (I'd put clothes in duffel before i'd put my gear other than fins/backplate in it generally speaking). Regulator/lights/chargers (anything that needs padding) goes in clamshell with some clothes. Luckily the Pathfinder is a wee CCR and the plenum/head/electronics can fit in my 'purse' (the backpack) and when not full of scrubber, the canister doubles nicely as a place to stuff t-shirts and underwear. Of course if you put a rebreather in your backpack and have a camera in the wheely case, there is often a bit of 'splaining to do at security check if you don't let them know ahead of time whats up.

Since I pretty much always travel with camera I always plan to pay for extra checked bag. If I travel with large camera and it's a filming trip, it can quickly end up being two extra checked bags, and just work that into the budget.