Packing for dive travel presents a big problem. Spread before you is a huge arsenal, each piece indispensable to fulfilling your travel fantasy. To carry along all of the regulators, wetsuits, computers,masks, fins and camera equipment and other scuba gear necessary for a serious dive mission (along with their backups and batteries), you’ll need a fleet of roller bags. But your airline has severe limits on the amount, size and weight of bagagge, and violating its limits can add up to an colossal cost. How can you make it all fit?
It might seem beyond the limits of physics to bring it all along, but savvy adventurer have developed tactics, techniques and tricks for maximizing baggage allowances, avoiding ridiculous fees and making sure it all gets to where it’s assumed to be in one piece. Professional photographers and technical divers are some of the best of our breed at rebellious packing, schlepping easily damaged high-tech tools to the most faraway destinations on the planet.
Here’s guidance from four experienced dive travelers who know how to get all of their gear around the world securely without breaking the bank.
LEARN THE RULES
Every airline is required to publish its baggage quantity and overage costs so travelers know what they’re getting into. Professional underwater photographer and rebreather fanatic, who has been known to fly with an excess of 250 pounds of gear, starts every trip with the fine print on airline websites. “Although it is slow, I try to read the airline rules so I have an idea about how best to pack,” he says. “Having frequent-flier rank on an airline helps too. For example, I get two free 70-pound bags on one airline three for international travel.”
PACK A GOOD ATTITUDE
Airline ticketing representatives and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents control your destiny in many ways. Smiling and being cordial makes a big difference to people who deal with irate travelers on a regular basis. “I try to be excessivily nice at the checkpoints of all airports because I know they are doing their job and do not understand what all of our gear is,” says an underwater videographer, who learned an important lesson in public relations on a return trip from Mexico to home in Seattle. “The airport officer decided my backpack carryon with all my camera and computer equipment was too big to go through the security checkpoint and wanted me to check it in,” she says. “I ended up getting the pack through, but it taught me a lesson about the power of gate agents and airport officers.”
SHOULDER THE WEIGHT
For a rebreather instructor and underwater photographer, supervising all of his gear on the road “is almost impossible except if you get creative with your carry-on luggage.” Laptop, camera, lenses and dive computers ride on his back and in the cabin, and the rest of his gear goes into the hold. A pro photographer and manager, dons the most pocket-laden vest he can find. “The best hang down to your thighs and have 12 to 20 pockets,” he says. “If the nerves carry-on weigh-in occurs, these vests can easily hold 10 to 20 pounds of stuff in the expandable pockets. Yes, you will look like a famous fisher on a fly-fishing trip, but nobody said diving was a fancy activity.”
"Reusable Ziploc bags are essential for coordinate items, and the 2-gallon version can vacumm-seal clothing."
SUPPORT FOR IMPACT
For the delicate equipment you absolutely must check, think security above all else. Says Palmer, who once sacrificed his clothes for a bag with his camera: “Most travel bags for divers are soft-sided, so making a protective ‘frame’ is really helpful. Fins are great for this, as are shoes placed sole-out on the ends of the bag.” He also uses soft items such as wetsuits and clothing to make perimeter protection “from the full-on airline-handler assault. Socks make great padded sleeves for pieces like dive computers and camera lenses,” Palmer continues. “I usually backup my 5 mm wetsuit for any backup glass ports I might bring for my underwater camera housing, which rests safely in the protective framework I have set while clothing fills in the gaps.”
CONSIDER EASY SOLUTIONS
Don’t look over your kitchen or workshop. An experimented diver packs breakable items, such as the heads of rebreathers, individually in Tupperware and puts the containers in his luggage. “It doesn’t add much weight and protects the items,” he says. For Palmer, “ Reusable Ziploc bags are essential for organizing small pieces, and the 2-gallon version can vacuum-seal clothing.” Plus, “Zip ties are indispensable. They are the perfect TSA-approved disposable lock for your check-in bags. All the times I bring a big handful in the pocket of one of my bags.” (Don’t forget a TSA-approved cutting tool, in case you have to open them.)
BE ALERT TO IMPROVISE
Airline lugagge rules are continually changing. The reasonable weight limit on a past trip will likely be lower today, so there’s no substitute for communicating with staff, asking the right questions and — in some ultimate cases — simply imploring for mercy. “Many airlines are now weighing and requiring approval for carry-on bags, so I take a different approach,” says. “If I know they are checking carry-on bags for weight, I open up my backpack or hard case and show them the equipment inside. To date, I have been welcome only with kindness and understanding.” Palmer employs a similar strategy. “Polite treatment can almost always get you through. Start with, ‘Yes, it is a little heavy, but this is packed with computers and photo gear. Don’t you have a special allowance?’ 50% of the time it’s all you need to say. The other half of the time you need a little planning ahead. I always carry a lightweight nylon fabric bag stuffed into a pocket of my carry-on. In a pinch, I can whip it out and offer to transfer some heavy items (batteries, a regulator, etc.) into the additional bag. Often the airline employees are just trying to get a bag below the authorized weight limit out of fear of losing their job and will be most grateful for your improvised solution.”
