what bag to buy for trips

[Helen F H]

Originally Posted by frosty the snowman

Voila!
Miscellaneous

They are called BDH barrels Helen, ask anyone who works in the chemical industry if they have any knocking around before you pay for one

edit - ferkin hell, just seen how much they are selling them for....im off down the herring factory to get some of their old vinegar barrels!

[Woz]

I used to have a Scubapro wheeled bag. Heavy and small and rubbish. I'd nip nown Matelan and get a wheeled normal luggage whotsit. I've got a Beaver bag and it's actually pretty good and enormous but no wheels which is a pain.

[G man]

Originally Posted by Big Kahuna

Living so close to Stoney & Dosthill and only diving Uk quarries so far I have a ex hayes document crate (think gear gulper only yellow and cost £4.50 off fleabay) which I transport everything in except dry suit. This also keeps water in the box and off the boot carpet on the way home as well, and I find this bloody brilliant

I am now booked on 2 trips, the first to Plymouth 2/3 April and am planning to do al least 10 trips this year.

I therefore have 2 questions:

1. is my gear guler imitation suitable for hard boat diving or should I look at a bag?
2. If I should look at a bag - any reccomendations and what features to consider. We are currently considering 2 weeks in lanzarote in June so what ever I get should be suitable and tough enough to take the abuse of baggage handlers at heathrow!

Cheers
Chris

I think your gear Gulper will be great, It will fit under the bench on the boat and keep all your stuff together.

G.

[Jenkins]

For UK use I have a large wheeled crate, (£15 from Wollies, blue with red lid) which like your holds all my gear (other than drysuit) and keeps the van dry. In Scapa I have taken the whole box onto the boat, but everywhere else it lives in the vehicle.

For boats I have a large mesh rucksack which will "just" take my wing, regs etc for going on boats. More generally though I assemble my gear on shore so it is just fins/mask/reel/dSMB/torch and food/drink in the bag. As it's mesh it takes up no space when empty and is quick drying should it get totally soaked on the boat (almost inevitable in RIBs).

For travelling/flying I have a large padded bag, alot of people say to avoid branded dive bags as the advertise the value of the contents to dodgy baggage handlers. Personally I avoided wheels as it makes the bag heavy so have a rucksack design, it's not as easy to carry round the airport but a damn sight lighter than my twinset.
I then take the mesh bag as hand luggage so as to have it for transporting gear whilst on holiday, full it's way too big for the size restrictions but half packed it's fine.

[gobfish1]

Originally Posted by Helen F H

They are called BDH barrels Helen, ask anyone who works in the chemical industry if they have any knocking around before you pay for one

edit - ferkin hell, just seen how much they are selling them for....im off down the herring factory to get some of their old vinegar barrels!

dont think i would use one from the chemical industry ...

i got 6 from a curry house some years back, some still had mango chutney in them,,

caving or Kayaking shops sell them, you want food grade tubs

[littleleemur]

Hi there,

Not sure what you have over there, but I use a 28" Samsonite F'lite:
Amazon.com: Samsonite® F'Lite 28" Upright: Apparel

and a mesh backpack (with both top & side zip) as my boat bag:
Akona Deluxe Mesh Backpack (AKB234) from LeisurePro.com

plus, a 20litre drybag for towel, clothes, logbook, lunch etc.

Both my buddy & I can just squeeze both sets of gear into the suitcase + 2 mesh bags, 2 small pelican boxes (for save-a-dive kit & 1st aid) and 1 dry bag to share. We both carry our clothes and both sets of regs as carry-on.

If we wanted to throw everything in the suitcase other than regs, we could each use one of the suitcases. The suitcase rolls well, but considering the weight of gear, is sturdiest when packed full rather than having stuff rolling around. We also use a luggage strap & cover the side-latches with clear packing tape with a tab folded over for easy removal (in case of inspection) as baggage handling is atrocious these days. We've had no problems since this is an unmarked case. Others in our group who have various scuba-branded bags have had gear stolen from their cases.

The Samsonite F'lite is also available in a 31", but since airlines are becoming stricter about size and weight, I wouldn't reccomend it.

Good luck.

[Big Kahuna]

thanks all for the advice.
I have a fin sized mesh bag that I used on holiday for mask, snorkel & fins. I am also watching a larger one on ebay.

Am I right in thinking that I will be best to assemble all kit on dry land than carry it on to the boat?

Last time we went on holiday (tunisia) I bought a wheeled holdall from argos for £11.99 that was fine - even if I only get 1 or 2 more flights out of it, it will have paid for itself. I like the idea of the backpack style ones though as this will reduce the weight of the bag itself.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Big Kahuna

thanks all for the advice.
I have a fin sized mesh bag that I used on holiday for mask, snorkel & fins. I am also watching a larger one on ebay.

Am I right in thinking that I will be best to assemble all kit on dry land than carry it on to the boat?

Last time we went on holiday (tunisia) I bought a wheeled holdall from argos for £11.99 that was fine - even if I only get 1 or 2 more flights out of it, it will have paid for itself. I like the idea of the backpack style ones though as this will reduce the weight of the bag itself.

For UK dayboat diving, assemble all kit before ropes off. Either carry on assembled, or remove surplus bags before boat leaves. Anything not assembled in small package. Personnally I have a damn big mesh bag with loads of unnecessary spares in it, and a drybag.

For UK livaboards (eg Scapa) anything.

For travelling, yes light is good, but consider wheels if you have to carry any distance. NB look also at security....not a bag which is going to disintergate. In my experience with cheapo bags, it tends to be zips which corrode and fail first

Hope that helps

Paul

Oh and if you use your box / barrel as a rinse tank, consider a bung hole near the base to allow easy draining.

[tom1987]

I have seen people take gear gulpers onto boats without any trouble, but personaly I prefer to set my kit up before I board and just take a mesh bag with my fins, mask etc in and a small spares kit. I find that it takes up little space and being mesh drains off excess water quickly. You can then put everything back into your gear gulper after you return for the trip home without worrying about getting water in your car.

[Foggy]

I think it depends on ...

whether its a hard boat or a rhib (on the latter there is no spare space)
whether the boat is full or only 10/12ths..
whether the boat has a cabin, and whether cabin can be used by divers (tends to be bigger boats - thanks Roy S).
Whether you are out for the day, or a shuttle ride (expected to change over mid morning / afternoon....everything off)
Whether food and drinks are provided
Whether no I mean the weather!

Etc etc

Cheers, Paul