How many bags do you take?

[lord1234]

I travel to mexico with a carry on with clothes and essentials(lights, etc). 1 checked bag for most of the gear. That's it.

[Diverlee]

My list. I revise it every trip

Mexico
DIVING LIST
Harness
Bathing suits 2
Wetsuit 8 mm (waterproofW80)
Hooded vest
Booties and socks (2)
Pocket
Helmet
3 lights and batteries (spare)
Primary light and charger
Mask x2
SM regulators with long hose
Back up reg
Fins
Tools
Cookies (12)
Reels or spools
Tank bands and set up
Computer and bottom timer
(AA batteries)
Log book
CAVE CARD
Passport
$300 tips
Big water bottle and rinse
Duct tape and marker
Pillow and blanket
Small 1st aide kit (bandaids,
Benadryl ,steristrips, clot)
O rings and spg spools


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[rddvet]

My wife and I travel together. We take 1 checked bag each for dive gear, one carry on each, and 1 smaller checked bag addditionally for clothes. When travelling with ccr its the same but instead of 1 carry on each I also carry another ?personal? bag with bits for the ccr.
When we first started travelling to cave dive we brought too many clothes and contingency items (spares for regs, spgs, whatnot). We?ve cut our clothes to 1/8 of what it was, re-wear clothes, and wash as needed, and cut back on spares since you can find most things in mexico. When travelling to france to cave dive we brought a little extra spares since things are harder to get there (only 2-3 dive centers bone of which are well stocked).


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[rddvet]

BTW... where is everyone?? Forget the pandemic for a minute.... travel is cheap, airports/planes 1/2 empty and the diving is good! Book a trip! We've got the entire pro-tec dive shop and lodging to ourselves!

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Will be there next month. Since you?re staying at protec, Kelvin?s place is just a few blocks towards the main thoroughfare. I?m sure he?d enjoy yapping more about the fathom and mexican divesites with you.

Get Kim to take you somewhere you?ll never find on your own. We still hire a guide for a day to two every couple of trips. Kim (and Kelvin when he was still at protec) always showed us some things we?d never be able to find and is always worth the cost.



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[Six Feet Under]

Southwest would be your best option, if it's an option. Two free checked bags, a carry-on bag (suitcase) and a personal item (backpack, briefcase, laptop bag, etc) gives you a lot of space to play with. They're typically the cheapest anyways so that's who I fly, but especially when I'm going up north to go hunting, it's nice to have a Pelican case with my firearms & ammo in it, and a big suitcase for my bulky outdoor clothes/boots, then the smaller suitcase I have for my regular clothes is carry-on size.

[Garyh]

One large bag checked, another smaller bag carry on.
As of late, I store most gear in MX so its more like one small bag checked and a back pack carry on.
Most people as mentioned take WAY to much stuff.
Cant speak for flying from the US but from Canada its usually $30/50 for a second bag if you need it.
If going to MX expect your weights will be fine on the way down but when you leave MX you will suddenly be overweight and have to pay.
I just pay it with a CC and dispute the charge with the CC company or the travel agent when I get back, always get a refund.

[Jack Hammer]

A luggage scale is small, light, inexpensive, and invaluable for travel. I put regs, primary light, computer, camera, etc split in a carry on and personal item bag, suit and rest of gear goes with clothes in 1 checked bag. A day or two worth of clothes protects my gear in the carry on and makes sure I have at least one change of clothes with me in case something happens to the checked bag. Last time I went to Mexico I rented fins there for the week. It was inexpensive and freed up a lot of weight and space in my checked bag.

[gschaut]

Good idea but I don't think we can all marry your wife.

[Victoria]

Funny Terry.

Great thread. Loved reading all this. I'm not leaving until Oct 16th but I am trying to get my stuff sorted out now so I can be as effecient as possible.

That is something I STILL don't have yet- tank bands. Thanks for reminding me. The shops always have them but still.

I was only going to do one course while I was down there but I may also being doing staged as well. Haven't decided for sure yet. If I do two coruses then I won't get any "fun" dives in.

And I'm sorry.. I am not looking forward to yet another "lost line" drill. I know it's important and we must know it, but my instructor likes to take me to the worst places to do them. He'll have the other student go where its kinda flat. I get to go where there are drop in the floor and loose rocks. He said its to make me better since he gives me the harder places. I think he just likes laughing at me- until I kick everything up and make a right mess.

I am so excited to go do something "normal" (which is relative to what the rest of the world thinks but I am sure you all here feel me on this.)

[CptTightPants21]

A couple of things to help with packing.

You are going to a location that has several fully stocked dive shops capable of handling tech diving and that helps be removing some of the 'essentials'. You don't need to bring an analyzer, tons of tools, extra cave line, bungee, hex keys, etc. I bring a wrench and a Pandora Multi Tool, both of which are in my wet notes during dives. Everything else I rely on the dive shop. Dive sites are close enough in MX that it doesn't really matter, but if the site if farther away you can do a gear/reg check before making the drive.

Clothes are simply padding for dive gear. Some airbnbs have washer/dryer and there are several laundry services in Tulum that can do morning drop off and evening pickup. They cost something like 18 Pesos a pound (less than a dollar). I typically bring 5 or 6 days worth of shorts, underwear, shirts, but could drop this down if needed.

You should also be mindful of additional packaging. Masks and regs dont' need to be in storage bags/boxes--these add additional bulk and unnecessary weight addition. Use drysuit, fin boot pockets, under garments as "packaging" and protection.

If you are traveling in Asia or someplace that weighs carry on bags these methods won't work and you might as well just pay to have a 2nd checked bag, but for the US/Mex/Caribbean they are perfect.

Three bags--Primary Checked Bag, Carry on Bag (a 22 inch roller), a personal item (backpack). Potentially 7 reg sets-2 primary, 3 stage/deco, 1 backup, 1 inflation.

Carry on Bag
Primary Light, back up lights, 3-4 regulator sets, spools with bolt snaps, dive computers, spare spg, clothes are rolled and/or utilized as layering and padding for gear.

Checked Bag
Fins on bottom, drysuit, undergarments, hood, mask (wrapped in drysuit), wing wrapped in drysuit/undergarments--try to keep things as padded and protected as possible., backplate, potentially a pair of shoes/sneakers, windbreaker jacket/sweat shirt--checked bag will typically have the 'specialty clothes' like sweats/jacket that are a little too bulky for the carry on. Weight on this is typically around 39-41lbs going down. On the return leg the weight might be a little higher as gear may still be damp or I will use the weight for stuff purchased on trip.

Personal Bag
Laptop, camera, toiletries, primary reel, 1-2 reg sets (if I have plenty of weight I might throw one reg set into the checked bag), book/papers (reading or some minor work stuff), medication/food I will bring down.

The trick with scuba gear packing is looking at things from a size to weight perspective and putting the heaviest things in your personal bag (backpack) and carry on. Bolt snaps, primary reels, regulators are small, but can really start to add up the weight. I also have a minor OCD of keeping similar items together--drysuit, undergarments, hood/gloves(if needed) all in the one bag. All lights are in same bag, all spools are in carry on bag except primary reel which is personal item, etc. The reason I split up the reg sets is that too many of them together makes a big black blob for the TSA and they have trouble identifying the blob. If you keep it to 3 or 4 and get them separated with some layering of clothes they can more easily identify that it is scuba gear on the x-ray and will be passed right along.