Scuba...which equipment to take along

[Jim.Doc]

Hi All,

Cruising to Grand Turk, St. Thomas, San Juan, Bermuda on CP June 17...plan on (possibly) diving at each. Which of my gear should I pack. We would like to travel light but I also want to feel safe. Plan mask, snorkel, fins, skin. How about regulator, bc, light? Do the shops have good equipment and do they charge?

Thanks,

Jim

[S&M in Pgh]

Rental equipment can be a real crap shoot. One operator might have great stuff, the next might not. I take my own mask (precription), fins, snorkel, and suit). I rent a BC and Reg and have never had a problem. Been on more than a couple dives where someone's personal equipment went bad during the dive (because of improper or no maint.) and they had to abort. Plus taking my bare minimum, I can usually get it into my carryon and don't have to worry about some baggage handler ripping me off.

 

Mike

[SwimnwFishes]

Just a heads up...was cruising Mexico one year, packed all my gear, including regulator in checked baggage. Didn't think a thing about it till about 2 days before I was supposed to dive. Dug in the bag...pulled the regulator out...it fell apart in my hands. I tried to put it back together, but really couldn't figure out what was wrong.

 

When I got home I took it to my dive shop...and was told and SHOWN how it could NOT have come apart on it's own. It had to have been taken apart...which means TSA HAD to have taken it apart!

 

Imagine IF they had taken it apart...then actually reassembled it! YIKES! :eek: Who knows if they would have done it right!

 

I was plenty ticked off...of course I had to pay to have it repaired (BTW, I had had the regulator serviced just before we left...which of course cost me money.)...and of course TSA never even bothered to answer my letter. They SAY the'll reimburse for damage...but if they can't even answer a simple letter...what do you think the chances are?

 

Needless to say, even though it's bulky and sort of a pain on a cross country flight...regulator goes in my carry on from now on.

[nrh322]

I ALWAYS take everything except tanks and weights. I don't trust rental gear one bit. I carry on my mask and regulator along with a bathing suit and meds.

[georoc01]

I bring everything as well, with reg in my carry on. Its the one thing I really don't want to fail and like to know when I last had it serviced.

 

My suit and BC mainly because I'm a larger guy and am afraid of getting to an operator that doesn't have equipment that fits me. Suits also may not be part of the package and paying $20 a day for a suit seems high for me.

 

Mask, fins and snorkel, which I will also use for snorkeling.

[nrh322]

Oh yeah...definitely a wetsuit if you think you're going to need one! Rental wetsuits are NASTY! You know what they say... 2 sorts of divers - those of us that pee in our suits and those that lie about it! LOL!

[mielyse]

My wife and I always bring everything. Regulators and dive computers go in carryon. The rest go in our dive luggage. My wife and go with 4 checked bags, 1 each for clothes, toiletries, etc. The other 2 are specifically for our gear. If anything goes wrong with our equipment, which we have serviced before we go, we rent whatever we need. Most dive boats, unless they are extremely small have spare equipment aboard in case someone has equipment problems.

[bruce-r]

Hi All,

Cruising to Grand Turk, St. Thomas, San Juan, Bermuda on CP June 17...plan on (possibly) diving at each. Which of my gear should I pack. We would like to travel light but I also want to feel safe. Plan mask, snorkel, fins, skin. How about regulator, bc, light? Do the shops have good equipment and do they charge?

Thanks,

Jim

 

I'll put them in the order I'd take them, that is if I couldn't take everything.

 

1. Mask - Nothing ruins a dive like a leaking mask
   
2. Thermal protection - No matter what anyone says, everyone pees in their wetsuit, especially rental wetsuits
   
3. reg & computer - Life support I've had serviced annually. Have to have a compute for diving.
   
4. light - I always take a light on every dive. You never know what you'll see back in some cracks or under an overhang.
   
5. Fins - Rental fins would be "OK", but just barely
   
6. BC - I put BC last as it will take up the most space, but I'd really rather use my own than a rental.
   

 

You will notice that there is something I left off the list, the snorkel. Unless you plan on going snorkeling, you can leave that thing home, IMO.

 

You can also leave you knife at home. The ship will confiscate it when you come back the ship after your first dive. You will get it back at the end of the cruise.

 

I don't know what the shops charge for gear rental. It will depend on the shop and what pieces you need to rent. The condition of rental gear can vary quite a bit from shop to shop.

 

I know it is a hassle, but I bring my own gear, even the snorkel which stays in the bag on the boat just in case there are dolphins.

 

You'll definitely want to dive Grand Turk, probably the best diving on your cruise. St. Thomas for a boat dive is also a great dive. I don't think you'll be diving Puerto Rico as there really isn't any good diving close enough to San Juan for you to get there and back in time. I'm clueless about diving Bermuda.

 

Hope this helps.

[Jim.Doc]

I guess I'll take whatever fits!

Jim

[docBarb]

Hi Jim,

My 2 cents - my husband and I take everything. We take be reg and computer as carryon and pack the rest. All we need are weights and tank. We often look like the Beverly Hillbillies when we travel - but so what. I feel more safe and more comfortable with my stuff!

Barbara

[Capt_BJ]

IMHO...the longer you've been diving the less you feel you need

 

1. This is NOT to say the longer you've been certified......the more dives under your belt in a period of time......

 

2. Once you decide to own equipment you've crossed the line to a sport-2 diver from a pure rec' diver. You appreciate your own stuff. Having crossed that line you appreciate a) your mask fits and b) no one else had the reg' in their mouth yesterday.

 

After that, you know that you are comfortable in your fins and your BC. Hopefully at this time you learn that assembling your own tank on the boat is more comforting than having the deck hand 'help you out'. (he did that because he assumed you forgot how to set up your gear...)

 

3. the next phase is a returning willingness to use some rental gear because you've enough experience to deal with minor emergencies: the BC valve sticks...the octo free flows. You've enough hours at 100 feet to say "no big deal" ... But still, having your own regs and mask is hard to pass up ....

 

Take what you feel comfortable with ...... and fits in your bags....

 

Certified in 1972 by Padi Instructor #12

[bruce-r]

One additional reason I take my own regulator, I have a Sea Cure mouth piece on it.

[Pilot70D]

We take all of our equipment except for tanks & weights. The reasons for so doing are simple - comfort and safety.

 

We know that our gear fits and we're comfortable wearing it. Furhtermore we have gotten used to having everything in a certain place. If a piece of gear is needed I don't want to be fumbling around finding and then releasing it. We know for instance that in the left main BCD pocket is a smallish dive flashlight. In the right main pocket is a dive knife. On the top right 'D' ring is a safety sausage. The point is that we know where each piece of equipment is and how to get it ready for use in a hurry if needed. With a rental outfit everything might be the same but then again maybe not.

 

The sanitary part of using a rental regulator doesn't bother me. The safety issue does. I know when our regulators, BCD's, computers, SPG's, etc. were serviced and by whom. I'm sure that the overwheliming majority of the dive operators take good care of their rental inverntory. Bet they don't take quite as good care of their rental equipment as we do of the equipment we own. When it comes to underwater life support equipment I would much, much rather have my own gear.

 

Yes, it's a pain hauling all that stuff from the cruise ship dock to the dive boat and back again but worth it. Regulators, air integrated computers and back up wrist computers all go in a separate regulator bag. We bought an AKONA for this and wear it like a backpack for the trip to/from the cruise ship. This regulator bag never leaves our posession. It's carry on everywhere.

 

We do have two large rolling bags to transport the rest of the gear while travelling to and from the cruise's intitial port of departure. In addition we use two large mesh duffles for transporting gear to the dive boat. These can be folded when empty and take up very little room while aboard. A pet peeve of mine is the diver that brings one of the supersized rolling bags aboard the dive boat. These monsters are larger than the two tanks of linear space alloted for each diver on a crowded boat. I will climb off my soapbox now.

 

The main thing is for everyone to dive safely and have a lot of fun. Everyone keep safe out there.

[w&k]

...and it's a bit of a PITA, but worth it.

 

My DH and dive buddy is a very large man - 6'5", 280lbs, size 14 booties.

 

There are only 3 commercially available BC models made that are actually large and tall enough to fit him (without going custom), and they aren't found in rentals. Neither are size 14 booties. Or XXXL wetsuit for him (or XXL for me). Don't even ask how many masks live in our dive closet. So - that's one full set + 3 masks + 2 wetsuits + 2 skinsuits so far.

 

Gotta have the camera & computers, so we bring those along. We both love our ancient side vent Oceanic Omegas, so we bring those. The only thing left out is my BC & fins & booties, so we end up traveling with two full sets + spares.

 

Our nice rolling dive bag is just a little bit too big for the airlines (drat), so we bought a cheapo rolling bag. It's survived two trips, and Keith needs to put the feet and handles back on for the next one. The San Juan baggage handlers tend to be a bit rough on baggage. I also put our fins in kitchen garbage bags, and use them upside-down on the top of our clothes duffels to make them sturdier.

 

We also bought some mesh backpacks for toting the gear on our trips, and they work quite well.

 

I have done the regs both as checked and carry-on, but have learned that the TSA always tears up the bag they are in. Now, I cram everything except the regs and camera in the other carry-on, and redistribute once we get through security.

 

On a couple of trips, I rented gear and have never had a problem. A couple of our old octos had picky temperaments, but they've now been replaced on our main regs. When we're flying, we don't carry a full set of spares or tools, so that's when it happens ;)

 

Last trip, we definitely had our priorities straight. We had as much dive gear as we did everything else!

 

Have a great trip!

 

Wendy

[nrh322]

This will be my first time I've tried to combine a cruise with a semi-dive trip, but normally I pack my gear in the world's largest Igloo ice chest. I don't think there will be room for it in our cabin - unless I can get them to move one of the beds out into the hallway and they'd probably think that was a fire hazard. I guess I'm going to have to leave some of the spare regs and fin straps and whatnots at home! Oy!

[hcw80]

It depends on where we are departing from for me. I usually travel space available since the price is right for airline personel. Than I take nothing because everything has to fit in a roll aboard. (I did a week in Europe with just one roll aboard and a large purse).

 

If I am leaving from Flordia and can drive to the port, I take mask, fins, wetsuits, snorkel. We usually travel as light as possible.

 

BTW, I also rent my ski equipment too.

[ColumbiaMDCanadian]

Like others, the amount we take along varies with the length of the trip and the number of dives we're planning. That said, we have a definite 'sequence':

 

1) Mask and snorkel (I *know* the mask fits and exactly where that snorkel has been!:(

2) Reg and computer - *always* in carryon (heck - there's tons of reasons for carryon only, not the least of which is that with four of us traveling, that's something like $3,000 worth of stuff which could go 'astray'!)

3) BC. DW and I have our own, kids rent. We've often been able to rummage through the available rental equipment and find some pretty good stuff. The advantage of taking our own is that we know where everything is in a pinch.

4) Wetsuits. Yeah, don't *like* to use rental ones but they are bulky and a real pain when wet.

5) Fins. Bulky and relatively easy to find adequate ones to rent.

 

For a trip with limited dives or limited space (like our next cruise with only one) we'll limit things to mask and reg. 3+ dives and we take the whole lot - looking like we're setting off on some major expedition because of the # of bags we end up with!

 

One advantage of taking all your gear (esp. wetsuits) is that you simply have to have a balcony to dry stuff off!

 

M

[river_sand_bar2]

We will always take our own gear now....

 

Last year, while on a cruise and stopping in Cozumel and using rental gear, wife had total failure of her 2nd stage while down at 60ft. After a bit of panic I was able to get her breathing on her octo... Back on Surface, no other regs on the boat, so 2nd dive done with me on octo, as myself and wife switched out regs and I was on life support system.

 

On the same dive, it was also notice afterwards, I had a bit of a hard time with keeping level... after the dive, I noticed a big rip in the back of the B/C with a portion of the bladder hanging out..

 

Moral of the story... No more rental gear..