I'm looking at getting one of the AO coolers for my rig, just thinking about a couple of things out loud in case anyone has experience with them 🙂

 

Is the 24 can size big enough for a full frame + 2 strobe rig or is 36 a better option?

 

Is the 36 size generally allowed as carry-on/cabin baggage?

 

Cheers!

9 hours ago, Yorkie88 said:

I'm looking at getting one of the AO coolers for my rig, just thinking about a couple of things out loud in case anyone has experience with them 🙂

 

Is the 24 can size big enough for a full frame + 2 strobe rig or is 36 a better option?

 

Is the 36 size generally allowed as carry-on/cabin baggage?

 

Cheers!

I use the AO Cooler 18 pack for my SeaFrogs Salted Line a6xxx, 1 strobe, arms, grip and tray.  It barely fits if you fold in the arms.  The cooler folds flat and goes in my check-in bag; it is very bulky, even when folded.   The housing, camera, etc. go into my carry-on backpack.   

For a full frame, 2 strobes, arms, etc., a 24 pack would be a very tight fit, if it fit at all.  The larger cooler would be a safer choice but you will have to measure to see if it would be an allowable, carry-on size. I would also recommend that  you fold up your rig as compact as possible and measure the dimensions for comparison to the internal size of the coolers.  The height is problematic for me with the 18 pack.

1 hour ago, gstrek said:

I use the AO Cooler 18 pack for my SeaFrogs Salted Line a6xxx, 1 strobe, arms, grip and tray.  It barely fits if you fold in the arms.  The cooler folds flat and goes in my check-in bag; it is very bulky, even when folded.   The housing, camera, etc. go into my carry-on backpack.   

For a full frame, 2 strobes, arms, etc., a 24 pack would be a very tight fit, if it fit at all.  The larger cooler would be a safer choice but you will have to measure to see if it would be an allowable, carry-on size. I would also recommend that  you fold up your rig as compact as possible and measure the dimensions for comparison to the internal size of the coolers.  The height is problematic for me with the 18 pack.

Thanks - I'm still waiting for the housing to arrive so I think I'll be best measuring up when it arrives, rather than guessing now.

 

I'm heading to the US for work in a few weeks but I've actually found somewhere selling them cheaper in Australia so I don't need to rush and bring one back from the states with me.

I use a Pelican Air for on the airline or in transit. But once at the dive site I use a Sam's Club bag, about $9. I have one that I have used for several years, even got rescued by a Bedouin gentleman in Egypt, I gave him more tip for finding my bag than it could be worth but he was so proud to have helped me!

 

Edited March 24Mar 24 by Nemrod

For travel I use a Lowepro ProTactic BP 450 AW. I'm very happy with it. I can fit my housing, strobes, camera, 2 or 3 lenses, laptop, spare batteries and a couple of other parts. Of course the bag ends up being around 12-14 kg which is super heavy, but the bag is still comfortable enough. I haven't had any problem with airlines in Asia. I like that it appears just as a regular bag, and haven't been asked by airline staff to weigh it.

 

For boat trips I've been using an AO Cooler 36 for about 8 years now. I am glad that I went with the 36 and not the 24. I don't see that much difference in terms of space taken by my old APS-C Ikelite setup, and the full-frame Seacam setup I now have. Then again the Seacam housing is compact. It's the arms that tend to get in the way. Extra space is always useful for spare parts tupperware, mask, dive computer, torch, towel, etc. 

However the zippers are metallic and will get encrusted. I did dissolve those a couple of times with vinegar, but that's a short term fix. I can't move them now and am not even trying anymore. I originally had the thought of using it as a carry-on but never did - yeah it's well padded but still too loose inside, + with all the spare parts, laptop etc... not ideal or feasible.

 

What I do instead is that I put the AO coolers in a regular suitcase. So, with the suitcase open, I stack the fins first, then the cooler on top, stash the ports and arms in the cooler, then all my clothes. I've even managed to fit the BCD and reg as well in that suitcase. After that there's still plenty of space for about 1 swimsuit and 2.5 t-shirts...

This is how I have travelled and roughly what has gone where. My gear, Nikon D200 and D300 in Hugyfot and Inon strobes, was chosen by me initially because at the time it was a "travel friendly" DSLR kit. I'm currently on the hunt for a second hand Hugyfot D500 housing (a D7500 housing might suffice).

Carry on "pelican": Housing, camera body D200/D300, 2 x INON strobes, 2-3 x lenses, strobe cables, zoom gear and some small "stuff". Usually put a couple of dive computers in there too.

Checked inside a Samsonite hard Suit Case next to wetsuit, bcd, reg, mask, fins and "clothes" (not much, hehe): 1 plastic crate 38x28x14 cm holding a 19 cm dome port with extension, 4 x arm segments, 6 x clamps. Big towel... etc.

2-3 plastic boxes 20x17x6 cm with 16 x batteries, cables, speed charger, adapters, memory cards, o-rings, grease, cloths, hard drive etc.

And then a small "toolbox" with tools. Screwdrivers, allen keys and so forth. Spare batteries and o-rings to computers.

I tend/try to always go with photo-oriented outfits / liveaboards that have good camera tanks and just keep it wet all the time. For day trips on boats that have no service to UW photographers I too have used a soft cooler bag. I do recall a discussion about this a loong time ago, in another forum.

Edited May 28May 28 by Christian K
spelling!

On 3/24/2025 at 4:44 AM, Nemrod said:

I use a Pelican Air for on the airline or in transit. But once at the dive site I use a Sam's Club bag, about $9. I have one that I have used for several years, even got rescued by a Bedouin gentleman in Egypt, I gave him more tip for finding my bag than it could be worth but he was so proud to have helped me!

 

Is that the 1485?

On 7/5/2025 at 8:06 AM, Christian K said:

Is that the 1485?

Chris, no, that orange case is a Pelican Air 1535 carry on size case.

8 hours ago, Nemrod said:

Chris, no, that orange case is a Pelican Air 1535 carry on size case.

Cheers. I’m going to see if I can fit (most of) my rig in a 1485, if not I’ll resort to what you have—the 1525. May I ask what camera body you Nauti is for? I’m new to Nauticam.

Edited July 9Jul 9 by Christian K

1 hour ago, Christian K said:

Cheers. I’m going to see if I can fit (most of) my rig in a 1485, if not I’ll resort to what you have—the 1525. May I ask what camera body you Nauti is for? I’m new to Nauticam.

Chris, I have a Nauticam NA-6400 (Sony). That is an A6400 crop sensor camera. I recently acquired, additionally, a new Nauticam NA-R50 (Canon). Either camera fits in the case with most accessories. I mostly shoot a CMC lenses for macro and the WWL rides on my housing 90% of the time. I put the arms in my checked luggage.

I just ordered a new TrekPac kit for my 1535 Air in hopes of getting more in the case and better fitting either housing. The pluck foam just uses up too much useful space.

Case depth is critical, the 1535 is just deep enough to take the housing with the handles and balls attached. Otherwise things start having to come apart or lay the housing over which consumes more space.

I am actually in Cozumel now and rather than the 1535 I used a small sub carry-on sized roller bag for the NA-R50 with two strobes, CMC lenses and batteries etc. The WWL and arms went checked.

Edited July 9Jul 9 by Nemrod

1 hour ago, Nemrod said:

Chris, I have a Nauticam NA-6400 (Sony). That is an A6400 crop sensor camera. I recently acquired, additionally, a new Nauticam NA-R50 (Canon). Either camera fits in the case with most accessories. I mostly shoot a CMC lenses for macro and the WWL rides on my housing 90% of the time. I put the arms in my checked luggage.

I just ordered a new TrekPac kit for my 1535 Air in hopes of getting more in the case and better fitting either housing. The pluck foam just uses up too much useful space.

Case depth is critical, the 1535 is just deep enough to take the housing with the handles and balls attached. Otherwise things start having to come apart or lay the housing over which consumes more space.

I am actually in Cozumel now and rather than the 1535 I used a small sub carry-on sized roller bag for the NA-R50 with two strobes, CMC lenses and batteries etc. The WWL and arms went checked.

WWL-C for me too (checked with arms and port(s)). Planning on dismantle handles tho, in theory. Does not have the housing in my hand yet (with my dealer) and new to Nauticam (Nikon z6iii). Big hassle? Seems easy enough on paper. Weight of big concern, hence the 1485.

Bon chance in Coz. Heading to Indonesia in early September to ”baptize” my new gear.

Edited July 9Jul 9 by Christian K

Back from a small diving trip in Italy/Ustica backpack with 17,5 kg no problem ... but ok it was not a lowcost airline... otherwise .... :(

One time on Scoot from Cebu to Singapore at the check in. Can you put your backpack on the band.
16,5 KG ... Direct I said one moment.. look .. I opened the backpack... the man stand up ask the supervisor and came back ok you can close the backpack it is ok.

After a lot of mails with Singapore air... the only solution was "You need to fly in business"

Since I fly economy and had never problems. Our gears are compact that's mean the backpack does not seems to be over 8, 10 or 12 KG..

I try to have it only on 1 shoulder... (it's light ;) ) and smile.

6 minutes ago, CaolIla said:

Back from a small diving trip in Italy/Ustica backpack with 17,5 kg no problem ... but ok it was not a lowcost airline... otherwise .... :(

One time on Scoot from Cebu to Singapore at the check in. Can you put your backpack on the band.
16,5 KG ... Direct I said one moment.. look .. I opened the backpack... the man stand up ask the supervisor and came back ok you can close the backpack it is ok.

After a lot of mails with Singapore air... the only solution was "You need to fly in business"

Since I fly economy and had never problems. Our gears are compact that's mean the backpack does not seems to be over 8, 10 or 12 KG..

I try to have it only on 1 shoulder... (it's light ;) ) and smile.

Rules seems to be tighter and tighter. So does the slack given to ”sinners” :) I know, because I am one too. However with flying several times per year luck can’t be a part of the equation and business is out of budget. So most has to be checked it seems. And what I bring kept more or less within regulations.

13 minutes ago, Christian K said:

Rules seems to be tighter and tighter. So does the slack given to ”sinners” :) I know, because I am one too. However with flying several times per year luck can’t be a part of the equation and business is out of budget. So most has to be checked it seems. And what I bring kept more or less within regulations.

I wanted to stay within regulation ... but it's not possible.

Wrong I need to fly business... but it's realy to expensive for me.


The second possibility is to put more in the check-in luggage... but NO
- No insurance will cover the lost or the damage of part in this luggage.

I asked to buy some more kg as cabin luggage... not possible

Would you put 10000 or more €, in addition in the checked-in ? I have allready the regulator, BCD arm, etc . It's more than the insurance will pay back in case of...
They are also no possibility to have a better insurance. It's only 500€ or $ I can't remember.

I have no trust in what hapend with the check-in luggage.

my backpack



Isotta R5
2 Retra
Flat port with 2 macro lenses
R5 with rf 10-20 in the Isotta

rf 100 + rf 14-35

"some" battery more than 1 KG

2 gopro
and a MS Surface tablet.

Handle, arm clamp etc etc in the checked-in luggage.
I don't know how to travel with less weight

23 minutes ago, CaolIla said:

I wanted to stay within regulation ... but it's not possible.

Wrong I need to fly business... but it's realy to expensive for me.


The second possibility is to put more in the check-in luggage... but NO
- No insurance will cover the lost or the damage of part in this luggage.

I asked to buy some more kg as cabin luggage... not possible

Would you put 10000 or more €, in addition in the checked-in ? I have allready the regulator, BCD arm, etc . It's more than the insurance will pay back in case of...
They are also no possibility to have a better insurance. It's only 500€ or $ I can't remember.

I have no trust in what hapend with the check-in luggage.

Get really cheap dive gear. The only ”expensive” stuff i have checked (and might plan to check) is ports. Otherwise arms, clamps and batteries. Housing, camera, strobes and cables in carry on. Lenses and wwl-c in big fanny-packis my plan (personal item).

Pelican Air 1485	2,07
Inon Z-240 x2	1,24
Nikon Z6 III+battery	0,76
Nauticam Z6III-hus	2,70
Cables	0,15
WWL-C	1,05
Nikon Z 24-50 mm	0,20
Nauticam Macro Port 6	0,35
Bayonet Mount Converter	0,115
Total	8,635 kg

Moving the wwl-c and perhaps the 24-50 to my ”personal item”—a fannypack with 4 arm segments and six clamps—will get it down to 7ish carry-on legal weight. NiMh AA:s, chargers etc. and additional gear in checked luggage—I’ll be able to shoot even if checked luggage is delayed or ”lost”, batteries and chargers can be replaced in most semi civilized areas. A plan in theory in this moment. Will test it in a month or so :)

Edited July 28Jul 28 by Christian K

19 hours ago, Christian K said:

Pelican Air 1485	2,07
Inon Z-240 x2	1,24
Nikon Z6 III+battery	0,76
Nauticam Z6III-hus	2,70
Cables	0,15
WWL-C	1,05
Nikon Z 24-50 mm	0,20
Nauticam Macro Port 6	0,35
Bayonet Mount Converter	0,115
Total	8,635 kg

Moving the wwl-c and perhaps the 24-50 to my ”personal item”—a fannypack with 4 arm segments and six clamps—will get it down to 7ish carry-on legal weight. NiMh AA:s, chargers etc. and additional gear in checked luggage—I’ll be able to shoot even if checked luggage is delayed or ”lost”, batteries and chargers can be replaced in most semi civilized areas. A plan in theory in this moment. Will test it in a month or so :)

I would loose that Pelican case, with padding it's more like 2.5kg. I bought one too but got checked with it so many times that I no longer use it. These days I am using super light roller similar to https://itluggage.com/products/atmospheric-wide-handle-design-cabin-skyway with each item - flash, ports, etc - using its own bubble wrap padding. Still - all batteries (extra 2kg) - go into my fannypack which gets gently tucked under my oversized tropical motives shirt :-).

On my latest trip to Indonesia I tried another hack - an entire underwater camera housing with WACP-C minus handles (6kg by itself) - being my personal item. Fits very nicely underneath the seat and I never had feeling something would be bothering my feet space. At checkin at multiple flights and airlines nobody blinked an eye. Etihad weighed our carry ons and they were 9kg so they only said ' it's 7kg next time ' also because we had checked allowance 30kg and were using only 20kg - they were weighing the carry ons on top of checked in luggage(!). My 'very personal item' :-) was ignored.

Note - shouldn't put camera in it as some buttons and levers can be pushed at times and you don't want to get this precise machinery tired anyhow. When it is empty it does not matter.

1 hour ago, RomiK said:

I would loose that Pelican case, with padding it's more like 2.5kg. I bought one too but got checked with it so many times that I no longer use it. These days I am using super light roller similar to https://itluggage.com/products/atmospheric-wide-handle-design-cabin-skyway with each item - flash, ports, etc - using its own bubble wrap padding. Still - all batteries (extra 2kg) - go into my fannypack which gets gently tucked under my oversized tropical motives shirt :-).

On my latest trip to Indonesia I tried another hack - an entire underwater camera housing with WACP-C minus handles (6kg by itself) - being my personal item. Fits very nicely underneath the seat and I never had feeling something would be bothering my feet space. At checkin at multiple flights and airlines nobody blinked an eye. Etihad weighed our carry ons and they were 9kg so they only said ' it's 7kg next time ' also because we had checked allowance 30kg and were using only 20kg - they were weighing the carry ons on top of checked in luggage(!). My 'very personal item' :-) was ignored.

Note - shouldn't put camera in it as some buttons and levers can be pushed at times and you don't want to get this precise machinery tired anyhow. When it is empty it does not matter.

2.4 with padding, which I won’t use, only thin foam in bottom and lid, then cloth and bubble wrap. So it’s close to two. A very swift and easy move of a couple of items, 10 second operation, to my private :) fanny .. gets me close to 7. Carrying the Nauti house as personal item an option, many do it. But I very much prefer to have it tucked in a case, so it can be ”tossed around” a bit. Have never considered putting the camera inside during travel. Tried to chose everything with weight in mind for solo traveling. Dropping the pelican might save another 400 grams or so… worth considering. Kind of want the protection though, I’m used to travel that way, old dog, new tricks…

Now when I go with my daughter … it will be a non issue. She only has a gopro with a small handle and lamp. We just pack e v e r y t h i n g in two 7 kg carry on pelicans. Then 2 x 30 kgs checked.

Edited July 29Jul 29 by Christian K

I allways travel with the dome mounted. (9") AND the Camera and lense in it.

Why not ? Sorry for the question

I'll probaly build some attachment to the housing then I remove the handle of it.
But I have a litle bit time before the next trip.

My idee is to make the checkin (if I see they are looking the weigth) with the backpack without the housing.. It will be more or less near 9 kg... and after that put agin the housing in the backpack.

Like Christian and Romik we always try to travel with a 30 check-in allowance. And if it's not full it's easier to have argument for the discussion if they have problem with the weight of the backpack.

The other partial solution is to take all the batterie (over 1 kg ) in the pockets...

On 7/29/2025 at 3:06 PM, CaolIla said:

I allways travel with the dome mounted. (9") AND the Camera and lense in it.

Why not ? Sorry for the question

I had the camera in on the way to Indonesia. 3 Flights, sometimes the housing was in overhead bin. And I then realised that the housing gets moved, gets touched, the levers got touched by forces not controlled by my fingers... Looking at the inside of housing there is like Swiss watch delicate mechanism, for operating buttons on camera. Get is twisted even by a fraction of a fraction of millimetre and then things won't operate or will by random. When there is nothing inside the outside forces don't matter as there is no resistance but when camera is in these pushbuttons and levers connections will get tired... So that's why.