packing and transporting my rig

Does anyone know the lightest gear bag? I think 1/3 my 50 lb weight limit is from the bag itself. 

6 hours ago, Jcbartell said:

Does anyone know the lightest gear bag? I think 1/3 my 50 lb weight limit is from the bag itself. 

That’s a really tough question! I agree though, the weight of some bags is significant. 

On a recent dive trip, because I was flying on small aircraft I didn’t take my usual (heavy) Pelican 1510 roller box. I used the Cinebags Grouper which took a huge amount of gear, offered reasonable protection - for cabin carrying- but wasn’t crazy heavy or bulky. Maybe worth a look?

QQ for Singapore Air, do they weigh the carry-ons. I do carry a Pelican Air 1535, but it's a bit over the 7kg published limits. Heading to Wakatobi from the states via Singapore Air through Singapore->Bali in 2 months. 

On 6/23/2022 at 4:30 PM, Pomacentridae said:

Thanks [mention]TimG [/mention] I went out and bought the Cinebag CB80. I am using the Peak Design Camera Cube large which is exactly 18 x 13 x 7 inches. The fit was perfection, so exact.


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I got this setup  as outlined here but it seems almost the size of a CarryOn luggage.  Is that how the airlines are counting this?  Seems just way too big for a personal item.  How does TimG fit that under seats?

Its approaching size of the AirTank carryon luggages.

On 8/14/2022 at 7:47 PM, Jcbartell said:

Does anyone know the lightest gear bag? I think 1/3 my 50 lb weight limit is from the bag itself. 

I believe the lightest bags suitable to be checked are the Pelican Air cases and Nanuk brand cases.  Since you mention 50 lbs, I assume you are talking about a checked bag.  Note that you need to specifically look at the "Air" series from Pelican to get their lighter weight stuff.

You are still looking at 15-18 lbs for the case alone, largely due to the wheels and handles.  Some people use a lightweight ABS suitcase and wrap the gear in bubble wrap or clothes.  If that is acceptable, some of those suitcases are lighter.  There are threads where that has been discussed.

Figuring out how to pack stuff for different airline requirements has become something like a sport or competition, although not usually an enjoyable one. 

13 hours ago, tsuyoshi said:

How does TimG fit that under seats?

Through persistence I guess! I had no choice. The aircraft was a small Embraer and there was no way the bag would fit in the tiny overhead locker. I slid the bag in first into the area under the seat in front and just manoeuvred it around until it could fit. I then got my legs in somehow. 

9 hours ago, TimG said:

Through persistence I guess! I had no choice. The aircraft was a small Embraer and there was no way the bag would fit in the tiny overhead locker. I slid the bag in first into the area under the seat in front and just manoeuvred it around until it could fit. I then got my legs in somehow. 

Do you have another carry on bag or just a smaller personal item/bag?

37 minutes ago, tsuyoshi said:

Do you have another carry on bag or just a smaller personal item/bag?

I went the fishing jacket route. This held an iPad mini and a Nikon Z6 and lens for topside plus the usual doodads, wallet, passport…..  all the ULCS clamps.

I knew that, for this trip, space was going to be a real issue so I had to pack minimalist and essentials only. 

Normally I’d have a Pelican 1510 and some kind of camera bag but that just wasn’t feasible on this trip which was a mix of small Embraer aircraft and potentially Twin Otters. Effectively no overhead lockers. 

On 11/19/2022 at 11:21 PM, TimG said:

I went the fishing jacket route. This held an iPad mini and a Nikon Z6 and lens for topside plus the usual doodads, wallet, passport…..  all the ULCS clamps.

I knew that, for this trip, space was going to be a real issue so I had to pack minimalist and essentials only. 

Normally I’d have a Pelican 1510 and some kind of camera bag but that just wasn’t feasible on this trip which was a mix of small Embraer aircraft and potentially Twin Otters. Effectively no overhead lockers. 

Thanks for the replies & photos.  Very helpful.  I guess your carry on were mainly camera gear and all the essentials that fit in the fishing jacket?  Other critical items like the regulators  or dive gears were checked?

Yes, all my camera gear, except strobe arms , plus dive computer and iPad were either in the Cinebag or the fishing jacket. I looked like Michelinman. Going through security was a joy.

Dive gear, (pretty minimalist; reg, 3mm suit and vest, BCD, fins, mask), and strobe arms were in my checked bag with a razor, toothbrush, two t-shirts and two pairs of swimmies. I pretty much wore everything else. Luckily we were traveling from one hot climate to another. 

On 5/15/2022 at 9:24 AM, Nicool said:

Now with this approach I saw 2 flavours:

Option 1: hard-shell fancy Samsonite, like the Samsonite Lite-Shock Sport 75cm, takes 98L, weighs 2.4kg.

Option 2: soft-shell case, like the Samsonite 72 DLX SPINNER 71/26 EXP, takes 90L, weighs 2.5kg empty.

@Nicooldid you get the lite shock 75cm? I am probably going to get this, and I'm usually very good at packing it to the brim (padding it out).

And if so, do you know if it'll handle 26-27kg? My current Samsonite which is an s'cure spinner takes 26kg without a problem but weighs a "tonne" at 4.5kg itself. If I can get 2kg squeezed out for free, then the suitcase will pay for itself after 2 trips.

[mention=22194]Nicool[/mention]did you get the lite shock 75cm? I am probably going to get this, and I'm usually very good at packing it to the brim (padding it out).
And if so, do you know if it'll handle 26-27kg? My current Samsonite which is an s'cure spinner takes 26kg without a problem but weighs a "tonne" at 4.5kg itself. If I can get 2kg squeezed out for free, then the suitcase will pay for itself after 2 trips.

11 hours ago, Nicool said:

I did not, eventually went with tge Pelican approach. 28kg case but holds nearly 2x DSLR setups

Fair enough, I need to stay underneath the 23-25-30kg limitations, so anything I can squeeze out would be hugely beneficial...